and months, and times, and years (Gal. iv. 2.). Compare also Col. ii. 16. Since, however, the injunction of the Apostle is here directed against those false teachers who would bind the early converts by the obligations of the Jewish ritual, it is manifest that it does not bear at all upon Christian solemnities, unless indeed it urges the necessity of substituting the one for the other, of adhering to the substance instead of the shadow.

Does the objection urged against the Saint's-days of the Romish Calendar bear in any degree upon those retained at the Reformation?

The objection against the keeping of Holy-days, founded on the corrupt practice of the Church of Rome, whose Calendar is crowded with the names of Saints and martyrs, of which many are mere fabulous inventions, and others are those of persons of questionable or immoral characters canonized for some isolated deed of doubtful piety, no longer avails. At the Reformation all festivals were abolished except those which had been observed from the earliest ages of the Church, and tended to the honour of the Gospel, and the furtherance of true religion.

22. For what purpose then have the names of certain Romish Saints been retained in our Calendar?

True it is that several Popish holidays are inserted in our Calendar, but they are marked by no religious observance, and have simply been retained for the purpose of indicating popular anniversaries, the commencement of law-terms, and the ordinary periods when rent and other payments become due.

23. Shew that the institution of festivals in commemoration of particular mercies vouchsafed to the Church are sanctioned by Scripture.

That the institution of festivals in commemoration of particular benefits, is not only not forbidden, but sanctioned by Scripture, appears from the fact that God himself ordained those of the Passover, of Weeks, and of Tabernacles; that the Christian Easter and

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Whitsuntide are modelled upon the two former, and were consecrated anew by the resurrection of our Lord and the effusion of the Holy Spirit; and that Christ himself gave his sanction, tacitly at least, to the feast of Dedication, which was of human institution.

24. Are Festivals the only days of religious observance set apart by the Church?

Besides those holydays which are called feasts or festivals, the Church has also set apart others as days of fasting and abstinence ; and as the former are appropriated to rejoicing, so are the latter to godly sorrow.

25. Is fasting to be regarded as a positive duty; and how far, and in what respect, is it a service acceptable to God?

Since fasting is nowhere enjoined in the New Testament, it is not regarded as a positive duty, though it is plain, from our Lord's example and his directions respecting it (Matt. iv. vi.), and from the practice of the Apostles and the primitive Church (Acts x. 10. xiii. 2. xiv. 23. 2 Cor. vi. 5.), that it is properly inculcated as a wholesome act of penitential discipline, calculated to subdue the flesh to the spirit, and to promote hearty contrition and devout humility. It is not the act itself that is acceptable, but the end which it is intended to effect. Respecting the mode and degree therefore of mortification to be practiced no regulations are given, but, certain times and seasons being set apart for its more convenient exercise, all besides is left to the discretion of each individual.

26. Point out the distinction, if there be any, between fasting and abstinence.

It does not appear that our Church makes any actual distinction between fastiag and abstinence, whereas the Church of Rome applies the latter term to the abstaining from particular kinds of food, while it allows the utmost indulgence in other delicacies.

27. Enumerate the days and seasons of fasting appointed by our Church.

The appointed times of Fasting are the 40 days of Lent, in which Ash-Wednesday and Good Friday are included; all the Fridays in

the year, except Christmas day falls on a Friday; the Vigils of certain festivals; and the Ember and Rogation days.

28. Point out the origin and design of the great Lent Fast of forty days.

From the earliest days of Christianity the season of Lent has been observed in commemoration of our Lord's fasting forty days in the wilderness, for the purpose of preparing the mind by religious abstinence and self-denial for the devout celebration of the ensuing festival of Easter. It may probably have originated in the announcement of Christ to the Pharisees, that his disciples would fast after his removal from them (Matt. ix. 15.), and it has been supposed to have been instituted by the Apostles themselves.

29. May it not also have reference to certain events recorded in the Old Testament?

The period of forty days may also have reference to the fasts of Moses and Elias in the Old Testament.

30. How are the forty days computed; and why are the Sundays excluded from the computation?

From the forty days, the six Sundays are excluded, inasmuch as all Sundays are festivals in commemoration of our Saviour's resurrection; and accordingly they are designated Sundays in Lent, not of Lent. Hence it was necessary in order to make up the number of forty days complete, that Lent should commence on the Wednesday in the seventh week before Easter.

31. What is the origin and import of the term Lent?

The term Lent is of Saxon origin, and signifies the spring; so that the Lenten fast means, in fact, the Fast which is kept in the Spring of the year.

32. By what names has the first day of Lent been distinguished; and what was the wish expressed by our

reformers respecting an antient discipline, in which the name, which it bears in our Calendar, originated?

In the time of St. Augustine, the first day of Lent was called Caput jejunii, and also Dies Cinerum, from the practice which then prevailed of sprinkling ashes upon the heads of those who had been sentenced to perform public penance. It was the wish of the Reformers that this custom, from which the day is still called AshWednesday, should be recovered from the empty form into which it had degenerated, but the prejudices of the times would not admit of its revival.

33. In what manner has the omission of the discipline in question been supplied?

In the hope that it might nevertheless at some future period be restored, our Church has in the mean time supplied its place by an appropriate service, "to be used on the first day of Lent, and at other times as the Ordinary shall appoint."

34. Explain the import of the Commination office; and shew that the objections commonly alleged against it are unreasonable.

From the Latin verb comminari, "to threaten," this office is called "A Commination, or denouncing of God's anger and judgment against sinners ;" and even against this a prejudice exists in the minds of some persons, as if the use of it obliged them to curse their neighbours. Be it observed, however, that the curses are not denounced by ourselves, but by God; and that we merely assent to the justice of his determination to punish vice both in ourselves and others.

35. Was this office originally compiled at the Reformation?

This service is a very antient one; and seems to have been written as early as the ninth century.

36. What are the first Sunday in Lent, and the three preceding Sundays called; and why?

Looking forward, even before the beginning of Lent, to the high festival of Easter, the Church has named the three Sundays preceding the great fast, and the first Sunday in Lent, Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, and Quadragesima, as being about the 70th, 60th, 50th, and 40th day before Easter respectively. Quinquagesima is, in fact, precisely the 50th. In early times, some of the more devout brethren commenced their Lenten fast from the first of these Sundays.

37. What are Eves or Vigils; and in what did they originate?

Eves or Vigils refer to a usage of the early Christians, who passed the night before certain festivals in devotion; and these watchings, vigilia, were doubtless a continuation of those religious exercises, which, in the times of persecution, they were prevented from performing by day. They were at length abused, and therefore discontinued; but the fasts were retained, though the night service was abolished, and the name of vigils, however inappropriate, is still applied to them.

38. Are all the festivals, observed in the Church of England, preceded by Vigils?

Those festivals, which occur immediately after Christmas, and between Easter and Whitsunday, have no eves attached to them, because fasting is deemed inconsistent with those seasons of rejoicing; and there are one or two others, which, for less obvious reasons, are also without them.

39. What are the Ember-days; and for what reason are they probably so called?

The Ember-days are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, after the first Sunday in Lent, Whit-Sunday, September 14, and December 13. They are probably so called from a Saxon word signifying a circuit, because they are periodically observed; though the appellation has also been referred to a German word implying abstinence. It has likewise been explained as synonymous with ashes, because these days are appointed to be kept as fasts.