and be answered in the desire of their hearts ; re- ceiving from him an " increase of grace, to hear meekly his word, to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit ! " And to us in particular may he give, even to every indi- vidual amongst us, " true repentance ; and forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances ; and endue us with the grace of his Holy Spirit, that we may amend our lives according to his holy word." Amen and Amen.
Deut. v. 28, 29. They have well said all that they have spoken : O that there were such an heart in them !
THE further we proceed in the investigation of our Liturgy, the more we feel the difficulty of doing justice to it. Such is the spirit which it breathes throughout, that if only a small measure of its piety existed in all the different congregations in which it is used, we should be as holy and as happy a people as ever the Jews were in the most distinguished pe- riods of their history. If this object has not been yet attained, it is not the fault of our Reformers : they have done all that men could do, to transmit to the latest posterity the blessings which they themselves had received : and there is not a member of our Church, who has not reason to bless God, every day of his life, for their labours. But they knew that it would be to little purpose to provide suitable forms of prayer for every different occasion, if they did not also secure, as far as human wisdom could secure, a succession of men, who, actuated by the same ardent piety as themselves, should perform the different offices to the greatest advantage, and carry on by their personal ministrations the blessed work which they had begun. Here therefore they bestowed the utmost care ; marking with precision what were the qualifications requisite for the ministerial office, and