and wickedness, which from time to time I have most grievously committed by thought, word, and deed against thy divine majesty. O Lord, I have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep; I have followed too much the devices and desires of mine own heart; I have offended against thy holy laws; I have left undone those things which I ought to have done; and I have done those things which I ought not to have done; and there is no health in me. I do earn estly repent, and am heartily sorry for these my misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto me; the burden of them is intolerable. Do thou then, O God, look down upon me with tenderness and compassion; do thou, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive, pardon all that is past; forgive me all mine offences; deliver me from all blindness of mind, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word and commandments; from all covet ous desires, and inordinate love of riches; from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy, and from envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness. And create in me, O God, a new and contrite heart, that so, by truly lamenting and forsaking my sins, I may ob tain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; and grant that I may ever hereafter live righteously, soberly, and godly, and earnestly endeavour to serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A PRAYER for True Contrition. Most gracious God, full of compassion, long-suffering, and of great pity, who sparest when we deserve punishment, and in thy wrath thinkest upon mercy; cause me earnestly to repent, and heartily to be sorry for all my misdoings; make the remembrance of them so burdensome and painful to me, that I may flee to thee with a troubled spirit, and a contrite heart. Forgive me all the sins which I can now call to my remembrance; and forgive me likewise all my trans gressions of thy holy will, which may now be out of the reach of any memory, but which have been open to thine all-seeing eye, and are known. to thee with all their circumstances and aggravations. Pardon me, O Lord, according to the abundant goodness of thy nature, and the declarations made by thy Son Jesus Christ; and grant me that forgiveness which I can neither ask nor expect, but upon those terms and conditions which thy holiness and mercy have laid down in the gospel. And as I am truly sensible that no forgiveness can be expected, according to thy word, without amendment of life, I seriously renounce all communica tion with whatever is displeasing to thee, and sincerely resolve to make it my great endeavour to correct every thing that is amiss in my temper, and behaviour, and to bring myself still nearer to thy holiness and perfection. Forgive me, therefore, as thou hast promised by thy dearly-beloved. Son; visit, comfort, and relieve me;. cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me but excite in me true repentance and contrition; give me knowledge of thy truth, and confidence in thy mercy; and in the world to come life everlasting, for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. Amen. WE are taught both in the Law and the Gospel, that it is our first and greatest duty to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. In order to which it is absolutely necessary that we should know God; but how. can we know him, otherwise than by that Revelation which he hath made of himself, in his own word? This word is in our houses and our churches, so easy to be known that no Christian, man, woman, or child, can, without great neglect, beig norant of it. And it is so necessary, and so proper to warm our hearts with the love of God, that without this word I think this love would have been enjoined us to no purpose. We cannot love God, until we know both him and ourselves: Him to be our Creator, Redeemer, and Preserver; and ourselves to be wholly dependent upon him for life and health, and all things which we now enjoy, or hope for and expect hereafter. And this knowledge is taught us in holy Scripture so plainly, that a child may learn it, as many children have done, and been very remarka le for their love of God. Our case had been very miserable, if we had been left to collect the love of God to us, and our obligations to him, from the bare works of nature, or the dark and cold hints of Pagan writers. Not one man in ten thousand could ever have attained to any competent measure of the knowledge and love of God, by such means as these. And, therefore, herein is the love of God magnified towards us, in that he hath made such a revelation of himself, as is most proper and powerful to excite in us that love which he requires of us. The holy Scriptures teach more of God to the meanest capacity, in a few lines, than the wisdom of Socrates and Plato was able to discover of him in an age. So slow are human wits to learn the perfections of the Divine Majesty from the things that are seen, that they have idolized most of the creatures in heaven, earth, and sea; and lost the knowledge, fear, and love of the true God, in such kind of idolatry, that is, in setting up the creature above the Creator. This charge is true, and can be proved by the histories of all nations of the Gentile world. And was this the way to be filled with the love of God? No, surely; we must have another kind of knowledge of him, before we can heartily love him. I do not know one character among all the pagan deities, that is sufficient to win the sincere love and esteem of any considerate man. There is something so monstrously vicious and abominable in them all, as provokes our detestation rather than our love. But now to render the Divine Be ing amiable to us, he must be represented perfectly holy, just, and good; free from all defects and corruptions whatsoever; and so indeed the holy Scriptures most truly represent him. The Scriptures, therefore, are the best means of warming our hearts with the love of God: as such they are recommended, and to this end the diligent reading and hearing of them is enjoined us. Thus Moses, (Deut. vi.) after he hath charged Ismel to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and soul, and might, enforces his charge by this very argument of a diligent perusal of holy Scripture. "These words," adds he," which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shaltbind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes: And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on thy gates." This injunction an observing reader will easily see is subjoined to the first command, on purpose to lead us into the right way of attaining to the love of God. We cannot attain to it without a diligent perusal of his word; so diligent, as that we may get it by heart in sense and substance; and, as much as may be, in the very words. In conformity to this exhortation of Moses, our Christian Fathers have so ordered the method of our education, that the Holy Bible, and Prayer Book, and Catechism composed from thence, should be the first books which are put into our hands, to teach us our mother-tongue; and that they should be read at home, as well as at school, before all others, in order to enlighten tender minds with the knowledge and love of God, and to fortify young persons against those sinful temptations which they will be sure to meet with in the world, when they! come to act their part in it. This is the most effectual way of bringing mankind to love God. We shall, by much reading, grow well acquainted with God's dispensations and dealings with the children of men, and plainly see how much his providence is concerned in the ordering of human affairs, and thence be persuaded to be obedient to him as our gracious Father and most mighty Protector. Are not we taught and as sured in his word, that we are, through Christ, his adopted children; that in him we live, and move, and have our being; that he is the author and giver of all the good things which we enjoy in this world; and that when we have finished our mortal course here, he will raise us out of our graves, so changed for the better, that we shall live for ever, and shine gloriously, and enjoy perfect happiness to all eternity! We admire God for his wisdom and knowledge, and fear him for his power, and praise him for the manifestations of that power in all his works: But we love him for the riches of his goodness, which is continually applying his infinite wisdom, knowledge, and power, to our present and everlasting health and salvation. And, therefore, that we may arrive at this high degree of love towards God, we must be often looking into that storehouse of all divine perfections, the holy Scripture, helping ourselves with such expositions as display more at large, places which are too contracted; reconcile seeming inconsistencies, and clear up other difficulties. There certainly are sufficient reasons in the laws, the promises, the This is what we are taught in the histories of these sacred books, and word of God; and it is fit that we the gracious addresses and invitations should have his word for all this: of God to mankind, to move us all for otherwise we should want proper to love him above all things. But arguments to induce us to love him then we must take care to do our duty with all our heart, and soul, and toGod, according to that plain and easy strength, and mind. For this love account of it contained in our Church must be founded in that relation which Catechism, which, though learned by there is betwixt God and us, and in us in our childhood, is, nevertheless, a sense of our continual dependence intended for our practice through all upon him for all the mercies which stages of life. More especially we we receive in this life and all that must often draw nigh to him in holy we hope for in that which is to come. worship. For they who neglect the If there were any other being be worship of God, lay themselves open sides God, from whom we receive to the temptations of the world, and more good things than we do from the snares of the devil; and, being him, to that being we should owe a conscious how much they have offendsuperior degree of love. And this, ed God, they shun him, and dread indeed, is the pernicious error of sin him as their enemy, as it is natural ful men, that they frame to them- for them to do; and, consequently, selves other fountains of their happi- it is impossible for people in such cirness. But it is not possible that there cumstances to love God. should be any other besides God, since he is not only infinitely good in himself, but infinitely beneficent to mankind; and, being the creator and disposer of all things, he directs them to serve us, and endues them with virtue and power to help us; whereas of themselves they would prove utterly insipid and useless to us. I put this case to show, that our love to God is founded in his beneficence to us; and that since he is our supreme Benefactor, we are bound to love him in that superlative degree which he requires of us. For, as friends are alienated by keeping at a distance, and leaving off mutual civilities and good offices; and, on the contrary, strangers are made friends, and reconciled in their manners and affections by frequent communications one with another: just so it is betwixt God and man. If we draw nigh to him, he has promised to draw nigh to us. And how can we approach him, but by a holy communion with him, in the ordinances of his word and worship? There we speak to God, and God to us, upon subjects of the most sublime nature and last importance: and what is required to make such communications comfortable to us, but faith and love on our part? A Valedictory Address, delivered at a General Meeting of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, on Tuesday, May 17th, 1814, by the Right Rev. Father in God, George Henry (Law,) Lord Bishop of Chester, in the Name of the Society, to the Right Rev. Father in God, Thomas Fanshaw (MIDDLETON,) Lord Bishop of Calcutta, previous to his Departure for India; together with his Lordship's Reply (Extracted from the Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. THE Society having had great reason to rejoice that Calcutta had been erected into an Episcopal See, and that Dr. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, had been consecrated Bishop thereof, have granted a vote of credit to the said Bishop, to the extent of 10002. to enable his Lordship to promote the objects of this Society in India, in such ways as he shall deem most consonant to the Society's designs. Before the departure of the Lord Bishop of Calcutta from London, in order to his embarkation for India, the following Valedictory Address was delivered to his Lordship, at the Board of the Society, by the Lord Bishop of Chester. My Lord Bishop of Calcutta,―Though I am sensible that many members of this Society would discharge the office I have undertaken with much greater weight and effect; yet still, on every other account, most sincerely do 1 rejoice that it has fallen to my lot to offer to your Lordship this Address from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. In the first place, we hail the appointment of a Bishop in India, as a fortunate and favourable omen to the cause of Re ligion. The establishment of Episcopacy there will, as we have reason to think, most effectually check every erroneous doctrine, stop the wild progress of enthusiasm, and spread the knowledge of uncorrupted Christianity over a country of great extent, and of an immense population. That it is you who have been singled out for this new and important station is an additional cause of great and general satisfaction. "When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth." This same event cannot, also, but be a source of the purest pleasure to a mind like your's. A wide field is opened to your talents and zeal. To you is committed the Apostolical charge of diffusing the light of the Gospel where its rays have scarcely penetrated; and of becoming, in the hand of Providence, as we hope and pray, the blessed means of esta blishing multitudes in the faith. But this, our joy, both on public and private account, is mixed, as most other gratifications are, with feelings of a dif ferent and opposite nature. We lose the friend-the zealous and able advocate of our civil and ecclesiastical establishments the warm supporter of this excellent Institution. It cannot, therefore, be a subject of surprise or blame if, on the present occasion, at least, our feelings of this kind too much predominate. The circumstances of this day may, perhaps, sometimes recur to your mind when on the trackless deep, or in a distant clime. But, whenever they do recur, be assured that you are bearing with you the esteem-the gratitude-and the affection of every member of this Society. As to myself, it will ever be the source of pleasing recollection, that I have mingled my regrets with theirs, and that I have offered to you what I never offer but at the shrine of virtue, the tribute of my respect and regard. But I have too long detained you from the immediate business of this meeting. Let me then, now, in the name of this very venerable Society, present to you their VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge desire, with sentiments of profound respect, to offer to your Lordship their sincere congratulations on your elevation to the Episcopal See of Calcutta. The intercourse of a religious character which has long subsisted between this Society and the British Dominions in the East-Indies, had given us abundant reason to recognise the indispensable necessity of the establishment of an Episcopal government there, in order to secure, in any competent measure, the due celebration of the ordinances of Divine Wor ship, and the advantages of Christian instruction to the European inhabitants: and not less frequent occasions have arisen to satisfy us, that without this important additional instrument, the endeavours must be, in a great degree, hazardous, and ineffectual to propagate a pure and reformed faith among the Pagan and Mahomedan nations of that vast empire.It is with unfeigned satisfaction, therefore, that we saw, in the recent Act for the renewal of the Charter of the Honourable East-India Company, a provision made, towards the attainment of this unspeakable blessing, in the power given to his Majesty to erect and constitute a Bishoprick, with such jurisdiction and functions as should, from time to time, be limited by his Majesty, by Letters Patent under the great Seal of the United Kingdom. The great benefits which this Society has derived from your Lordship's counsels and co-operation in all its undertakings; and not the least in that depart. ment which relates especially to the religious concerns of the Eastern parts of the World, requires of us to declare that the measure of our utmost hopes, in this matter, was amply fulfilled when we saw you called, under the special Providence of Almighty God, by the command of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to this high and arduous office. From this moment, therefore, this Society looks with fresh hopes towards the East; and feels itself under a pressing obligation to persevere in, and augment to the utmost of its power, those efforts, in which it has been long engaged, in behalf of the maintenance there, and the farther advancement of the Kingdom of our blessed Lord and Saviour. And if we may be permitted, on this interesting occasion, briefly to advert to the nature of those efforts, we would beg leave to remind your Lordship, -That more than one hundred years have elapsed since the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge first began to labour in this vineyard: That, in the progress of this interval of time, through the aid of our Missionaries, the consolations and instructions of the Gospel have been extended to many of our countrymen, placed (otherwise) in circumstances of peculiar spiritual privation and danger; and that many thousands of the natives have been converted from idols to the living God. That, even from the earliest date of our connexion with the East, we have made it a special object of our concern to afford to the natives an opportunity of hearing and reading the Word of God in their vernacular tongues. That the Liturgy of the Church of England has likewise been translated and printed by our Missionaries, and is used by them in Public Worship. That many other religious books and tracts, in the English and other Eu ropean languages, and in sundry of the native dialects of Hindostan, have been, from time to time, sent over by this Society, or have been translated and printed there under its patronage, to the incalculable spiritual advantage of multitudes of our own fellow-creatures: And, finally,- That, under the persuasion of the essential importance of engrafting the best principles in the young and tender mind, this Society have ever been anxious to promote and encourage the erection of shools for the instruction of the children, as well of Europeans as natives. These, in few words, have ever been, and still are, the objects in which this Society is especially desirous to be made an instrument, in the hands of Divine Providence, for the maintenance and propagation of the Christian Religion in the British Dominions in the East-Indies; and these, we have the consolation to know, will be among the choicest objects of your Lordship's solicitude and care in your weighty charge. We entreat, therefore, with all deference and respect, that you will condescend to honour, with such portion of your countenance, protection, and superintendence, as they may seem to deserve, those exertions which henceforward, by the blessing of Divine Providence, this Society may be enabled to make in prosecution of the above designs. And we beg further, respectfully, to invite your favourable attention to certain printed documents, in conformity to which Diocesan Committees, in connexion with this Society, have been recently es tablished, under the special recommendation and patronage of the Right Reverend Prelates of England and Wales, in almost all parts of this kingdom, and from which the most beneficial consequences have been found to ensue. A great Eastern Institution, to be erected upon this model, and embracing, in friendly combination, the several grand objects already referred to, has long been a matter of the earnest and anxious wishes of this Society; and to the uttermost would all our desires be gratified, if the establishment of such an institution might be coeval with the aus. picious moment of your Lordship's arri val there, and be permitted to grow up under the shelter of your fostering wing. That the Almighty may bless you with a prosperous voyage, and crown with ample success your Lordship's efforts for the advancement of his Kingdom and Glory, is the earnest prayer of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge." Reply of the Lord Bishop of Calcutta. My Lord Bishop of Chester,-I cannot proceed to notice the interesting and im portant matter contained in the Valedic tory Address, with which I have been honoured, without having first offered to your Lordship my sincere acknowledg ments for the singularly kind expressions with which your Lordship has been pleased to introduce it. I shall, indeed, my Lord, to adopt your Lordship's affecting language, whether "on the trackless deep, or in a distant clime," recollect "the circumstances of this day;" and most refreshing will it be to my wearied spirits in moments of difficulty and discouragement, for which I must not be unprepared, to be permitted to believe, on the authority of your Lordship, that I |