all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God, yet ou ht we most chiefly sò to do, when we assemble and meet together. To render thanks for the great benefits we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy word, and to ask those things that are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice to the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me.'

"In the latter part of the first period, but confess them with a humble lowly penitent and obedient heart, to the end that we may obtain, forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy,' there are several faults committed. In the first place the four epithets preceding the word 'heart,' are huddled together, and pronounced in a monotone, disagreeable to the ear, and enervating to the sense; whereas each word, rising in force above the other, ought to be marked by a proportional rising of the notes in the voice; and, in the last, there should be such a rote used as would declare it at the same time to be the last -'with a humblé lowly' peni.

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At first view it may appear,

tent and obedient heart,' &c. hat the words' humble' and 'lowly' are synonymous; but the word 'lowly' certainly implies a greater degree of humiliation than the word humble.' The word 'penitent' that follows, is of stronger import than either; and the word 'obedient,' signifying a perfect resignation to the will of God, ir consequence of our humiliation and repentance, furnishes the climax. But if the climax in the words be not accompanied by a suitable climax in the notes of the voice, it cannot be made manifest. In the following part of the sentence, 'to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the sàmé' there are usually three emphases laid on the words, end, obtain,

same, where there should not be any, and the only emphatic word, forgiveness, is slightly passed over; whereas it should be read—' to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same,' keeping the words, obtain, and forgiveness, closely together, and not disuniting them, both to the prejudice of the Sense and Cadence, &c. &c.

"I shall now read the whole, in the manner I have recom. mended; and if you will give attention to the marks, you will be reminded of the manner, when you come to practise in your private reading. Dearly belòved brethren ! =The Scripture moveth us' in sundry places' to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness, and that we should not dissemble nor clòak them' before the face of Almighty God' our Heavenly Father" but confèss them' with a humble' lowly penitent' and obedient heart' to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same' by his infinite goodness and mercy"". And although we ought at all times' humbly to acknowledge our sins before Gòd" yet ought we most chiefly so to do when we assemble and meet together to render thanks' for the great benefits we have received at his hands" to set forth' his most worthy praise" to hear his most hòly word' and to ask those things' which are requisite and necessary' as well for the bòdy' as the soul"". Wherefore I pray and beseech you as many as are here present' to accompany me' with a pùre heart' and hùmble voicé to the throne of the heavenly gracé, saying,' &c." - SHERIDAN, Art of Reading Prose.

The generality of the remarks respecting the way in which each passage of the Liturgy should be read, are correct; though the mode recommended for attaining the proposed end is totally different from what is suggested in the present treaIn some points, however, the author is mistaken as to

tise.

the emphatic words: e. g. in the Lord's Prayer, he directs the following passage to be read thus; "thy will be done on earth as it is' in Heaven," with the emphasis on the words "be" and "is;" these, however, are not the emphatic words, and do not even exist in the Original Greek, but are supplied by the translator; the latter of them might, indeed, be omitted altogether without any detriment to the sense; "thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth," which is a more literal translation, is perfectly intelligible.

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A passage again, in the second Commandment, he directs to be read, according indeed to the usual mode, both of read. ing and pointing it, "visit the sins of the fathers' upon the children' unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" which mode of reading destroys the sense, by making a pause at "children," and none at "generation; " for this implies that the third and fourth generations, who suffer these judgments, are themselves such as hate the Lord, Instead of being merely, as is meant to be expressed, the children of such. 66 Of them that hate me," is a genitive governed not by "generation," but by "children." The passage should therefore be read (according to Sheridan's marks) "visit the sins of the fathers' upon the children unto the third and fourth generation' of them that hate me : " i. e. visit the sins of the fathers who hate me, upon the third and fourth generations of their descendants.

The same sanction is given to an equally common fault in reading the fifth Commandment; "that thy days may be long in the land' which the Lord thy God giveth thee." The pause should evidently be at long," not at “land.” No one would say in ordinary conversation, "I hope you will find enjoyment in the garden' which you have planted " He has also strangely omitted an emphasis on the word

covet,'

in the tenth Commandment. He has, however, in the nega tive or prohibitory commands avoided the common fault of accenting the word “not.”*

And here it may be worth while to remark, that in some cases the Copula ought to be made the emphatic word; (i. e. the "is," if the proposition be affirmative, the "not,” if negative ;) viz. where the proposition may be considered as in opposition to its contradictory.t If, e. g. it had been a question whether we oughɩ to steal or not, the commandment, in answer to that, would have been rightly pronounced, “thou shalt not steal:" but the question being, what things we are forbidden to do, the answer is, that "to steal" is one of them, "thou shalt not steal." In such a case as this, the proposition is considered as opposed, not to its contradictory, but to one with a different Predicate: the question being, not, which Copula (negative or affirmative) shall be employed, but what shall be affirmed or denied of the subject: e. g. "it is lawful to beg; but not to steal;" in such a case, the Predicate, not the Copula, will be the emphatic word.

One fault worth noticing on account of its commonness is the placing of the emphasis on "neighbor" in the ninth and tenth Commandments; as if there might be some persons precluded from the benefit of the prohibitions. One would think the man to whom our Lord addressed the parable of the good Samaritan, had been used to this mode of delivery, by his asking "and who is my neighbor ? ”‡

* Dr. Johnson, in Boswell's Life, is recorded to have sanctioned this fault, in respect at least of the ninth Commandment.

Nor is this properly an exception to the above rule; for, in such cases, that which is expressed as the Copula, is, in sense, the Predi cate; the question being in fact whether "true" or "false" shall be predicated of a certain assertion.

I have heard again of some persons among the lower Orders who

The usual pronunciation of one part of the "Apostles' Creed" is probably founded on some misapprehension of the sense of it: * "The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints," is commonly read as if these were two distinct articles; instead of the latter clause being merely an explanation of the former: "The holy Catholic Church, [viz.] the Communion of Saints."

[O]. Part IV. Chap. ii. § 5. p. 412.

"It need hardly be observed how important it is, with a view to these objects," (the training of children in sound and practical religious knowledge) "to abstain carefully from the practice, still too prevalent, though much less so, we believe, than formerly, of compelling, or encouraging, or even allow. ing children to learn by rote, forms of prayer, catechisms, hymns, or in short any thing connected with morality and religion, when they attach no meaning to the words they utter.

"It is done on the plea that they will hereafter learn the meaning of what they have been thus taught, and will be able to make a practical use of it. But no attempt at economy of time can be more injudicious. Let any child, whose capacity is so far matured as to enable him to comprehend an explanation, e. g. of the Lord's Prayer, have it then put before him for the first time, and when he is made acquainted

practically, lay the stress on “against;” thinking it allowable to give false evidence in any one's favor.

See Sir Peter (afterwards Lord) King's History of the Apostles Creed; a work much more valuable (in proportion to its size) than most that are studied by theologians.