gravity, and decent deportment, that can truly adorn a woman."

THE LORD'S DAY.

(Sir Matthew Hale.)

It is useful to hear what men of good lives and great parts and experience say of these matters. Great Britain never produced a better judge, or more excellent man, than Sir Matthew Hale. After great practical experience of life, he thus writes to his children concerning the observation of the Lord's day "I have, by long and sound experience, found that the due observance of this day, and of the duties of it, has been of singular comfort and advantage to me; and I doubt not but it will prove so to you. God Almighty is the Lord

of our time, and lends it to us; and as it is but just we should consecrate this part of that time to Him, so I have found, by a strict and diligent observation, that a due observation of the duty of this day hath ever had joined to it a blessing upon the rest of my time: and the week that hath been so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to me and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of the duties of this day, the rest of the

week has been unsuccessful, and unhappy to my secular enjoyments; so that I could easily make an estimate of my successes in my own secular employments the week following, by the manner of my passing this day; and this I do not write lightly or inconsiderately, but upon a long and sound observation and experience."

(Porteus.)

Let that day," says the late pious and exemplary Bishop of London, "be kept sacred to its original destination by all ranks of men, from the highest to the lowest. Let it not be profaned by needless journeys, by splendid entertainments, by crowded assemblies, by any thing, in short, which precludes either ourselves, our families, or our domestics, from the exercise of religious duties, or the improvement of those pious sentiments and affections which it was meant to inspire. Let me not, however, be misunderstood. I mean, not that it should be, either to the rich or the poor, or to any human being whatever, a day of gloom and melancholy, a day of superstitious rigour, and of absolute exclusion from all society, and all innocent recreation. I know of nothing in Scripture that requires this. I know of no

good effect that could result from it. On the contrary, it is a festival, a joyful festival-a day to which we ought always to look forward with delight, and enjoy with a thankful and grateful heart. But let it be remembered, that it is a day which God claims as his own; that He has stamped upon it a peculiar sanctity; and that it ought to be distinguished from every other day, in the first place, by resting from our usual occupations, and giving rest to our servants and our cattle; in the next, by attendance on the public worship of God; and in the remaining intervals, by relaxations and enjoyments peculiarly its own; not by daily tumult, noise and dissipation; but by the calm and silent pleasure of retirement, of recollection, of devout meditation, of secret prayer, yet mingled discreetly with select society-with friendly converse, with sober recreation, and with decent cheerfulness throughout the whole."

(Carpenter.)

Dr. Watts well observes, that religion was never designed to make our pleasures less; and we read in the Proverbs, that "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;" and in St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians,

Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice."

PRAYER.

(Nelson's Practical Piety, p. 117.)

The modest behaviour and deportment of the body contributes very much to the desire and attention of the mind. The greatness and majesty of God, to whom you speak, and the quality of a suppliant, which belongs to you when you pray, ought to inspire you with great reverence and profound respect, and ought to oblige you to make use of such an humble posture, as may be proper, not only to excite devotion in ourselves, but to have the same influence on those that behold you. And if you pray upon your knees, with your eyes fixed down, and your hands joined together, it is much more likely to have this effect, than if you stand up, and give yourself the liberty of gazing about.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

(William Dodsworth, M. A., Book of the Canons of the Church, A.D. 1571.)

As the Church claims your regard by her doctrines and ordinances, she does so also by the gentleness and catholicity of her spirit. The

terms of communion imposed are neither burdensome nor irksome to the conscience: she requires no subscription to doubtful or indifferent matters. It was the error of some of those disputants whom the Apostle Paul rebukes1, that they wished to impose their own private opinions, whether true or false, upon their brethren. St. Paul does not reprove any for holding for themselves that it was not lawful to eat meat or to neglect the observance of Jewish holidays: but he reproved the attempt to enforce the same rule on others as a matter of necessity. So likewise a Church is culpable if it imposes, as the terms of communion, a multitude of subscriptions; for it is not to be supposed that all the members of the Church have their understandings equally enlightened, or their consciences equally pure. It is a great mistake which many have fallen into, to imagine that every member of the Church must, of necessity, assent to every thing which is written in the Liturgy and Articles. Of her ministers of those appointed to teach others, such subscription is required, because none can be considered competent to instruct others who

1 Rom. xv. 7.