up to heaven continually the thankoffering of praise. It must, however, be shown. forth, "not with our lips only, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to God's "service, and by walking before Him "in holiness and righteousness all our

days." This is the genuine expression of thankfulness, the reward which we are indispensably bound to "give unto the "Lord for all the benefits, that he hath "done unto us." The heathen nations of old expressed their thankfulness by costly sacrifices, and oftentimes an hundred oxen bled at once before their altars. And God Himself required of His people to give the first fruits of their corn and wine, the first born of their cattle, and the tenth of their yearly increase. From us He demands different sacrifices.

He asks the offering of

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a free heart, that we should present "unto Him ourselves, our souls and bo"dies, to be a reasonable, holy, and

lively sacrifice unto him." We must, as it has been well expressed, consecrate the first born of our souls, (pure and holy

thoughts, and and the first fruits of our strength) that is, our most active endeavours, to God's service. We must slay our impure desires, mortify our corrupt affections, and abandon all selfish respects, for His sake. We must give Him our hearts, and present our wills entirely to His disposal. We must anxiously attend His pleasure, and labour to content Him, by an innocent and unblemished conversation. With such sacrifices as these God is wellpleased. He accepts them as real testimonies of our thankfulness, as the best requital for His benefits.

Such then is the thankfulness which we owe to the bountiful giver of all good things. Let us endeavour to make it the habitual feeling of our hearts, and unceasingly to express it both with our lips and in our lives. It is the best and noblest employment in which we can be engaged. Let us continue to be occupied in it until the last hour of our lives. Thus, having celebrated the praises of God while on earth, may we be admitted to take part in the praises and thanks

givings of the saints in heaven, to join in the general chorus of creation, and say, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and "ever1."

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Rev. v. 13.

SERMON XIX.

PSALMODY'.

1 COR. xiv. 15.

"I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.",

We are exhorted by St. Paul to do all to the glory of God; and to the promotion of that glory, all the powers and faculties of which we are possessed must, so far as we can, be rendered subservient. Among those powers, which, though not given universally to all men, are yet very widely dif fused, is the power of producing musical

1 See Sermons on Church Music by Bishop Horne and Jones of Nayland.

sounds, either by the voice or by different instruments, and the faculty of discriminating such sounds by the ear, and of having the inward feelings of the soul variously affected by them.

The power of music over the affections of the heart has been long and generally acknowledged. By its various tones and modulations it can either rouse and stimulate the passions, or can calm and sooth them as it sees fit. Accordingly, at one time it was employed to animate the courage and warlike spirit of the soldier; at another to heighten the joys of mirth and revelry; and at another to calm and allay the turbulent, uneasy passions which disquiet the soul. Thus we read, that "when "the evil spirit was upon Saul, David took an

harp, and played with his hand; so Saul "was refreshed and was well, and the evil 'spirit departed from him 1." Now certainly it is right and fitting that a faculty of such powerful influence should be devoted to the