and a mutual friendship was formed between them. The following year, however, Mr. Talbot married, and subsequently became archdeacon of Berks, and rector of East Hendred, near Wantage. "Butler, it would seem, left the university before he took his degree, was admitted into holy orders, and occasionally assisted his friend in performing the duties of his parish during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1717. His autograph is to be seen in the register of several baptisms and burials in the books of that parish. In the year following he was settled in London, being appointed preacher at the Rolls, on the joint nomination of Archdeacon Talbot and Dr. Clarke."

In 1722, Dr. Talbot, then advanced to the sce of Durham, presented Mr. Butler to the rectory of Haughton-le-Skerne; and afterwards, in 1725, to the valuable rectory of Stanhope, in Weardale. Having resigned his preachership at the Rolls, the year following that in which bis "Fifteen Sermons" were published, he now devoted himself to the pursuit of those duties by which he afterwards gained so great a name. He remained in the retirement of Stanhope for seven years; his time being spent on his "Analogy," and the performance of his parochial duties. His temperament, to use the language of Dr. Croly, "must have been always studious and speculative: it is incidentally described as tending to melancholy; and his letters to his friends give a strong impression that he regretted the loss of his earlier intercourse with the world, even as a refreshment of the mind." The following letter from Dr. Philpotts, bishop of Exeter, rector of Stanhope at the period of his elevation to the episcopate, will be read with much interest, as bearing on the subject before us. It is addressed to Dr. Goddard, archdeacon of Lincoln, and dated Exeter, Jan. 25, 1835:"I earnestly wish I could justify the report made to you by the Provost of Oriel, that I could supply you with several anecdotes of Bishop Butler. The truth, however, is, that although tantalised by seeming opportunities of acquiring some information respecting the private life and habits of one to whom I have been accustomed to look up as the greatest of uninspired men, I have been mortified by my almost entire failure. In the rectory of Stanhope I was successor to him after an interval of eighty years; and one of my earliest employments there was, to search for reliques of my illustrious predecessor. I was assured, that an old parishioner, who, with a tolerably clear memory, had reached the age of ninety-three or ninety-four, recollected him well. To him I frequently went, and in almost all my conversations endeavoured to elicit something respecting 'Rector Butler.' He remembered him well; but, as I ought perhaps to have anticipated, could tell me nothing: for what chance was there, that one who was a joiner's apprentice, of 13 years of age, when Butler left Stanhope, could, fourscore years afterwards, tell any thing about him? That he was respected and beloved by his parishioners, which was known before, was confirmed by my informant. He lived very retired, was very kind, and could not resist the importunities of common beggars, who, knowing his infirmity, pursued him so earnestly, as sometimes to drive him back into his house, as his only escape. I confess I do not think my authority for this trait of character in Butler is quite sufficient to justify my reporting it with any confidence. There was, moreover, a tradition of his riding a black pony, and riding always very fast. I examined the parish-books, not with much hope of discovering any thing worth recording of him, and was unhappily as unsuccessful as I expected. His name, indeed, was subscribed to one or two acts of vestry, in a very neat and easy character; but if it was amusing, it was mortifying to find the only trace of such a man's labours recorded by his own hand, to be the passing of a parish account, authorising the payment of a few shillings to some adventurous clown who had destroyed a 'foumart,' or

wood-marten, the marten-cat, or some other equally important matter."

While Mr. Butler was resident in the retirement of Stanhope, Secker was advancing rapidly in court-preferment, and, to his credit, did not forget his old friend. He was anxious, if possible, to bring him to town; and with this view even ventured to speak to the queen, whose chaplain he was, on the subject. The queen seems not to have been offended with the application made to her; and at Secker's request, Butler was appointed by the lord chancellor one of his chaplains. This entitled him to non-residence on his living; but he conscientiously stipulated that he should reside six months in the year at Stanhope. His elevation rapidly followed he was appointed by the chancellor to a stall at Rochester; and in 1736, by the queen, clerk of the closet; and was now required by her majesty to be in attendance every evening, from seven to nine, for conversation. In the same year he finished "The Analogy." The queen died soon afterwards; but Mr. Butler was presented to the bishopric of Bristol in 1738, and to the deanery of St. Paul's in 1740. He now resigned Stanhope. He was appointed clerk of the closet to the king in 1746, and bishop of Durham in 1750.

His first charge to the clergy of Durham was the cause of no little aspersion being thrown on Bishop Butler's character as a theologian and soundness as a Protestant. "Adverting strongly," says Dr. Croly, "to the general decay of manners, he advised his clergy to do their duty towards reviving a practical sense of religion among the people committed to their care;' and for this purpose to instruct them in the use of external religion, namely, the use of external and visible means of promoting virtue. 'Thus,' as the bishop observed in his charge, if the sight of a church should remind the spectators of some pious sentiment; if, from glancing at this building dedicated to God, he should be led to think of his body as the temple of the Holy Spirit; and therefore, as he knew the indecency and offence of profaning the edifice before his eyes, he should reflect on the guilt of suffering his own body to be the vehicle of impure, cruel, or irreverent thoughts,'-could it be conceived that this sentiment was superstitious, or that it was not a right and Christian use of emblems?" These remarks were the subject of attack. A pamphlet appeared containing severe strictures on the opinions advocated by the bishop, under the title of "A serious Enquiry into the use and importance of External Religion, occasioned by some passages in the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Durham's charge to the Clergy of his Diocese." Fifteen years afterwards, it was asserted, in an anonymous publication, that he was in heart a papist; and that he had died in full communion with the church of Rome. A more unwarranted charge it was impossible to have brought. It was chiefly founded on his love of ascetic habits; his study of some papistical authors; and his putting up a marble cross in the palace chapel of Bristol. Secker regretted deeply this last-mentioned circumstance, for he felt it might be turned against the bishop, as in fact it was. the act arose from a mere feeling of the infinite value of the sacrifice of the death of the Lord Jesus. It is, however, well to remark, that there is some danger of such emblems being regarded with superstitious reverence. The erection of a cross is a matter of comparatively little moment, as far as the erection itself is concerned; but it is of much moment, if it leads, as it has done in the Roman Catholic Church, to a feeling little, if at all, removed from downright idolatry.

But

What Bishop Butler's views, however, were of the true character of the Romish Church, are clearly set forth in his sermon before the house of Lords, June 14th, 1747, on the day of the king's accession. He there maintains, that "the value of our religious establishment ought to be very much heightened in our

esteem, by considering from what it is a security: I mean, that great corruption of Christianity-popery, which is ever hard at work to bring us under its yoke. Whoever will consider the popish claims to the disposal of the whole earth as of Divine right; to dispense with the most sacred engagements; the claims to supreme, absolute authority in religion; in short, the general claims which the canonists express by the words plenitude of power; whoever, I say, will consider popery as it is professed at Rome, may see that it is a manifest and open usurpation of all human and Divine authority. Yet, even in those Roman Catholic countries where those monstrous claims are not admitted, and the civil power does, in many respects, restrain the papal, persecution is professed, as it is absolutely enjoined, by what is acknowledged to be their highest authority-a general council so called, with the pope at the head of it; and is practised in all of them, I think, without exception, where it can be done safely. And thus corruptions of the grossest sort have been in vogue, for many generations, in many parts of Christendom, and are so still, even where popery obtains in its least absurd form. And their antiquity and wide extent are insisted on as a proof of their truth, a kind of proof which, at best, can be only presumptive; but which loses all its little weight in proportion as the long and large prevalence of such corruptions has been obtained by force."

The bishop's "promotion to the see of Durham," to use the language of Dr. Croly, "placed him in the enjoyment of all that his benevolence had so long wished, and more than his ambition had ever desired. He could now give way to his charity; and it seems probable that the greater part of his income was thus employed. He had always been remarkable for liberality in the dispensation of his means,--the most obvious and pressing exercise of the public virtues of a Christian. He was a warm and steady friend to the poor; but his well-regulated mind also acknowledged the fitness of sustaining the rank in which he was placed; and his residence at Durham was distinguished for the stately hospitality suitable to the see. Like his patron, bishop Talbot, he received the nobility and chief gentry of the north at his palace three times a-week during a considerable portion of the year, and entertained them as became their prelate and friend."

But the munificent spirit of this distinguished per son extended itself to every object. While at Bristol he contributed four thousand pounds to the repairs of the palace, a sum greater than his entire receipts from the bishopric. He also subscribed to infirmaries and hospitals in remote parts of the kingdom; and generously attended to the personal difficulties of his

clergy. But the diocese was not long to possess its

eminent prelate; his constitution, enfeebled by unremitting study, began to fail soon after his arrival at Durham. As his weakness increased, he was induced to try the Bristol waters, then in high reputation; but he was evidently dying; and was finally removed to Bath, where he expired, June 16th, 1752.

The mortal remains of the bishop were interred in the cathedral of Bristol, where a plain marble, with a Latin inscription, was put over them; but a more suitable memorial has been lately erected.

T.

SOCIAL AND PUBLIC WORSHIP:
A Sermon,

BY THE REV. JOSEPH LOSCOMBE RICHARDS, D.D.,
Rector of Exeter College, Oxford; and Vicar of
Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

JOHN, XX. 19.

"Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

THIS was probably the first time the Christian Church ever met on earth. It was on the evening of that day, which has ever since been considered sacred to prayer and to religious exercises. It is impossible to contrast this little band of Christians thus gathered in fear and trembling, with the countless congregations that on this day are assembled throughout the Christian world, and not to feel how strikingly our Lord's prophecy has been fulfilled of the grain of mustard-seed, which should "shoot out its branches into all the earth" (Mark, iv. 30-33); and without having our faith strengthened in that promise of its further extension and final triumph, when" the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ" (Rev. xi. 15); when "all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall do him service" (Psalm lxxii. 11).

The manner in which the evangelist expresses himself shews that he was anxious to mark the day on which the disciples met: "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the disciples were assembled." And within a few verses he records their meeting again on the same day in the following week: "And after eight days," i. e. according to the Jewish mode of computing time, on the eighth day afterwards, "again his disciples were within.". We cannot doubt, therefore, that their meeting was designed and by appointment; and that this day was thus early set apart by the Church, and dedicated to the service of God, as we know it to have been a few years afterwards, of which we have abundant record in the Acts of the Apostles. That they met also for purposes of Christian communion and social worship, there can be little doubt. The precaution which they had taken to close the doors, which is noted on both the occasions to which I have referred, shews that they were assembled for an object which they knew to be criminal in the eyes of their enemies, and which would expose them to persecution. And there was no act held so criminal, and which brought upon them such persecution, as their private assemblies for the purposes of social worship. This we know from the testimony of heathen writers,

as well as from the evidence of Scripture itself. It was to discover these assemblies that Saul, when the persecutor of the Church, entered, as we read, "into private houses, and dragged from thence men and women to prison and to death" (Acts viii. 3).

I have therefore drawn your attention to this passage of Scripture, as recording what was probably the earliest assembly of the Christian Church for the act of social worship; and it is this duty which I wish to set before you. It would occupy far too much of your time, if I were to enter at large into the argument in favour of social and public worship: I shall content myself, therefore, with simply setting before you the example and commands of our Lord and his apostles in regard to this duty, as furnishing quite sufficient evidence on the point, and exhibiting an authority for it, which none who admit the truth of Scripture can attempt to gainsay.

In the first place, then, let us observe the example of our Lord and Saviour Christ. We are told by St. Luke, in the opening of his ministry, that "he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and, as his custom was, went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day" (Luke, iv. 16). I have quoted this passage, as it renders it unnecessary to refer to the many instances which are recorded of our Lord's stated attendance on the worship of the Jewish Church. St. Luke here expressly states that it was his regular custom to do so. Nor need I refer to his invariable practice of attending the stated festivals in the temple, as they must be familiar to all. Nor does our Lord appear ever to have held any private assemblies for worship; and his appeal to the Jews on his trial seems to shew that he had not: "I ever taught openly in the temple, and in the synagogue, and in secret have I said nothing" (John, xviii. 20). But when, after his death, a new rite was added to the Church, which it was not allowable to celebrate either in the temple or in the synagogues, the Christians were compelled to form separate assemblies for the purposes of social worship; still not forsaking altogether the services of the temple or the synagogues till they were swept away by the destruction of the Jewish polity and nation. It is to these private assemblies, formed under the authority and sanction of the apostles, to whom was committed the power to establish a new mode of worship, that I wish now to call your attention. The earliest of these have been already noticed; and if we pursue the track of the sacred history, we shall discover abundant instances of them as we go along. I will call your attention to a few only of these. In the very first

--

chapter of the Acts we find that, immediately after the ascension "they returned to Jerusalem," and "went up into an upper room;"probably the very same in which our Lord had partaken with them of the last supper, and which could not but be consecrated in their eyes by the most powerful and endearing associations, that they went up into this chamber, where about one hundred and twenty were assembled, including many of the apostles, who are mentioned by name, and continued for some time with one accord, i. e. animated with one spirit and one heart, in prayer and supplication to God (Acts, i. 13-16). It was probably in the same place, and for the same purpose, that they were assembled on the day of Pentecost, as we read in the following chapter: "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place" (Acts, ii. 1): and in the same chapter we have this testimony to their perseverance in acts of communion and social worship: "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship." It was not enough, we see, that they held to the doctrine of the apostles; they conformed also to their fellowship. Churchcommunion and unity was held to be no less essential than sound doctrine, in conformity with that beautiful prayer of our Lord for his disciples, "that they all might be one, even as he was with his heavenly Father" (John, xvii. 21)-one in name one in heart and sentiment; and "lifting up their voices," as it is beautifully expressed," with one accord to God" (Acts, iv. 24). It will be sufficient, perhaps, if I mention one other instance of their continuance in the practice of social prayer, which I will select further on in the history of the Acts. When Peter was imprisoned, we are told that " prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him" (Acts, xii. 5): and when he was released by the angel out of prison, we read that he went immediately to the house of Mary, where " many were gathered together praying" (Acts, xii. 12). That there were very early stated places and times for these acts of public worship, there can be little doubt, as in the instance before us St. Peter appears to have gone immediately to their assembly as a place of well-known resort; as did also Peter and John when released from a former imprisonment; for we read, that "being let go, they went to their own company" (Acts, iv. 23); i. e. apparently, as if they knew they should find them assembled; and they, when they heard of their delivery, immediately lifted up their voices with one accord, in that beautiful prayer which is recorded in the fourth chapter of the Acts. The places in which they

assembled, were undoubtedly at first chambers in private houses: none other would offer, or indeed would serve as well, since secrecy and retirement would naturally be sought by those who assembled at the hazard of their lives. But it is probable, from what I have already stated, that at a very early period particular houses or chambers were considered sacred to those uses, and set apart to the especial service of God; and it is certain, that this was the case at the time when St. Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians; since he especially rebukes them for profaning the house of God, and not distinguishing between it and common buildings. "What? have ye not houses to eat and drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not?" (1 Cor. xi. 22.)

I have thus endeavoured to shew you what was the practice of the early Church in regard to social worship, as it is recorded in that book which you all have in your hands, and may consult for yourselves: that they were not content with the duty of private prayer, but that they were willing to risk their lives, rather than forego the duty and privilege of meeting together for acts of social worship and communion. I know the excuse which is sometimes made by those who do not choose to shape their practice by the apostles' rule that they can worship God as well at home as in the assemblies of his house. I notice this excuse, not because it is the only one, or because it is the most common, but because it is the most specious and plausible. The common excuses derived from the plea of business, family cares, and the like, I never yet found any one prepared seriously to maintain: they are often, indeed, alleged, but they will not stand the test of reason; nor do they satisfy the conscience of the person who offers them. I fully admit, that the occupations of life, and, still more, domestic duties, are in the case of the poor a fair plea for partial attendance, and may be admitted as excuses for occasional absences from the house of God. But no occupation of life can be lawful which keeps away a man entirely from the house of God; and any man is living in sin who continues in that occupation. And in regard to domestic duties, I will undertake to say, that no family is so circumstanced as to require the constant absence from church of any member of it. Arrangements may be made to allow of the occasional attendance of every member of it who is not kept away by sickness. I have had frequent occasion to make these remarks in visiting the poor, and I never yet found any one who would attempt to gainsay them, however much their practice might be at variance with them: and

therefore I say, that such excuses are not sufficient to quiet a man's own conscience. How much less can they stand before God! Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, in this matter, that ye be not judged of the Lord.

If there is any one present who has strayed, as it were by accident, into this congregation, who has lived in habitual neglect of the ordinances of God's house, I would entreat him to weigh what I have said, and to deliver his soul from this guilt, as I pray to be delivered from his blood by this warning.

Let me say a few words on the excuse which I have noticed above--that a man can pray to God as well at home in his own house as in the church. Were this true, it would be still no reason for violating the commands of our Lord and his disciples, and departing from their practice in this matter. The same apostles who have set us this example did not fail to rebuke any departure from it; and when the Hebrew Christians, under the heat of persecution, grew slack in their attendance on the ordinances of God's house, St. Paul wrote to them to command them not "to forsake the assembling of themselves together" (Heb. x. 25). Were your excuse, then, true; I would say, you are living in the neglect of a plain, undoubted command of the word of God, and you are therefore guilty before Him. But your excuse is not true; it is not true, my brethren, that private prayer will do in the place of public prayer. It has its use; public prayer has also its use. God has fitted us for society, and this feeling enters into religion as much as into all other things. We are so framed, that we act mutually on each other, as every man's experience may satisfy him; though few, if any, can explain or understand how this influence is communicated. It is not my purpose to explain it ; but a few observations may perhaps satisfy you of the fact. Who has not felt the power of a large assembly to call forth feelings which he never experienced in private? who ever joined in the praises of God in his solemn assembly, without feeling his heart elevated, in a way perhaps that he has seldom, if ever, felt when alone? has not the word of God often come home with more power to our hearts when read in the congregation, than it has when we have taken it up in our own houses? does any one believe, that he would be affected by those pledges of our Saviour's love if he partook of them in solitude, as he has often been when kneeling around the same altar with those whom he believed to be animated with one hope and one faith? Let this satisfy you, my poorer brethren: neither you nor I may be able to understand the curious and wonderful structure of our minds, nor to trace those secret

springs by which God moves us: but shall we therefore neglect to act upon what we do know? You do know the power of social worship to act upon your minds in a way that private prayer cannot : you have often felt it, perhaps in this house. When you have heard the words of your gracious Saviour read, you have realised the feeling of the apostles: "Did not our hearts burn within us, when he talked to us by the way, and opened to us the Scriptures ?" (Luke, xxiv. 32.) Act, therefore, upon your own experience: be regular and frequent in your attendance on God's house, as you feel its power to benefit you; and be assured, that in so doing you are far wiser than those who stay away because they cannot explain why social prayer should be better than private. Believe that God, who has made us and knows our frame, has provided for its wants, in ordaining social as well as private prayer: it has its special promises as well as private prayer, "Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. xviii. 20). And we have seen this promise realised in the two first Sabbaths on which the Christian Church met, when "Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, Peace be unto you" (John, xx. 19). Believe that he is no less present now-not as he then appeared, in a bodily form,-but in power and in spirit.

There are many present, whose prayers have been put up this day in faith, and whose hearts, I have no doubt, have been humbled before God in the affecting confession of our Church; they have realised the fulfilment of that promise, and felt its power to impart a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. It is open to all to do the same: God has bestowed upon you great privileges. in this respect. We have seen this day under what circumstances the early Christians met. This privilege, for which they were content to hazard their lives, and for which many a martyr bled, is yours to enjoy in quietness and peace. They met in narrow and obscure chambers; it is yours to assemble in houses which have for centuries been consecrated to prayer, and which are associated with our holiest feelings. Within these walls your children were dedicated to God; around them lie the remains of your relatives and friends on every side there meet your eyes some memorials of your faith, calculated to inspire holy thoughts and raise your hearts to heaven. It is your privilege to worship God in prayers, many of which have animated and sustained the devotions of the Church for more than fifteen hundred years. They are eminently calculated to enlighten your faith, and to awaken the spirit of prayer.

Strive to realise the devotional spirit which these beautiful services breathe they can never hurry you into excess; their warmth is ever chastened by a holy reverence, which never suffers you to forget in whose presence you are, or the majesty of that great Being whom you are addressing. Are you cold and insensible to these privileges? Beware lest you provoke God to withdraw them, by cutting you off from the ordinances of his house. How many in sickness, when exiled from his house, have had occasion to mourn over their neglect of these advantages when placed within their reach, and "to pour out their soul," perhaps in vain regret, "when they remember these things!" (Psalm xlii. 4.) Do you value the privileges you enjoy? Shew your sense of them by the frequency of your attendance on the house of God, and by the earnestness with which you enforce this duty on all whom God has placed within the reach of your influence.

Above all, if you are grateful to the Church in whose bosom you have been nurtured, and which has fed you with the pure word of life, be careful that your lives bring no stain on that communion of which you profess yourselves members: let your hearts be animated towards her with that affection which dictated that beautiful prayer of the Psalmist, "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee" (Psalm cxxii. 6-9).

ON THE GIFTS OF GOD IN NATURE AND GRACE.

BY MISS M. A. S. BARBER.

"Darkness

No. IV. Christian Watchfulness. SLEEP is an image of death, and is continually used in the Bible to denote that thoughtlessness and forgetfulness of God, which, as a deep sleep, have settled. upon the world "sitting in darkness." hath covered the earth, and gross darkness the people" to the interests, the cares, the enjoyments, of this life, they are indeed fully awake; but to every thing which concerns God, eternity, and their own salvation, they are as indifferent as though each individual fancied himself exempted from the common lot-as though he alone of all his race should never behold either the hour of death or the day of judg ment; professing to receive as true that Bible whose pages they never open, and rendering unto God one only unmeaning homage-a weekly attendance upon the service of the Church, which custom demands, and which habit has taught them to consider a duty; they live effectually without God in the world-sleeping the sleep of death; neither knowing nor fearing preparation for that future state of existence which the danger which surrounds them, nor making any every passing day brings nearer to them, until at last, if they awake not from their sleep, it will come