our church by the widest practicable circulation of her authorized formularies, and of those alone -of those without note or comment-both at home and abroad, is its simple object. Its activity in its foreign operations, appears from its having already engaged in printing the whole or part of our Liturgy or Homilies in several different languages. Whilst, in our own country, it has had the singular merit of exciting the public attention to the long-neglected Books of Homilies-those invaluable sermons, set forth by our Reformers themselves to be the standard of our preaching; and which, of late years at least, were first printed in tracts for general circulation by this Society. Already have about 2000 copies of the entire work, more than 8000 of the First Book, and above 400,000 of separate Homilies in Tracts, been issued by this Institution; and, what is more important, a similar measure has been adopted by another venerable and far more extensive Society. There is thus a fair prospect of this almost forgotten work becoming familiar again to our population, and furnishing a most powerful means, under the blessing of God, not only of stemming, at any future period, the influx of error, lukewarmness, and latitudinarianism, but also of reviving and continuing those fundamental doctrines of salvation in Christ Jesus only, which breathe throughout these remarkable discourses. So long as these

authorized expositions of the brief summary of doctrine contained in our Articles shall be generally diffused amongst the members of our church, the mighty spirit of the Reformation will never be extinct. We shall not only know what our Reformers believed, and in what manner they prayed, but likewise how they preached. And thus our Apostolical Church, pure in her fixed Confessions and Liturgy, will either be pure in all main points as to the actual instruction of her Ministers, or be soon recalled to that purity by the very sermons of the Reformers in the hands of every reader. And containing thus within herself an innate principle of reviviscence -or, rather, depending on the influences of the Divine Spirit to bless these important advantages-she will continue, as we trust, to our remotest posterity, the House of God, amongst us, the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the Truth.

I know not that I can better strengthen the impression of these remarks, or confirm more powerfully the importance of a spirit of genuine piety for the security of our church, than by the admonitions of a late distinguished Prelate, with which I shall beg leave to conclude.

"The promise of perpetual stability," observes Bishop Horsley, "is to the church catholic: it affords no security to any particular church, if her faith, or her works, should not be

found perfect before God. The time shall never be, when a true church of God shall not be somewhere subsisting on the earth; but any individual church, if she fall from her first love, may sink in ruins. Of this, history furnishes but too abundant proof, in the examples of churches, once illustrious, planted by the Apostles, watered with the blood of the first saints and martyrs, which are now no more. Where are now the seven churches of Asia, whose praise is in the Apocalypse? Where shall we find the successors of those earliest archbishops, once stars in the Son of man's right hand? Where are those boasted seals of Paul's apostleship, the churches of Corinth and Philippiè Where are the churches of Jerusalem and Alexandria ?”—“ Let us not defraud ourselves of the benefit of the dreadful example, by the miserable subterfuge of a rash judgment upon others, and an invidious comparison of their deservings with our own. Let us not place a vain confidence in the purer worship, the better discipline, and the sounder faith, which, for two centuries and an half, we have enjoyed. These things are not our merits; they are God's gifts; and the security we may derive from them will depend on the use we make of them. Let us not abate, let us rather add to, our zeal for the propagation of the Gospel in distant parts; but let us not forget, that we have duties nearer home. Let.

us of the ministry give heed to ourselves and to our flocks-let us give an anxious and diligent heed to their spiritual concerns. Let us all, but let the younger Clergy more especially, beware how they become secularized in the general cast and fashion of their lives. Let them not think it enough to maintain a certain frigid decency of character, abstaining from the gross scandal of open riot and criminal dissipation, but giving no farther attention to their spiritual duties than may be consistent with the pursuits and pleasures of the world."-" The time may come, sooner than we think, when it shall be said, Where is now the Church of England? Let us betimes take warning. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, said our Lord to the church of Laodicea, whose worst crime it was, that she was neither hot nor cold; Be zealous, therefore, and repent. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches". "

6 Horsley's Sermons, vol. i. Sermon III.-One or two sentences of the above passage, which appeared to me less applicable to the immediate purpose of my discourse, have been omitted, as will be observed by the breaks.