A. When the people neglect audibly to repeat the responses, and the other parts assigned to them, the intention of the service of the Church is defeated, and its beauty and solemnity entirely lost. Every person, therefore, in the congregation, should consider it as a duty incumbent upon him, to repeat audibly the parts in the service allotted to the people he will thus perform his share in the important and honourable duty of worshipping God; he will find his heart animated, and the impressions of devotion rendered more lively, by the joint and audible recital of the service by both minister and people; and he will have the satisfaction of contributing to exhibit the service of the Church in all its majesty, beauty, and affecting solemnity.

Q. Why are the Psalms recited as a part of the service of the Church?

A. The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers and praises endited by the Holy Spirit, composed by devout men on various occasions, and so suited to public worship, that they have long been so used by Christians, no less than by Jews. They treat occasionally of the creation and formation of the world; the dispensations of providence, and the economy of grace. They contain great variety of devotions, suitable to all degrees and conditions of men. Those of them which do not admit of being applied to individuals, are, nevertheless, very proper for recital, since they are meant by the psalmist to be the voice of the universal Church. In some of his psalms, David speaks as the representative of the Church; in others, he expresses himself in the person of the Messiah.*

Q. Do not the imprecations which occur in some of the Psalms, constitute an objection to the use of them in divine service?

A. The offence taken at the supposed vindictive and uncharitable spirit of the imprecations which occur in some of the psalms, ceases immediately, if we change the imperative for the future, and read, not "Let them be confounded," &c. but "They shall be confounded," &c. of which the Hebrew is equally capable. Such passages will then have no more

*That the Psalms are typical of the Christian dispensation, and meant to be applied to the Messiah, to the Church, and to private Christians, has been satisfactorily proved by Bishop Horne, in his learned Preface to his Commentary on the Psalms: and he who would see these Psalms admirably applied to the purposes of Christian faith and devotion, should consult the Commentary of this elegant and pious author.

difficulty in them than the other frequent predictions of divine vengeance in the writings of the prophets, or denunciations of it in the gospels, which are intended to warn, to alarm, and to lead sinners to repentance, that they may flee from the wrath to come. But if the imprecatory form be still contended for, all that can be meant by it, whether uttered by the prophet, by Messiah, or by ourselves, must be a solemn ratification of the just judgments of the Almighty against his impenitent adversaries, like what we find ascribed to the blessed spirits in heaven when such judgments were executed. But, by the future rendering of the verbs, every possible objection is precluded at once.

Q. What should be the behaviour of the people while the psalms and hymns are repeating?

A. While the psalms and hymns that are used in different places of the service are repeating, the people should attentively observe the minister's part as well as their own, and lift up their hearts together with their voices in acknowledg ing and praising the glorious attributes of the most high God, as displayed in all his works, and particularly in his dispensation of mercy and grace to the children of men. While engaged in this exalted employment, they should stand up; not only to signify, but also to assist the lifting up of the heart and affections at the same time.

Q. What follow in the service after the psalms?

A. When the heart has been raised up to God, in the sacred exercise of praise, by reciting the psalms, we are then in a fit disposition to hear his holy word. By such change, an agreeable respite or intermission is given to the bent of our minds; for as the thoughts were required to be active in the psalms, it is sufficient, in the lessons, if they hold themselves attentive. Now, therefore, follow two lessons, one out of the Old Testament, the other out of the New, to show the harmony between the law and the gospel; for the law is the gospel foreshowed-the gospel is the law fulfilled.

Q. What method has the Church pursued in appointing the lessons for ordinary week days?

A. For the lessons on ordinary week days, the Church begins with the first chapter of Genesis, in the month of January, and continues till all the books of the Old Testament are read through, with the exception of certain omissions. The books of Chronicles are omitted, because they are, for

Rev. xi. 17. 18. xvi. 5, 6, 7.

the most part, the same with the books of Samuel and Kings. The Song of Solomon is wholly omitted, because it should be read with a disposition to understand it spiritually, and therefore is not a proper piece of writing for a mixed congregation. Isaiah is appointed for the time of Advent, this evangelical prophet being the best monitor to prepare us for a true faith in the mystery of Christ's incarnation and birth. Several chapters in Ezekiel are omitted, on account of the mystical visions in which they are wrapped.

Q. What method has the Church pursued in appointing lessons for Sundays?

A. From Advent to Septuagesima Sunday, the season which the Church devotes to the celebration of the incarnation of Christ, and his manifestation to the gentile world, some particular chapters are appointed out of the prophet Isaiah, who predicts, with more clearness and sublimity than any other prophet, those great events. For Septuagesima Sunday, and the following Sundays before Lent, and during that season, being the time of penance and mortification, the Church appoints out of the prophets, chapters which declare the judgments of God against sin, and excite to repentance and reformation. But on the Sundays towards the end of Lent, with a view to prepare for the proper celebration of Good Friday and Easter, the Church reads parts of some of the prophets which immediately refer to the death of Christ, and to his glorious completion of the work of redemption. On the Sundays succeeding Easter, portions of Scripture, to the same evangelical purport, are read, until Trinity Sunday, when Genesis is taken up and such chapters of this book, and of the succeeding books of Scripture, as are deemed particularly instructive in piety and morals, are continued to the season of Advent.

Q. What method is observed in appointing the lessons for saints' days and other holy days?

A. On saints' days, the Church appoints lessons out of the moral books, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, &c. which being full of excellent instruction, are fit to be read on the days of saints, whose exemplary lives and deaths are the causes of the Church commemorating them, and commending them to our imitation. Other holy days, such as Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, &c. have proper lessons of their own, suited to the occasions, as will be seen when we come to treat of those days. It may be proper to remark, that there H

were proper lessons on all holy days, appointed even as early as the time of St. Augustin.

Q. The above observations respect only the first lessons. What have you to remark in regard to the appointment of

the second lessons?

A. With respect to the second lessons, the method is, on week days, to read generally the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in the morning, and the Epistles in the evening, hoth in the order in which they stand in the New Testament. But on Sundays, saints' days, and other holy days, proper lessons, suited to the occasion, are generally ap pointed.

By the above method of appointing the lessons, the Old Testament, with few exceptions, is read through once, and the New Testament twice, in every year.

Q. With what dispositions should we hear the lessons out of the holy Scriptures read?

A. As the Scripture is not the word of man, but the word of God, we should hearken to the lessons which are read either out of the Old or New Testament, with the same attention, reverence, and faith, as we would have done, had we stood by mount Sinai when God proclaimed the law, or by our Saviour's side when he published the Gospel. But we should hear in order to practise, and be doers of the word, and not hearers only. We should therefore diligently observe, in those portions of Scripture which are read, what the particular sins are against which God warns us; the doctrines which he requires us to believe; and what the duties which he commands us to perform. When we retire home, we should seriously meditate on the Scriptures which we have heard read, in order to apply them to the government and regulation of our hearts and lives.

Q. Why are hymns appointed to succeed the lessons?

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A. Hymns and psalms are intermingled with the lessons, to secure the people from weariness, and to keep alive their devout affections. It is indeed highly proper, that, after we have declared, in the lessons, the wonderful works of God and his gracious dispensation of mercy, we should burst forth in ascriptions of praise and homage, and in expressions of thankfulness for the exalted blessings of his word.

Q. What have you to observe in regard to the hymns which follow the first lessons?

A. The two hymns after the first lesson at morning prayer, are that sublime hymn, the TE DEUM, We praise thee, O

God, &c. which, it is generally believed, was composed by St. Ambrose; and the BENEDICTE, O all ye works of the Lord, which is an exact paraphrase of the 148th psalm, and was a hymn in the Jewish Church, and early adopted into the public devotions of Christians. The first hymn after the first lesson at evening prayer, is the 98th psalm, which, though composed on occasion of the deliverances God wrought for the Jewish nation, may very aptly be applied to Christians, who are God's spiritual Israel, and who are bound to praise him for their glorious deliverance from the bondage of sin and death. The second hymn which may be used, is part of the 92d psalm, and is a beautiful and affecting exhortation to the duty of praise to God for all the operations of his hands.

Q. What have you to observe in regard to the hymns after the second lessons?

A. As the second lessons are all taken out of the New Testament, which conveys to us the glad tidings of salvation, the hymns which follow these lessons, all celebrate the goodness and mercy of God in our redemption. The first hymn after the second lesson in the morning, is the 100th psalm, which calls upon us to praise God, not only for his goodness and power manifested in our creation and preservation, but for that grace, mercy, and truth, which in his everlasting Gospel are set forth, from generation to generation. The other hymn, styled BENEDICTUS, was pronounced by Zecharias, at the circumcision of his son, John the Baptist, and is a lively thanksgiving to God for the incarnation of Christ, and for the unspeakable mercies of redemption. After the second lesson in the evening service, the first hymn, the 67th psalm, is an earnest prayer of David for the coming of the Gospel; and the other hymn, part of the 103d psalm, is a sublime and animated act of thanksgiving for the mercies of redemption actually conferred on mankind.

Q. Is there not great propriety in the order observed by the Church, in placing the creeds and prayers after the

lessons?

A. As "faith comes by hearing," it seems proper, that after the lessons, which declare to us the word of God, should follow the Creed, which is the profession of our faith; and after the Creed follow prayers, which are grounded upon

w Rom. x. 17.