of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” And so, seventeen hundred years afterwards, we find that Peter and John prayed for those upon whom they were about to lay hands, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. And, in like manner, the bishop lays on his hands, and says: "Defend, O Lord, this thy child with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for ever; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom."

The ceremonial part of the confirmation being thus performed by the blessing, and the imposition of hands, conferred upon each party separately; the bishop, in conclusion, proceeds to recommend the whole of those together, who have been newly confirmed, to the protection of the Almighty. This he does by means of a short ejaculatory prayer, which follows the belief in the morning and evening services; "Then shall the bishop say,' (the Rubric proceeds to direct,) "The Lord be with you;" and the congregation, as it were in grateful acknowledgment of his prayers for them, immediately respond, " And with thy spirit." "And" then, according to the directions of the Rubric, "(all kneeling down) the bishop shall add: Let us pray." After this he at once proceeds to recite the Lord's prayer, which from its frequent use is too well known to need any comment at pre"And" then comes "this collect," as the

sent.

a Gen. xlviii. 16.

Rubric goes on to direct: " Almighty and everlasting God, who makest us both to will and to do those things that be good and acceptable unto thy divine Majesty; we make our humble supplications unto thee for these thy servants, upon whom (after the example of thy holy apostles) we have now laid our hands, to certify them (by this sign) of thy favour and gracious goodness towards them. Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, ever be over them; let thy Holy Spirit ever be with them; and so lead them in the knowledge and obedience of thy word, that in the end they may obtain everlasting life, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever one God, world without end." At the opening of this address, the bishop undoubtedly alludes to the good work which they have just been performing, by the grace of God, "who maketh us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure." He then appropriately supplicates the protection of the Almighty upon those who have just been confirmed, and, as I have already explained, according to the manner which was formerly adopted by the holy apostles; in order that by so doing, that is, by using the sign of the laying on of hands, they might be certified of God's goodness towards them. And that this sign is sufficiently indicative of this, in the case of all who have taken part in the performance with sincerity, must be evident from the comparison which has been already made between the custom of the Christian church, and that of the patriarchs of

old. The prayer concludes by merely particularising the benefits which had been just before solicited, in a general way, from the hands of the Almighty, and requesting that they might be obtained through Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever one God. Then comes a general prayer as a termination to the whole, and afterwards the blessing, neither of which require more than to be merely recited, which, with the intermediate Rubric, I will now do. "O Almighty Lord and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments, that through thy most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." "Then" (according to the Rubric) "the bishop shall bless them, saying thus: The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen."

SERMON X.

TEMPTATIONS INCIDENT TO A LIFE OF

TRIAL.

1 CORINTHIANS, X. 13.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

AMONGST the numberless trials and vicissitudes to which we are subject in this state of probation, it cannot but afford matter of the greatest consolation to every sincere disciple of Christ, to consider that he is ever under the eye of a merciful and superintending Providence, who is ready to afford him such protection and such assistance in his Christian warfare as are consistent with his condition as a responsible and reasonable agent, with power to obey the dictates of a right conscience, or the suggestions of his great adversary the devil. We all of us, indeed, know from our own daily experience, that great is the corruption of our nature; for although, for the most part at least, we have a clear and dis

tinct perception of that which is good and of that which is evil; although we can plainly distinguish the path which leadeth unto life and happiness from that which leadeth unto everlasting misery and woe, yet how often do we fix our choice on that which rather argues the decision of an idiot, or of one of the brute creation, than that of a being blessed with the divine attributes of sense and reason? How often, therefore, must our actions induce us to exclaim with so great and perfect a character as the Apostle St. Paul, "I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not; for I delight in the law of the Lord after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." If, indeed, so great and virtuous a personage as was this Apostle, inspired as he was from above, was compelled to admit the predominance of his fleshly lusts over the more virtuous propensities of the soul; certainly we can have no less reason to confess the imperfections of our present condition, and to feel most sensibly that great and arduous must be the struggle, if we hope to exchange our condition from that of a Christian militant on earth, to that of a Christian triumphant in heaven.

Although this consideration applies to the state of the whole body of Christians, yet I wish to impress it particularly on the minds of those who have lately