is Offered a Spiritual and never-failing Inheritance amidst the Beatific Realities of Eternity.- -The Priest then delivers the

Ninth Commandment

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour!

And the People add

LORD, Have Mercy upon us, and Incline our hearts to keep This Law!

To lay accusation against Another in order to subject him to temporal punishment for an alleged offence, whilst no just foundation for it exists, is an act demonstrative of great depravity of heart, the offspring of its basest passions, malice, envy, revenge, or covetousness. The voice of Man, as well as That of GOD, cries out against it, and infamy and execration on Earth fasten on it, when detected, and Condemnation from Heaven will assuredly be Dealt out to it, in retributive Justice, at the Last Day. There are Some, however, who, shrinking from open perjury in a Public Court to vilify their Neighbours, and loudly clamorous themselves against those who do, yet maliciously instigate, or as maliciously and with fatal industry propagate reports without sufficient, if any foundation, to the prejudice of the character and to the injury of the interest of Others, hastily catching at what may tend to the prejudice or discomfiture of Neighbours, particularly of any, whose character has been held up to imitation, or deemed exemplarily either religious or moral; and in so doing, not only not honestly seeking to probe the whole truth of the alleged transaction, (in which much might be found to palliate, if not to justify it,) but even omitting what they might know or have reason to believe would operate in alleviation of the reported occurrence. All untruth told of Others is in the spirit of bearing false witness against them, and though the rise or progress of it may not be traced to ourselves by the Sufferers from such falsehood, yet should we never forget, however we may deceive or evade our Fellow-Creatures, yet that our conduct in its primary motive and in all its bearings is more known to GOD than even to ourselves. To the end

therefore of guarding against being involved in any, the most venial, infringements of This Commandment, we should set a watch before our ears, as well as to keep the door of our lips, that we be not too eager to hear what may tend to the detriment of Others, without arming ourselves in the same instant with prayer for the Grace not to judge harshly, and still more not to report unfoundedly. And lastly the Priest delivers the Tenth Commandment

Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's Wife, nor his Servant, nor his Maid, nor his Ox, nor his Ass, nor anything, that is his.

And the People conclude by saying

LORD, Have Mercy upon us, and write all These Thy Laws in our hearts, we beseech Thee!

Covetousness is virtually idolatry; it is both ingratitude towards and a contempt of The GIVER of All things; it is a cruel injustice to our Souls by influencing to a preference of the perishable riches, the unsatisfying pleasures, the deceiving lusts of this Life, to the pure, the perfect, the exquisite, the exhaustless, and continually improving Delights of the Life to Come. Did Man estimate this Life, as he should do, he would earnestly covet the Riches and Treasures of Heavenly Dispensation; and having his heart and mind only bent on Those justifiable and commendable Objects, under The DIVINE Encouragement Graciously Held out to Him, would be comparatively indifferent to others, especially such as were not compatible with his higher and holier aim after eternal Happiness. Contentment, in whatever situation he might be placed in, would be his inseparable and cheering Companion: if he had much, so far from being avaricious of more, he would regard himself as the Steward thereof, in acknowledgment of The SOURCE, Whence his prosperity arose, and seek thereby to promote the Ways of A Merciful PROVIDENCE, by distributing largely to the necessities, whether Spiritual or temporal, of Others; employing all with discretion, and looking forward with an awful but just sense of responsibility to that

full account, which must in the Great Day of the Coming of The LORD be rendered up. If he have little, he would acknowledge that he had yet amply enough for his wants, and more than sufficient for his merits, and would be thankful that GOD in His Wisdom and Mercy had Vouchsafed not to expose him to the temptation of inordinate riches, which might have ensnared his Soul; but that, on the contrary, he had been placed amid circumstances friendly to his Everlasting Peace and to the attainment of the Riches of the Visible Glories of Heaven. -To covet the dwelling, or territories of Another, shews a heart estranged from implicit obedience to the Will of The ALMIGHTY, The Sovereign DISPOSER of all Destinies and Events, Giving unto every One severally as He Willeth; but Influenced and Guided in All His Dispensations by the Truest Benevolence and Profoundest Wisdom. It proves not only a preference for the World and the things of the World, an attachment to things temporal in disregard of Those, that are Eternal, but a hateful jealousy of the prosperity of Others of our Fellow-Creatures; and hath moreover the effect of empoisoning or embittering the pleasure, which might be derived from a just use and wise enjoyment of our legitimate possessions. -To covet a Neighbour's Wife is to set fire to a pile, which must spread destruction over our peace here, and burn with infinitely greater virulence and devastation hereafter; it is to sacrifice the pure and endless Joys of Heaven, and the Antepast of Them upon Earth, for the mo ́mentary and nauseating and Self-criminating indulgence, in the gratification of the lusts of the Flesh, where they war against the Spirit.- -To covet a Neighbour's Man-Servant or Maid-Servant, his ox or his ass, or anything that is his, is to harbour in the Soul the spirit of envy or dissatisfaction, and to cherish a feeling, that may lead to injustice and wrong to attain an object. It is to look with an evil eye on the advantages of Others, without any consideration of the Order of PROVIDENCE. And so far should we be from desiring to have that, which does not belong to us, or is not within the just compass of our acquiring, that we should be ready to re

linquish for the Spiritual benefit especially of Others, some portion of our temporal advantages, and be glad to distribute of our abundance, or of such acquirements as we have, that the benefit thereof may not selfishly be confined to ourselves.

-May All with hearts deeply sensible of the Greatness of The BEING, Who Pronounced These Commands, and sensibly impressed with the Graciousness of their Nature as Calculated to promote by their observance the Peace and present as well as future happiness of our Souls, fervently and effectually implore the Assistance of His SPIRIT, in the Abundance of His Mercy, to Incline our hearts to keep All These His Laws in spirit and in truth, through the love of His SON and our Alone SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST! -Then follows one of the two succeeding Collects at the option of the Minister; the first containing a prayer for a wise government by the Earthly Sovereign of these Realms, and for a loyal demeanour of the Subjects, through the Spiritual Blessings and Guidance of The KING of Kings. The other being solely a supplication for DIVINE Mercies to be Showered down on the head of The LORD's Anointed. The connection of which Collects, with the immediately preceding part of the Service, arises from the intimate and necessary association in the duties owing to our CREATOR, and our Fellow-Creatures relatively, as illustrated in the foregoing Commandments; the temporal Instrument for enforcing the observance thereof, with delegated authority, being the Ruler or Chief Magistrate of the People.

-The Priest prefaces the reading of the Collect he fixes on with this exhortation

Let us pray!

Then the People continuing to kneel, the Minister standing reads to them thus

ALMIGHTY GOD, Whose KINGDOM is Everlasting and Power Infinite,

To Him, Who Ruleth in Heaven and over the whole Earth, His Government being Unlimited by time or space, Visible everywhere in the Wisdom, Goodness, Order and Beauty It

universally Displays, but Visible only in the Fulness of Its Glories to Purified and Spiritualized Natures, Omnipotence being His Essential Attribute, the Address opens with a becoming reference to That Pervading and Prevailing Quality from Which All Earthly Power emanates, and on Which it altogether depends.

Have Mercy upon the whole Church!

As Eternal Concerns are most Interesting to GOD, so should the state of our Spiritual Nature, as represented under the figure of the whole Church, be a primary object of our regard and of our imprecation of The DIVINE Compassion towards it; knowing, as we ought to do, that even National prosperity, unless resulting from the Spiritual well-being of a State, is neither permanent nor essentially beneficial; but on the contrary only the more amenable to The DIVINE Displeasure for National ingratitude and impiety.

And so Rule the heart of Thy Chosen Servant, Victoria our Queen (King, or Queen Regent,) and Governor, that She, knowing Whose Minister She is, may above all things seek Thy Honour and Glory;

Having sought the Diffusion of GOD's Mercy and Grace over All, that profess the faith of CHRIST, and more especially that Part of His Spiritual Church, which is placed in these Dominions, we here call on The AUTHOR and GIVER of Wisdom and of Power for His Providential Direction and Protection of the Temporal Head both of our Church and State, acknowledging the Office as of the Appointing and Anointing of The LORD, and imploring the Visitation of The ALMIGHTY's Especial and Continuing Favor upon Such exalted Headship, that the exercise of the Authority might in all respects conform to The DIVINE Will and Guidance, that the great and beneficial purposes for which Such Authority was Delegated from On HIGH might be answered by an observance of the vast and responsible duties attached to the Office, and of the certainty of the Account thereof, which would Eventually be Called for, and of continued Preparation amidst