and importance of that faith to the comfort and salvation of her own soul, she will feel herself constrained by the love of Christ to use all the various means which are so liberally entrusted to her, not only of preserving its purity according to her solemn oath of office, by the maintenance of a national church, but of spreading and establishing it to the remotest corner of her dominions, and, if possible, far beyond them; planting and watering the wilderness of heathenism, and praying the King of kings" to give the increase. Her "righteousness and holiness of life," are the brightest gems of her diadem. The monarch who thus signalizes himself may not have wielded the sword, yet he is a conqueror, and more than conqueror, through Christ strengthening him—he has conquered the most deadly and fatal of all enemies, "sin, the world, and the devil."

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We next pray, "That it may please thee to rule her heart in thy faith, fear, and love, and that she may evermore have affiance in thee, and ever seek thy honour and glory." Whether as regards the soul of the monarch, the safety, honour, and welfare of her dominions,—or the happiness of her people, solemnly and responsibly committed to her charge, we can offer no better prayer than that her heart may be " "kept in the faith, fear, and love" of Christ. Her rule of faith will be the Word of God, and the Word of God will be her rule of life. Her fear of God will make her fear

to incur his wrath, by abusing the powers entrusted to her for the real welfare only of her subjects. Her love of Christ will display itself in her love of the brethren; she will view the humblest of her subjects as such, and be the guardian and friend of her people. She will show her "affiance" or trust in God, by setting her subjects an example, in her own person, of unaffected and earnest devotion to his service; and by seeking, on all occasions, to advance the kingdom, the power, and the glory of the "Ruler of all princes," as the only sure basis of her own.

Finally, directing our minds to her temporal prosperity, and that of the country involved in her,—all which the composers of the Litany have very properly passed over, until prayer has been offered for spiritual blessings, we pray" that it may please thee to be her defender and keeper, giving her the victory over all her enemies." The cares and the duties of religion are not in the least incompatible with the cares and the duties of the state. On the contrary, genuine Christianityobserve, genuine Christianity, not fanaticism, which is a country's bane, and has in former times been our's-genuine Christianity is the best qualification and guarantee for the due discharge of regal duties. The best Christian, with equal mental excellence in other respects, will always be the best king. The difference between the monarch who trusts in God. and the monarch who

defies him, is the paramount distinction between princes upon earth, the only distinction between them in heaven. He who feels that he has "a defender and keeper" in God, will feel a confidence and a fortitude in all difficulties and trials, which no mere conqueror ever felt. He will not shed the blood of his people for the mere indulgence of his own ambition or caprice, deriving his chief pleasure, like that savage emperor of old, from the infliction of pain; but, under the banner of the Lord of Hosts, and trusting unto His arm alone for victory, he will go forth and resist to the uttermost every hostile aggression upon the peace, and property, and religion of his people, from without, or of rebellion from within. We are happily exempt from all such calamities at present, and have been so for some years past. Whenever it shall please thee to order otherwise, we beseech thee, good Lord, to hear us; to be our gracious sovereign's "keeper and defender;" to "suffer no weapon that is formed against her to prosper *;" to "give her the victory over all her enemies;" to "clothe them with shame, and upon her own head cause her crown to flourish +."

* Isaiah Liv. 7.

† Psalm cxxxii. 19.

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LECTURE XII.

That it may please thee to illuminate all bishops, priests, and deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of thy word; and that both by their preaching and living, they may set it forth, and show it accordingly';

That it may please thee to endue the lords of the council, and all the nobility, with grace, wisdom, and understanding; That it may please thee to bless and keep the magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice, and to maintain truth; That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord..

HAVING begun this Third, or Intercessory Part of the Litany, by beseeching the Lord Jesus to rule and govern the holy Church universal in the right way; having then commenced an appeal to Him on behalf of the members of our own Church in particular, beginning with its appointed temporal Head, the "Defender of the Faith," our "most gracious queen and governor," "-we now proceed to supplicate him on behalf of "all bishops, priests, and deacons;" first, that it may please him to "illuminate them with true knowledge and understanding of his word;" secondly, that "both by their preaching and living, they may set it forth, and show it accordingly."

"Brethren, pray for us," was the fervent ejaculation even of the great Apostle of the Gentiles. With all his natural talent, with all his superadded inspiration, he was bowed down by a sense of his weakness, and besought the brethren to unite their prayers with his own for increased spiritual strength. After exhorting the Hebrews to obey their lawfully appointed spiritual rulers, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief," he repeats the same affectionate and heartfelt request, "pray for ust."

In the same spirit of humility, under an even greater sense of weakness, with the same conviction that every good gift which we need for our ministerial usefulness can only come from above, and that the fervent and effectual prayer of every righteous man shall avail us much in the obtaining of it, we also, his recognised, but most unworthy successors in the ministry, say, "Brethren, pray for us." Nor make we the appeal in vain, for the congregation, after silently following the priest through the petition before us, respond to it, and make it their own, by audibly ejaculating, "We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord."

And have not the ministers of Christ,-whether bishops, priests, or deacons; whether overseers, or subordinate labourers in his vineyard,-a claim + Heb. xiii. 17, 18.

* 1 Thess. v. 8.