with this, the "precious blood of Christ" is the means or medium of buying back something which "silver and gold" could not. Further, one qualityevidently the essential one-of the means, or instrument, of this kind of barter is named-perfect innocence, "without spot and blemish."

Such then, is the doctrine of Scripture, that Jesus Christ, God incarnate, by his life, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension, and perpetual intercession, has accomplished the mighty task of human redemption. He, therefore, who truly believes it, will," above all," give thanks to God for the "inestimable love" which brought it to pass.

"The means of grace."

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means

As God works in the natural world by appointed by himself, so he does in the spiritual world. All attempts at improvements in machinery, agriculture, and the like, are but attempts to discover the "means" by which he has appointed that man's wants and comforts shall be supplied. And, in like manner, our duty is to seek to discover the " means" which he has appointed for supplying the wants and comforts of his spiritual nature. By consulting his Word (which is a revelation of spiritual laws, and "means," as the book of nature is of physical laws and "means,") we may discover what the most essential of them are.

Prayer to him, both private and public, offered

through his son Son Jesus Christ, as the only appointed medium under the Christian economy; baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,-that rite pledging, whether to the unconscious infant, or the conscious adult, those aids of the Holy Spirit, without which the practice of true Christianity is impossible ;-faith in Jesus Christ, as the "only name given under heaven, whereby men can be saved;"-the Lord's supper ;preaching, as a divine ordinance, appointed by God for the conversion of men's souls from darkness to light, through the co-operation of the Holy Spirit, and for the keeping alive, before a forgetting world, the great doctrines of revelation, pressed upon men's understandings and hearts, so as to reprove, rebuke, exhort, and instruct in righteousness;-the study of God's Word, under the enlightening aids of the Holy Spirit, sought for in prayer, which, from the nature of the case, are as necessary (in their degree) for the reader, according to his circumstances, as they were for the writer, according to his circumstances; -singing "psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs;" -the proper observance of the seventh day, to force the great truths relating to the soul's life and immortality upon a world which would otherwise soon ignore them.

These are some of these " "" means or agencies, by which he has promised to convey his "grace" to the souls of those who properly use them; and for which

this petition gives us the opportunity of publicly returning thanks. Nor will they be coldly rendered, if we recollect that, so far as we know, they are as necessary, and as sure to accomplish their object for the soul's weal, as physical means are necessary, and sure to accomplish their object, for the body's weal. "The hope of glory."

There is not much difference, in point of intensity, between the matured Christian's hope and faith. But as this "thanksgiving" is designed to be used by professing Christians of all degrees of attainments, so the majority can better express their expectations beyond the grave, by the modest word hope, then by that strong confidence implied in the word faith, which enabled the Apostle to say, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” 2 Tim. iv. 8. And considering the alternative of happiness or misery, of "glory," or of "shame and everlasting contempt," that awaits us all, the lowest degree of "the hope of glory," if only it rests on a substantial foundation, is a just cause for heartfelt thanksgiving," whether in public or private.

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"We beseech thee give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful."

A "due sense," or any degree approaching to it, of God's mercies towards us, is beyond the selfpower of any one to awaken in his consciousness.

A bare abstract enumeration in our memories of all that God, or even an earthly friend, has done for us in past years, will not necessarily kindle the feelings to any corresponding degree of gratitude. Almost any one may prove the truth of this, by trying it in cases belonging to the history of his own experience. No mere effort of the understanding, in thinking of the merits of a benefactor, will suffice, in the majority of even the well-disposed, to awaken those thankful feelings, which long for the opportunity of making some suitable return; and without this, gratitude is an empty word.

Hence, then, it is from God we must ask to receive, through his Spirit applying to our hearts the knowledge of our heads, that "due sense" or due conviction, or feeling, of all his mercies towards us, that so our "hearts may be unfeignedly thankful.”

Such a prayer as this, however, is a tacit confession not only of mournful weakness, but of obliquity, the thoughtful contemplation of which will soon humble the noble-minded.

"I've heard of hearts, unkind, kind deeds

With coldness still returning;

Alas! the gratitude of men

Hath oftener left me mourning."

"That we may show forth thy praise not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in righteousness and holiness all our days.'

This petition embodies what must be the real fruit

of a "due sense of all God's mercies;" for the praises of the "lips" are nothing, and of themselves are worth nothing. We best praise another's goodness by imitating it, leaving others to talk of it. We best praise the wisdom of laws by yielding them our obedience. So, we best praise God, not by saying how good he is, and how wise his laws are, and how great his love is in "the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ," and in providing for us the "means of grace," and holding up as the reward of our struggles the "hope of glory," but by imitating his goodness, obeying his laws, believing with the heart unto righteousness in his Son Jesus Christ, diligently availing ourselves of the means of grace, and aiming to turn the "hope" into the possession of "glory."

Thus it is plain that "lip"-praise is only acceptable when it is followed by "life"-praise; and hence the true way to praise God is to "give up ourselves to his service, and to walk before him in holiness. and righteousness all our days."

EVENING PRAYER.

The Notes upon those portions of the Evening Prayers which are common to both services, will be found in their proper place, excepting the" Prayer for the Queen's Majesty," and for the "Clergy and People," which are not usually introduced into the Morning Service, and also a " Prayer of St. Chrysostom."

The Second Collect at Evening Prayer.

"O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; give unto thy servants that