heaps coals of fire on the head of her enemies, not to destroy, but to melt them; and where it is not made hurtful, through the perverseness and malice of those towards whom it is exercised, it will edify-it will work powerfully on individuals, rearing up Christian characters; it will build them up in holiness and peace; eventually removing obstacles to concord, and making our Jerusalem as a city that is at unity in itself.

This gentleness and charity of the Church, which even her enemies allow,' must win for her at the hands of all good men, however mistaken in their opinions, the praise of conformity to the meekness and love of CHRIST. And when prejudices are laid aside, and spiritual pride and self-sufficiency are cast out, and men have learnt once more, humility, reverence, and obedience, there will be a shaking of all other systems, a sudden falling to decay of all human institutions which have been substituted for the Apostolic Church, a running to and fro for a while, and then a great and steady return to that Holy Church which CHRIST built upon a rock, which has remained unmoved and immovable from her sacred and everlasting principles, which alone has preserved her uniform gentleness and charity amidst the strife and bitterness and perpetually increasing divisions and sub-divisions of surrounding sects; and this mainly because love, love for God her SAVIOUR, love for the souls of men, love for those who hold the truth, and love for those

1 Even Neal, the unscrupulous enemy of our Church and historian of the Puritans, is forced to confess that "the Church of England is as free from persecuting principles as any Establishment in Europe"-no mean acknowledgment from such a mouth!—See Neal's Preface to Vol. I. of the original edition of the History of the Puritans.

who are fallen away, even into the most grievous errors and the most hurtful opposition, has been the great principle all along lying at the root of her system, and the measure of all her doings; because she has held and holds that charity which never faileth,—the charity which edifieth.

Once more, brethren, the charity of the Church is shown in the very terms in which her ministers are addressed when they take upon themselves their Holy Office, and proceed to the care of their flocks. They are charged by the ordaining Bishop, in the Name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, to "have always in remembrance into how high a dignity and to how weighty an office and charge they are called, that is to say, to be messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the LORD; to teach and to premonish, to feed and provide for the LORD's family; to seek for CHRIST's sheep that are dispersed abroad, and for His children who are in the midst of this naughty world, that they may be saved through CHRIST for ever." And they are further charged to see that they "never cease their labour, their care and diligence, until they have done all that lieth in them according to their bounden duty, to bring all such as are or shall be committed to their charge unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in CHRIST, that there be no place left among them either for error in religion or for viciousness in life."

So that you see, brethren, there is no respect in which the charity, i. e., the love of the Church is more clearly shown or more powerfully exerted than in her untiring labours to destroy the whole body of sin. It is sin which separates between us and our God; and therefore the Church, as GoD's Host, wages unceasing

warfare against sin in every form of it—whether it be the sin of idolatry, or irreverence, or disobedience, or murder, or adultery, or theft, or false witness, or covetousness, whether it be the sin of heresy or schism, secret or open vice; the Church in the name of God, and armed with His authority, and inflamed with love of souls, and a holy desire to snatch them as brands from the burning, reveals the terrors of the LORD, and seeks by hopes of glory and by fears of punishment to persuade men to forsake sin, and to live a holy and religious life. And, brethren, if such is the charity of the Church, do you learn from her example and teaching what she has learned from the source of truththat love is the fulfilling of the Law: love GOD with all your hearts and souls and minds, and your neighbours as yourselves. Love as brethren: love one another with a pure heart fervently, remembering the words of the LORD JESUS, "Love one another as I have loved you"; for this is the charity that edifieth-that buildeth us all up into the likeness of GOD, and makes us capable of blessedness in that future and glorious state where, when faith shall be resolved into sight, and we see GOD face to face, and hope shall be turned into enjoyment, when prophecies have failed and tongues. have ceased, and knowledge has vanished away, charity never faileth. Bear, therefore, in mind, that the Church, preparing you for Heaven, and striving to form in you that character which alone will qualify you for the enjoyment of the Presence of HIM Who is Love, is unceasingly calling upon you, if there be any comfort of love, any fellowship of the SPIRIT, to be likeminded, having the same love-being of one accord, of one mind. W. J. D.

1 St. John xv. 12.

SERMON XIV.

HOLY MATRIMONY.

PART I.

HEBREWS XIII. 4.

MARRIAGE IS HONOURABLE IN ALL.

It is impossible to estimate too highly the importance of Holy Matrimony, whether we regard its religious or its social obligations. The welfare of society is, indeed, so dependent upon the manner in which the vows which are taken in this holy ordinance are observed, that it seems difficult to assign any satisfactory reason for viewing it otherwise than as a strictly religious contract; a contract indissoluble save upon scriptural grounds, and by the same authority which ratified its execution. Upon this point, however, it is unnecessary to dwell, as the subject of our present discourse is the service provided by the Church for the solemnisation of matrimony: a service, the language of which is so express upon this head, that it may be suspected, and not without reason, that the objections of those who regard this holy estate as a merely civil contract are directed rather against the language which the Church authori

tatively uses in its celebration, than against the nature of the contract itself.

The truth of this observation, I apprehend, will be fully evident as we proceed to analyse the service; but before we do so, it may be expedient to inquire to what extent the Apostle intended the assertion of the text to be applied. Declaring that marriage is honourable in all, was it his intention to exclude any class from its advantages? And has not our Church scriptural warrant for asserting that "it is lawful for the Clergy, as for all Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness"? Further, does not the example of St. Peter, "who was himself a married man," taken in conjunction with the question of St. Paul, "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other Apostles, and as the brethren of the LORD and Cephas," set the matter at rest, and prove to demonstration that the Apostle intended the declaration of the text to be of universal application?

The office for the solemnisation of Holy Matrimony, as we find it in our Prayer-book, is most admirably adapted to impress upon those who are called upon to take part in it, and upon the congregation generally, the solemnity and importance of the union which is about to receive the sanction and benediction of the Church. All the occasional offices of our Sion indeed are worthy of admiration: and that because the very essence of them is derived from Scripture a remark which applies with peculiar force to the service before us, the language of which is pre-eminently scriptural, and its sanctions based upon the Word of Eternal Truth. As the present formulary, however,

1 Art. xxxii.

21 Cor. ix. 5.