sive answer.

"Whoever makes this objection, and affirms we can not pray by the Spirit in the words of a form, must beware his ignorance betray him not into a dangerous uncharitableness, and perhaps blasphemy. For the saints of the Old Testament prayed by forms, and so did Christ himself in the New, and he taught his Apostles a form to pray by, and dare any say they prayed not by the Spirit? Have not all Churches since the Apostles' times to our days, had their forms of prayer? And did not the devoutest men of all ages compose and use such? Was ever extempore prayer heard of in public (till of late) unless on special occasions; and do we think no Church nor persons prayed by the Spirit till now? To come nearer still: Have not France and Geneva their forms? And did not learned Calvin (and the best reformed divines) use a form before their sermons? And is not an unstudied prayer a form to the people, who are confined to pray in the speaker's words? And will you say these all pray without the Spirit of God? But sure we hug the phrase of praying by the spirit, not attending the sense. For the meaning doubtless is, to be so assisted by the Holy Ghost, that (our thoughts being composed, and our souls calmed, and our hearts deeply affected with our wants, and the divine all-sufficiency) we can pray with a strong faith, and a fervent love. When we are so intent upon our requests that we duly weigh them, and pursue every petition with pressing importunity, ardent desires, and vigorous affections, this is the spirit of prayer. And thus we can better pray by the Spirit in the words of a form, than we can do when our mind is employed in inventing new expressions. For having a form (which custom hath made familiar) we have all things set down to our hands, which we or others want; and we are at leisure to improve the good motions of the Spirit; having no more to do but to join our souls and affections to every petition, and follow them up to heaven in most

would grant them. Whereas in extempore prayer, the petitions expire into air in a moment: for neither minister nor people knew them before, nor can remember them afterwards; the one being busy in inventing, the other in expecting a pleasing novelty. And methinks it argues more of the Spirit of God, when we can attend the old prayers with zeal and love, than when we need variety and novel expression, to screw us up into a devotion too much like artifice, and seeming rather to be moved by the pleasure. of fancy, than the actings of desire. We may judge of the effects of God's Spirit rather by disposing our hearts to join in a wellcomposed form, than by filling our heads with new prayers, or opening our mouths in fluent expressions; both which may be done without the help of the Spirit, but to be devout without it is most impossible. To which we shall only add, that many truly good men, and sound members of on Church, do daily use these prayers with as much spirit and life, with as serious and sincere devotion, as any in the world can do. And this they account a demonstration that the Spirit doth assist them in this form. And so it may assist these mistaken persons if they will lay down their groundless prejudice, and strive to serve God thus as well as they can. So would the good Spirit assist their prayers, and make up our differences, giving us one mind and one spirit, that with one heart and one mouth we might glorify one God."

But it has been further urged, says Dean Comber, that "though these prayers may be good in themselves, they will grow flat and tiresome by daily use, and consequently become an impediment to devotion."

In answer to this objection it may be replied, he says, that "we come not to the house of God for recreation, but for a supply of our wants; and therefore this might be a better reason for an empty theatre than a thin congregation. We come to God in public, to petition for the relief of our general necessities, and those of the whole Church;

viz. for pardon of sin, peace of conscience, and succours of divine grace, and a deliverance from sin and satan, death and hell as also for food and raiment, health and strength, protection and success, in all our concerns; and more generally for the peace of the kingdom, the prosperity of the Church, the propagation of the gospel, and the success of its ministers. Now these things are always needful, and always the same, to be prayed for every day alike.-Wherefore (unless we be so vain as to fancy God is delighted with variety and change as well as we) what need is there to alter the phrase every day, or what efficacy can a new model give to our old requests? Particular wants and single cases may be supplied by the closet devotions, for the public, whether by form or extempore, can never reach all those which are so numerous and variable. Wherefore one form may fit all that ought to be asked in the Church; and why then should we desire a needless and infinite variety and alteration? If we do, it is out of curiosity, not necessity. The poor man is most healthful whose labour procures him both appetite and digestion: who seldom changeth his dish, yet finds a relish in it, and a new strength from it every day. And so it is with the sober and industrious Chistian, who, busying himself in serving God, gets daily a new sense of his wants, and consequently a fresh appetite to these holy forms, which are never flat or dull to him that brings new affections to them every day. It is the Epicure and luxurious, or the diseased man that needs quelques choses, or sauces, to make his daily bread desirable. And if this be our temper, it is a sign of a diseased soul, and an effect of our surfeiting on holy things. In this we resemble those murmurers who despised the bread of Heaven because they had it daily, and loathed manna itself, calling it in scorn dry meat. This was sufficient to sustain their bodies, and satisfy their hunger, but they required meat for their soul; that is, to feed their fancies and their lusts; even as we do, for whom the Church hath provided prayers sufficient to express our needs, but not to satiate our

wanton fancies, nor gratify the lust of our curiosity; and we complain they are insipid; so perhaps they are such, for the manna had no taste to the wicked; but it suited itself to the appetite and taste of every good man, as the Jews tell us in their traditions. Sure I am, it is true here: For if we be curious and proud, or carnal and profane, there is no gust in the Common Prayers; but a truly pious man can every day here exercise repentance and faith, love and desire, and so use them as to obtain fresh hopes of mercy, peace of conscience, increase of grace, and expectations of glory; and whoever finds not this, the fault is not in the prayers, but in the indisposition of his own heart." Dean Comber.

Thus, then, we see how excellent and superior in all respects is the liturgy of our Church; and how admirably she has provided for the two important objects of the public service, instruction and devotion. The lessons, the creeds, the commandments, the epistles and gospels, contain the most important and impressive instruction on the doctrines and duties of religion: While the confession, the collects and prayers, the litany and thanksgivings, lead the understanding and the heart through all the sublime and affecting exercises of devotion. In this truly evangelical and excellent liturgy, the supreme Lord of the universe is invoked by the most appropriate, affecting, and sublime epithets all the wants to which man, as a dependant and sinful being, is subject, are expressed in language at once simple, concise, and comprehensive; these wants are urged by confessions the most humble, and supplications the most reverential and ardent; the all sufficient merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, are uniformly urged as the only effectual plea, tl.e only certain pledge of divine mercy and grace; and with the most instructive les sons from the sacred oracles, and the most profound confessions and supplications, is mingled the sublime chorus of praise begun by the Minister, and responded with one heart and voice from the assembled congregation. The mind, continually passing from

one exercise of worship to another, and, instead of one continued and uniform prayer, sending up its wishes and aspirations in short and varied collects of supplications, is never suffered to grow languid and weary. The affections of the worshipper ever kept alive by the tender and animating fervor which breathes through the service; he worships his God and Redeemer in spirit and in truth, with reverence and awe, with lively gratitude and love; the exalted joys of devotion are poured upon his soul; he feels that it is good for him to draw near unto God, and that a day spent in his courts, is better than a thousand passed in the tents of the ungodly.

Thus delightful and edifying will every person find the service who joins in it with sincerity; who unites his heart with his voice, in the parts of the service assigned to the people; and who accompanies the minister in thought and affection through the supplications and prayers, lifting up his heart in secret ejaculations corresponding to the public addresses of the minister to the throne of God. A person who thus sincerely offers his devotions according to the liturgy of the Church may be satisfied that he is worshipping God" with the spirit and with the understanding also." The more frequently and seriously he joins in the service, the more will he be impressed with its exquisite beauties, which tend at once to gratify his taste and to quicken his devotion. That continual change of language in prayer which some persons appear to consider as essential to spiritual devotion, it would be impossible to attain, even were every minister left to his own discretion in public worship. The same expressions would necessarily recur frequently in his prayers. They would soon sink into a form, destitute of that propriety and dignity of sentiment and language, of that variety, that simplicity, and affecting fervor which characterize the liturgy of the Church.

If the charge of dull uniformity may with propriety be urged against the prayers of the Church, it may with equal justice be urged against that exalted and inspired composition the Lord's prayer. And yet we can surely

offer no prayer more acceptable to God than the one prescribed by his blessed Son. A lively glow of the fancy and animal spirits may be excited where there is little of the spirit of true devotion, where the understanding and the feelings are not deeply and permanently interested. The novelty that is sought for in extempore effusions tends to occupy the imagination with the words that are employed, and thus diverts the mind. from the proper business of devotion. He who with sincerity and humility makes it his regular business to worship God according to the solemn forms of the liturgy, may be assured that he renders unto God an acceptable service, even if he should not always feel those lively and ardent emotions which depend in no inconsiderable degree upon constitutional temperament, upon the state of health, and various external circumstances.

"It is the true and sincere devotion of the heart only that can make our prayers acceptable unto God. It is this only which gives life and vigor and true acceptance, to all our religious addresses unto him. Without this, how elegantly and moving soever the prayer may be composed, and with how much seeming fervor and zeal soever it may be poured out, all is as dead matter, and of no validity in the presence of our God. It is true, a new jingle of words, and a fervent delivery of them by the minister in prayer, may have some effect upon the auditors, and often raise in such of them as are affected this way, a devotion which otherwise they would not have. But this being wholly artificial, which all drops again, as soon as the engine is removed that raised it, it is none of that true habitual devotion, which alone can render our prayers acceptable unto God." (6.)

The length of the service has been sometimes a subject of complaint. Yet so excellent and appropriate is every part of it, that it would be difficult to determine where with propriety it could be curtailed. On this subject there would certainly be a great

(6.) Dean Prideaux, Com. of Old and New Testament, Book 6. Part 1.

diversity of opinion, and the Church would therefore probably lose much more than she would gain by any alteration of the service. In its present state it has become venerable from time, and has always served as an animating guide to the devotions of the pious. Let every person who objects to the length of the service seriously consider, whether this objection does not arise in a considerable degree from an indisposition to discharge the duties of public worship, and from laying too much stress on preaching, which, though an appointed mean of grace, ought certainly ever to be subordinate to the more important duty of worshipping God. It is worthy of remark also, that the service is not entirely occupied with prayer. The reading of portions of the Holy Scriptures and the reciting of the psalms constitute no inconsiderable part of it. The blending of instruction and devotion; the transition from prayer to praise, and from one short supplication to another; the mingling of the responses of the people with the addresses of the minister, afford an interesting variety in the service, which is one of its most excellent and valuable characteristics.

Long then may the Church preserve inviolate a form of service, which is calculated to cherish in her members a spirit of devotion equally remote from dull and unprofitable lukewarmness on the one hand, and from blind, extravagant, and indecent enthusiasm on the other a form of service which has ever served to brighten the pious graces of her members; and in the season of declension and error, to preserve the pure flame of truth and the genuine spirit of evangelical piety. With such sacred and commendable caution, does the Episcopal Church in America guard this service, that she exacts from all her ministers, at their ordination, a solemn promise of conformity to it; and, in one of her canons, forbids the use of any other prayers than those contained in the liturgy.

Where indeed a form of prayer is provided, the introduction of extempore prayers, would appear liable to the charges of being unnecessary and presumptuous-unneces

sary, because it is to be supposed that the Church has fully provided in her service for every subject of prayer; and presumptuous because it carries the idea, that it is in the power of an individual to compose prayers for the congregation superior to those prepared by the united wisdom and piety of the Church. Equally presumptuous would be any attempt in an individual minister to alter the language of prayers universally admired for their correctness, and their simplicity— prayers in the language of which, the most eminent divines, and the first scholars in every age have esteemed it a privilege to express their devotions.

Were these wholsome restraints which confine the clergy to the prescribed form re moved; were every minister allowed at pleasure to alter the service, to depart from the rubrics, and to introduce prayers not approved by the Church; that uniformity of worship which constitutes one peculiar excellence of the Episcopal Church would be destroyed. No limits could be set to a liberty peculiarly liable to abuse. There would be reason to apprehend, that the spirit of irregular enthusiasm, which experience proves is seldom satisfied with its encroachments, or soothed by indulgence, would fundamentally change, and perhaps finally subvert that liturgy, which is now at once the glory and safeguard of the Church, the nurse of evangelical truth, and of spiritual and sober devotion. (7.)

(7.) A distinguished Bishop of our Church, in his late sermon at a consecration, thus bears his forcible testimony against all unlicensed alterations of the service. "We cannot, however, but have observed with the most poignant sorrow, that even our desire of extending the Kingdom of the Redeemer has been a door of admission to the ministry of persons who disdain whatever restraints may be imposed by public reason on private fancy. And, indeed, it gives us one of the most melancholy views, which can be taken of human nature, to find evils of this magnitude arising out of a combination of extraordinary apparent piety, with a disregard of the most explicit promises which can be made, in one of the most solemn acts to which religion can give her sanction." Bishop White in this last sentence alludes to the vows of

Against an event thus to be dreaded, let every friend of vital piety, of primitive order, of evangelical worship, most solicitously guard. Let him repress in himself and in others all tendency to innovation, all disposition to find fault with a service, which has been deemed, through a long course of time, in the judgment of some of the wisest and best of men, to be the most perfect of human compositions. Above all, since we enjoy "such an excellent form of prayer, let us reverence it accordingly; resort to it frequently; attend to it devoutly; accompany it not only with our lips, but with our hearts; repeat what we are to repeat; and answer what we are to answer; join in every prayer of the minister with our mind, and in every response and Amen with our voice; and in all respects behave like those who are in the more immediate presence of God. Then will"the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer."

Let every one who has received authority to minister in the sanctuary, and to present the prayers of the people at the throne of God, let him consider it as his most sacred duty to perform the service with that dignity and correctness of manner, and above all, with that solemn and fervent spirit of piety, which proceeding unaffectedly from his own heart, will always find its way to the hearts of the people, and engage them with him in the sublime exercises of devotion.

"Let thy priests, O Lord, be clothed with salvation, that the people may rejoice."-Bp. Hobart's Companion to the book of Common Prayer.

To the above remarks, we add the following commendations of the Liturgy, which are not less distinguished for their justness, than for their eloquence. They are from the pens of Bishop Newton, Bishop Jeremy Taylor, and Dean Comber.

"Our Liturgy," says Bishop Newton, ordination, which in the most solemn manner, bind every minister to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Church

"was not the production of this or that man the compilers of it were, not only the best and wisest men of that age in this nation, but they consulted likewise the most eminent of the divines abroad, and had their approbation of it, and approved it yet farther themselves, by dying in its defence.

It was composed principally out of Scripture, or out of ancient liturgies and fathers. Even where entire parts and passages, are not borrowed, and the very words of Scripture or of the fathers are not taken or applied, yet their spirit and manner, their style and character are still preserved; and perhaps there is scarce any collect in our liturgy, scarce any sentiment or expression that may not be justified by the authority of one or other of them. What a comfort and satisfaction should it be to us, that we are such a sound part of the Holy Catholic Church, that we thus maintain the communion of saints; that we worship God in the same manner as the Martyrs and the Confessors and best of Christians did in the purest ages; and the spirit of their Liturgies, like the spirit of Elijah upon Elisha, hath descended in "a double portion" upon ours.

Our prayers are addressed to the proper object through the proper mediator; to the one God, through the "one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Each collect begins with a solemn invocation of the one, and concludes with the prevailing merits and intercession of the other.

It is besides a great excellence of our service to have so many short distinct petitions. They are thus rendered more fit and easy to be remembered and repeated. Our Liturgy in this respect may be compared to a string of pearls, every one valuable, but altogether

almost inestimable. If the whole was disposed in one continued prayer, though it might not be tedious, yet it would keep our minds upon the stretch too long together; whereas, these breaks and pauses give relief, our souls recover breath as it were, and we return to worship again with new spirit and vigour.

The variety of our service is another ex