"the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, "and riches, and wisdom, and strength, "and honour, and glory, and blessing '.'

66

And when the "voice came out of the Throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear Him, both "small and great;" it immediately follows, "And I heard as it were the voice of a "great multitude, and as the voice of many "waters, and as the voice of mighty thun

derings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord "God omnipotent reigneth "." What a contrast to the comparative stillness, the silent and listless indifference and inattention which pervade too many of our congregations!

I trust, my friends, that you enter readily into what I have said. I trust that you will all perceive and feel how much additional animation and interest is given to the Church Service, how much the object of public worship is promoted, when the people regularly and devoutly join in it audibly, in those parts which are pointed out to them in the

1 Rev. v. 11, 12.

* Rev. xix. 5, 6.

Liturgy. Our spiritual affections and devotion are so sadly apt to become languid and lifeless, that we should be glad to have recourse to every means in our power to animate and quicken them. Let us earnestly beseech the Almighty God to lift up our hearts to Him, to pour into our hearts the genuine spirit of grace and supplication, to raise and to spiritualize our thoughts and affections; and " may the God of patience "and consolation grant you to be like"minded one towards another, according "to Christ Jesus; that ye may, with one "mind and one mouth glorify God, even "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

SERMON XVIII.

THANKSGIVING.

EPHES. V. 20.

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God."

GRATITUDE or thankfulness for benefits, by whatever hand conferred, is a feeling enjoined, not only by religion, but by the dictates even of untutored nature. The very beasts of the field repay the care bestowed upon them with attachment. "The ox

"knoweth his owner, and the ass his mas"ter's crib." Indeed, not only the domestic animals, but those also, which are most fierce and untractable, are generally to be won by kindness, and show some grateful affection to those who provide for them. And with man, in every state of society,

whether softened by civilization, or left in his native uncultivated savageness, there is perhaps no vice more universally the object of contempt and detestation than ingratitude. Hateful, however, as it is justly esteemed, to refuse the return of thankfulness for benefits bestowed by our fellowmen, the vice of ingratitude appears almost to lose its hatefulness in the eyes of the world, when the bountiful Giver of all good things is the object of it; and it was not without very sufficient reason, that the Holy Scriptures so repeatedly call upon us to direct our gratitude to Him, who is entitled to it infinitely above all others. "Offer unto God "thanksgiving, and pay thy vows to the "Most High '." "Be ye thankful unto God, "and bless his name." 66 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the "Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus "Christ."

66

In compliance with these exhortations, our excellent Church has not only expli

1 Psalm 1. 14.

citly stated the necessity of thanksgivings to God, in that short summary of our duty to Him, which she has provided for the instruction of her younger members, but has also taught us to give utterance to the grateful feeling of our hearts, in that excellent general form of thanksgiving which invariably forms a part of her public devotions.

Perhaps I cannot occupy your time and attention more profitably, than by begging you to turn to that thanksgiving in your Prayer Books, and to consider with me, how full an exposition it contains of every part of the duty which I wish to enforce.

It begins with an humble profession of our own unworthiness: "Almighty God, Father "of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants, "do give thee most humble and hearty "thanks."

Thine unworthy servants.-The knowledge that we are unworthy, ought, indisputably, to make us doubly thankful for those blessings, which, notwithstanding our unworthiness, are conferred upon us by God. To suppose,