how softly does the virgin's gentle hymn fall on the ear, rejoicing in God her Saviour, for regarding the lowliness of His handmaiden, and exalting the humble and meek! How soothing to the wearied heart, are the breathings of aged Simeon, that he may depart in peace-his eyes having seen the salvation of the Lord. And, in a kindred tone, do we pray the Giver of all holy desires, good counsels, and just works, to bestow that peace, which the world cannot give; and to grant, that we may pass our time in rest and quietness; and that the Lord would lighten the darkness of our hearts, and preserve us from all perils and dangers of the night.

We pass on to the last subject of this evening-the Litany. But, what a subject for religious study! The word, Litany, means earnest supplication. The mixed character of the prayer, which regards the Priest interceding, and the people responding, is derived from the usage of the

first Christians.

The substance of this service is taken from that of Gregory Bishop of Rome, (A. D. 590) who formed the Litany for that Church, from a careful collation of all such devotions previously in use.

The Litany was wont to be said in processions of the priest and people; but was ordered, as celebrated by us, at the time of our Reformation. It was appointed for use on Sunday; and on every Wednesday and Friday, these two latter days marking the betrayal, and crucifixion of Christ; but little observed in our days by the congregation. I particularly beg your attention to the divisions of the Litany.

I. The Invocation: wherein we address separately, and then jointly, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost-calling to mind, the special work of each Divine Person in our salvation; and desiring mercy for ourselves as miserable sinners.

The second portion is called the Deprecation, or prayer against evil. How humble,

and earnest, is that tone of piety, which beseeches Christ, as God, not to remember our offences, nor those of our forefathers; but, to spare us, and be not angry, for ever, with those whom He has redeemed with His most precious blood.

Sin, is the first thing prayed against, as the greatest of evils; leading, assuredly, if not repented, to God's wrath, and everlasting damnation. How is sin traced, in all the deep association of worship, through blindness of heart, the inward wickedness of a corrupt disposition, the hidden passions of pride, vain-glory, envy, and uncharitableness.

Next, the outward train of open vices, lying in wait to ensnare-the grosser desires of animal appetite, and every deceit of the world, and the flesh, and the tempter. Nor till these our greatest dangers have been warded off by the shield of humble supplication, do we suffer the mind, to think of external peril from storm, disease, and suddenness of death. Then does the

mind range from private dangers, to public insecurity arising from sedition and rebellion; to the injury of the Church from false doctrine, heresy of faith, and separation from her communion or schism.

I beseech you, says St. Paul, "by the mercies of God; and by the meekness of Christ." Thus the Church addressing her Saviour, reminds Him, of all his sorrows in humiliating succession: His assuming our low nature, His subjection to the law in circumcision, His baptism by the hand of His forerunner, His days of fasting and temptation. Now, in a deeply mysterious prostration of soul, we set before the glorified Saviour, His agony in the garden; His atoning sacrifice on the cross; His tremendous death, and burial in the sealed sepulchre; then, rising on the wing of joy, we celebrate His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascension to heaven, and mission of the Holy Spirit; and in virtue of all these tokens of love, we intreat, from the heart, our good Lord to deliver us.

But when? in all time of our trouble; in ease and prosperity as full of danger; in the moment of quitting this world for another state; and in that hour, when sentence of bliss or woe unutterable, is to be for ever passed. This passage, considered among human compositions, is, perhaps, the sublimest combination of solemn and affecting thoughts ever presented to the mind; exciting all our hopes and fears, connected with the varied trials of life, and carrying the devout imagination through the ordeal of the grave, to the tribunal of man's final destiny.

The third portion of the Litany is intercessory. The sovereign of the land, and all invested with rank and authority from him; the pastors of the Church, in their Apostolic orders, the dispensers of justice, the people of God in general, peace foreign and domestic-all this is placed before the notice of our good Lord, by us, beseeching Him to hear us.

And next, observe, an interesting tran