and able,) wouldst help us, at the beginning of another week, to grow in every holy desire after HALLOWING THY NAME! and make us what it becometh us to be, as "members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven!" Holy God! Thou didst HALLOW THINE OWN NAME by the gift of Thy Holy Spirit to abide with Thy Church for ever, and Thy covenant promise is, that in very faithfulness, Thou wilt never forsake the work of Thine Own Hands; but magnifying Thy sovereign grace and power in Christ Jesus, wilt ever create anew, confirm, and strengthen unto the end. And now, what is our hope? surely our hope is in Thee. That Thou wilt nourish all things in us belonging to the Spirit; that Thou wilt stir us up to improve our high calling, and magnify our mighty privileges; that Thou wilt quicken us to feel ourselves bound, at all moments, by the strictest bonds that our baptismal vows can lay upon us to be Thine; and awaken in our hearts Thy Holy Spirit of fear, lest these great and precious privileges being ours, we fall short of our heavenly inheritance, and our last end be worse than our first! To this end we would meditate on the opportunity afforded us this day, of paying our vows unto Thee openly, and sanctifying and glorifying Thy Name before all people; of resting ourselves from the hindrances, entanglements, burdens, and excitements of our respective callings during the week; that we may honour Thee by not doing our own ways, or finding our Own pleasures, or speaking our own words; but slaking our thirst after happiness in the streams of Thy mercy, and reaching after a foretaste of that heavenly rest in Thee, and all-satisfying delight in Thy service, which alone can satisfy the would we do, O Holy Father, Lord God Almighty, for Thou wilt remember Thy promises, and do unto us as Thou usest to do unto all that loved Thy NAME! We would pray Thee to HALLOW THY NAME, by especially giving Thy blessing this day to all Thy ministering servants set over us in this parish; and all guides of souls, and pastors of Thy flock wheresoever in the world they be; increasing in them Thy manifold gifts of grace, that they may "direct their work in truth," and divide Thy Truth and dispense Thy Sacraments to the edifying and well-growing of Thy Church, and the saving of themselves and all that hear them; and that they may have, O Merciful FATHER, unwearied zeal, and diligence, and watchfulness, in their calling; Thou strengthening them unto all patience and longsuffering under the trials and discouragements they meet with; and succouring and comiorting them against all temptation to weariness and despair. Oh! that Thou wouldst of Thine infinite mercy fix the thought of Thy Being and Presence within us all, and about us all, teaching us more and more of Him in Whom dwelleth all fulness of grace and truth. That Thou wouldst HALLOW THY NAME among us by larger outpourings of Thy gifts of light and love, to cement our divisions and correct our errors; and in Thine Own good time gather us together, friends, relations, benefactors, every one linked to us by love or otherwise, in one blessed Communion, even in one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever! A CAUTION GIVEN 200 YEARS AGO AND MUCH NEEDED JUST NOW. "Unthinking people are carried away with mere noise and pretences, and hope these will secure them against the fears of Popery, who talk with most passion and with least understanding against it; whereas no persons do really give them greater advantages than these do. For, where they meet only with intemperate railings, and gross misunderstandings of the state of the controversies between them and us (which commonly go together), the most subtle priests let such alone to spend their rage and fury; and when the heat is over, they will calmly endeavour to let them see how grossly they have been deceived in some things, and so will more easily make them believe, they are as much deceived in all the rest. And thus the East and West may meet at last, and the most furious antagonists may become some of the easiest converts. This I do really fear will be the case of many thousands among us, who now pass for most zealous Protestants; if ever, which God forbid, that religion should come to be uppermost in England. It is, therefore, of mighty consequence for preventing the return of Popery, that men rightly understand what it is. For, when they are as much afraid of an innocent ceremony as of real idolatry, and think they can worship images and adore the Host on the same grounds that they may use the sign of the Cross, or kneel at Communion, when they are brought to see their mistake in one case, they will suspect themselves deceived in the other also when they find undoubted practices of the Ancient Church condemned as Popish and Antichristian, by their teachers, they must conclude Popery to be of much greater antiquity than really it is; and when they can trace it so very near the Apostles' times, they will soon believe it settled by the Apostles themselves."-Bishop Sanderson. OF GESTURES IN WORSHIP. "When we make profession of our faith, we stand; when we acknowledge our sins, or seek unto God for pardon, we fall down; because the gesture of constancy becometh us best in the one, in the other the beLaviour of humility."-Hooker. BOOKS. The Marriage Question.-As this subject will probably now be brought again before people's notice, pray get and read carefully, a little tract called "The Forbidden Marriage," (Wertheim and Macintosh). It puts the Scriptural argument in a very plain and unanswerable way. The Publisher would do well to print it at a halfpenny, to enable Clergy and Laity to circulate it extensively. An Almanack for the Masses.—If you want a cheap Almanack for your own use, or to give away, "Whitaker's Penny Almanack" is the best you can get. It has already reached the Twelfth Thousand. The First Number of "The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Younger Members of the English Church," (above the age of 15) promises to be very useful: we wish it all success. OLD NEWS BETTER THAN NONE. NOTES ON CHURCH HISTORY. No. II. VERY soon after the conversation of which some account has been given, Mr. Hyde and Mr. Butler were again spending an afternoon together, and Mr. Hyde said, "I have been thinking as well as I could about the Second Chapter of Acts as the beginning of Church History; and seeing more and more how much it tells one about the Holy Catholic Church, I tried to set down in writing, after my simple fashion, some of the chief things which we may learn from it. I meant to ask you to look at it but in the mean time I have had a call from our Parson, and somehow we fell on talking of these matters, and I got to be so bold as to tell him what I had been doing: and he looked with that pleased look of his, and said, 'Will you let me read it over for you, and make corrections as I may see fit? it is best to be exact in these great matters, whether we are talking or writing or only thinking of them.' To be sure,' says I, 'I shall be greatly obliged to your Reverence, only I am ashamed for you to see what poor work I have made of it.' • Never mind, Edward,' says he, 'I dare say I shall say to myself, I have seen better and I have seen worse, as you said about the new bridle that was given my nephew the other day. That was in your line, you know, and this is in mine.' 'Well, Sir,' says I, there be the papers.' Thank you,' says he, and he took it home, and brought it back this morning when I was out: and here now it is in my pocket: so, Master Butler, if it turn out very wise and knowing, you'll know where the sense comes from." "Let me have it," said the Schoolmaster, "I should like of all things to see what our good Mr. Jones and you have made of it, now that you have been laying your two heads together." So saying, he unfolded the papers which Hyde put into his hand, and read as follows. "When the Church was first set up at Jerusalem, on the first Whitsunday, no one could doubt who was Head and King over it, because of that distinct proclamation, God hath made that same Jesus, Whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." Neither could there be a doubt, who were the persons to order things in the King's absence, for His Twelve Apostles were there, speaking with authority, and shewing their right to do so by the wonders and signs which they wrought. Nor could there be any question as to the way into this Kingdom: they were to repent and be baptized.' Nor as to the privileges of those who belonged to it: they were to have remission of their sins past,' and the gift of the Holy Ghost' for the time to come. Nor as 6 6 to its being a Catholic, that is, an Universal Body; for it was to last through all ages—the promise was to them and to their children,'-and to extend over all countries; for it adds, " to all that are afar off.' Moreover, the conditions of continuing in the Kingdom were made exceedingly plain: men must abide in the Apostles' doctrine,' that is, in the Creed; and in their fellowship,' that is, in outward and visible Communion with them, both in breaking of Bread,'-in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, --and in the public and common prayers' of the Church. And the Body, divinely guided by these simple rules, both grew outwardly, for 3000 were converted at once, and the Lord kept adding to the Church daily such as should be saved: '-and exceeded all that could be hoped for in its internal arrangements for charity and concord. For concord, they were all together:" and for charity, they had all things common,' that is, no one of them counted what was his by law as being really his own. All made liberal offerings, and many offered all that they had, in Holy Communion, for the poor and for other Church purposes. "Here we have, in a very few verses, a kind of perspective view of the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church,-its foundation, rules, and the blessing of observing those rules.” When Butler had read the paper, he said nothing for a minute or two, holding it in his hand, and looking on and off it, as though he were learning it by heart. At last, giving it back to his friend, he said, "I certainly do think I shall understand the Acts of the Apostles the better for this. For, if you mind, every thing in the Book comes naturally from this beginning. All through, the Apostles are the chief; not for anything that they are in themselves, but for Christ's sake, in Whose Name they do all and they prove themselves Christ's messengers by the miracles which they do. This is plain by the healing of the lame man, and what else we read in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th chapters and when St. Paul comes in afterwards, all that he says and does, he says and does as an Apostle, having the same commission with the first Twelve." : H. "To be sure: nobody can deny that. But, Master Butler, do let me ask you one thing. I see that in all the beginning of the Acts, St. Peter comes continually forward, and speaks up, and tells people what to do, more than the rest. Are we to suppose that he had power over the rest ?" B. "What should you think yourself? You see," (here Butler took up and opened a New Testament, which had a mark in it at the right place) "the first converts being pricked to the heart, said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?' They spoke to the rest as well as to Peter. And he made answer accordingly, not as if he had a different power from the rest, but as being the first among Twelve equals for in every company you know some one must be first." H. “You mean, much in the same way as in the committee of our club; we are all equal, but for order's sake some one always takes the chair,-yourself commonly, Master Butler, when you can find time to attend." B. “ Why yes, I do suppose it was a little like that only St. Peter had a standing appointment from our Lord to be in the first place. They were all Stewards, all had the keys of the Kingdom, and upon them all, as on Foundations, the Heavenly Jerusalem was to be built. But upon Peter, in a way, before all the rest and accordingly he was the first to open the door of faith both to Jew and Gentile, and to admit them to Holy Baptism the Jews, on the day of Pentecost; the Gentiles, when he converted Cornelius." : H." So then, if the other Apostles differed at any time from him, they were free to tell him so, and to argue the matter with him, only they must do it very respectfully." B. "Yes, just as he must with them. I mind two places in the Testament where St. Peter was as it were called to account by his brethren for things which they supposed wrong; and in neither case did he claim authority to settle matters by his sole judgment." H. "I think I know one place; when he had been keeping company with Cornelius and the rest, and the Christians at Jerusalem said to him, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.' Peter did not stand upon his general authority, but he shewed them what a special commission he had from God for that very thing. I remember that, but which is the other place ?" B. "In Galatians ii. 14, St. Paul tells how he had once publicly |