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pious and good old man, who was expecting SERM. the coming of the promised saviour, and to whom it had been revealed that he should not die till he had seen the Lord Christ. He came by the guidance of the spirit into the temple, at the time when Jesus was introduced by his parents, and immediately being filled with the Holy Ghost, he took him in his arms, and said, "Lord, now lettest "thou thy servant depart in peace accord

ing to thy word, for mine eyes have seen

thy salvation;”— I am content now, O Lord, to lay down my life, now that I have lived to behold, according to thy promise, the redeemer of mankind, "whom thou "hast prepared before the face of all

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people, to be a light to lighten the Gen"tiles (to guide all the nations of the "earth to true religion) and to be the

glory of thy people Israel," to those of them, at least, who own Jesus to be the Christ. I omit to mention those other

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two

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SERM. two hymns, which it is at the minister's choice to repeat instead of these, for the same reason that I omitted those which follow the morning lessons, because, I think, they are now rarely, if ever, used.

Of the two collects in the evening service, which differ from those of the morning, the first is for peace; we beseech God, from whom all religious thoughts, all pious suggestions, and all good actions do proceed, to pour into our hearts that peace and tranquility, which it is not in the power of the world to bestow; that we may be fully determined to obey the divine commandments; and resting secure that we are under God's protection, may pass, quiet and undisturbed, the time of our abode here on earth. The other collect, which is peculiar to the evening service, is for God's aid and protection, in the dangers arising from darkness of mind, ignorance, and the perils, also, of the night.

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I now proceed, according to the plan I SERM. formerly laid down, to a consideration of the Litany. The meaning of the word Litany' is an earnest supplication to God; in that of ours, almost all the sins which a Christian should avoid, and all the graces which he should seek, are particularly enumerated; so that it has this, added to the other good in it, to recommend it, that it serves to bring to our minds many offences, of which, otherwise, we might not have noticed that we were guilty, and admonishes us of the necessity of some virtues, which we might not else have known that we were to aim at. Most parts of it are very plain; I shall only speak of those few, with regard to which there may be any hazard of their being not understood. Those short ejaculations,-"Good Lord deliver us, "we beseech thee to hear us, good Lord," which the people are ordered to repeat at frequent intervals, belong to the preceding

SERM. sentences which the minister has spoken,

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and he likewise is understood to join in them; they were judged to have a better effect than if the whole supplication were repeated without any breaks, as they recall attention, which is but too apt to wander, and render the congregation, by the very act of repeating them, more warm and fervent in their petitions. The Litany opens, first, with a separate address to each person of the blessed Trinity, and then to them all jointly; these the people repeat at length after the minister. Jesus Christ is then besought, by the title of Lord, to forget our offences, and the offences of our forefathers; not to take vengeance on us for our sins, but to spare us to whom he has already shewn so much love, as to redeem us with his most precious blood. We, after this, put up our prayers against divers sins and various evils, natural and moral: the words used can scarce be made

plainer

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plainer by any explanation; I shall merely SERM. notice some particular phrases. The phrase,

blindness of heart, means either ignorance of God and his perfections, or selfdeception, thinking ourselves superior to what we are; more wise, more religious, or more virtuous. By deadly sins,' we may understand such as are wilful, deliberate, and presumptuous; sins into which we are not betrayed by passion, but which we commit with our eyes open, considerately knowing them at the time to be, in the very highest degree, displeasing to God, and prejudicial to our souls. Some object to our praying against sudden death; but, surely, the generality of men have but too much reason to do it; few only have their lamps so prepared, as not to have cause to be desirous of a short space in which to trim them, before the bridegroom really arrives. But to those who may think there is little to be done in a last illness (and indeed,

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