who called at the glen two years before, stood among the mourners. He had heard of Jane's death at the settlement, and hastened to pay his last tribute of respect to the deceased, and to comfort the bereaved father in his affliction. But there was no need; for he felt a consolation in his bosom of more value than worlds, a consolation which nothing on earth could have imparted. As the funeral procession moved slowly towards the burial place of the old Pensioner's family, there was a deep and thoughtful silence throughout the little concourse. The bearers placed the coffin beside the grave. The Missionary uncovered his head, and addressed a few words to the assembly. They were tender and appropriate, and flowed from a feeling heart. The coffin was lowered into its narrow cell. I looked upon the old Pensioner. A tear was standing in his eye, but there was peace and tranquillity in his bosom. He advanced to the head of the grave, and, after looking into it, he looked round affectionately upon the assembly, and said, "My friends, there is sorrow in my heart, but it is not a sorrow without hope. I think I can thank the Great Shepherd that he has taken this lamb from me; for, before, I was a lost and wandering sheep, and would not hear the voice of the Shepherd, calling me to his fold. I was a prodigal, perishing with hunger, and would not return to my Father, who had bread enough, and to spare. I shall soon see my dear Jane again. She will not always sleep here. The trump of the archangel will reach the bottom of this grave. This narrow house will soon be the resting place of us all. I feel and am assured that I must soon lay these limbs beside hers. Let us be like her, and I trust we shall meet in heaven." The Missionary invoked the blessing of God upon the assembly, and they silently dispersed to their boats. For a few days I was a constant resident at the glen, and had the satisfaction of witnessing daily in the old Pensioner an increasing and fervent piety. He was now happy, rejoicing in hope. We conversed; we joined our prayers and praises at the Throne of Grace; and precious were the seasons which I spent in his cottage. He sometimes wept at the grave of his beloved daughter. But there was joy even in his grief. The Bible of Jane was now his constant companion, and much was he consoled and animated by its promises. The day at length arrived when I must take my final leave of the scenes of Lake George. The morning was fine, and we spent an hour in walking about the glen. We conversed-we prayed. It was the last time we were to be together on this side the grave. I had endeavoured, as far as possible, to ascertain the true character of his views and feelings; and was satisfied that he had commenced a new and happy existence, which would only bloom here, but would ripen in eternity. He accompanied me to the boat. As we were about to part, I expressed my apprehension that he would be lonely. "I am not alone," said he; " and though to go and be with Christ would be far better, yet all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. I hope to meet you in heaven. Farewell." Farewell, said I, and he returned to the cottage. The dwelling of the Pensioner, and the little glen soon vanished from my view. A few months since I had occasion to visit Lake George. I called at the glen. The cottage of the old Pensioner was there, but it was without an inhabitant. I visited the garden, and Jane was lying between her parents. On inquiring at the neighbouring settlement, I was told that the old man had died a few weeks previously. I learned with great satisfaction that he had lived in such a manner as to carry conviction to the minds of all, that the grace of God had been performing in his heart its perfect work. He had spent his time, from the period at which I took leave of him, in pious devotion to his Saviour, and died in the triumphs of faith and the hope of a blessed immortality. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." R. ERATOI. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. IN your Number for November, 1823, I laid before your readers, from the copious preface to the second edition of the Bishop of St. David's Vindication of 1 John v. 7., recently published, a concise summary of his lordship's arguments in favour of the verse, in reply to the objections of the Quarterly Review. It may be further interesting to them to learn the nature of his lordship's reply to another series of recent objections urged against the verse by the Bishop of Peterborough. The objections of Bishop Marsh are, in substance, 1st, That the passage is wanting in the most ancient manuscripts, even of the Latin version: 2. That it was no more known to Augustine than it was to Chrysostom: 3d, That it was gradually introduced into the Latin Vulgate by the Church of Rome : 4th, That not a single Greek manuscript was ever known to contain the passage, till after the invention of printing: 5th, That this solitary manuscript was not written in Greece: and, 6th, That the verse originated in a Latin gloss upon the eighth verse; which his lordship states is not conjecture, but an historical fact, supported by evidence which cannot be resisted. To these arguments the Bishop of St. David's replies as follows: 1. If the verse is wanting in the most ancient Greek MSS. now extant, it is found in the Latin version, which is more ancient than the oldest Greek manuscript. It is quoted by Tertullian and Cyprian, before the age of any manuscript that has de scended to us; who, says Mill, would not have quoted it, if they had not read it in their Greek copies. That Tertullian and Cyprian made' use of Greek copies, Griesbach argues from the difference there frequently is between their citations and the received Greek text. 2. To the gratuitous assertion of the second objection, the Bishop of St. David's opposes the contrary assertion of Bengelius, that the verse was not unknown to Augustin. "Sane dictum adeo non ignoravit ut totam ejus sententiam et sententiæ periphrasim disertam insereret, Verbi` etiam nomine adhibito." And, if it was known to Diodorus, the preceptor of Chrysostom, as seems probable from an authority quoted by the Bishop of St. David's, it must have been known to Chrysostom. 3. The third objection states, that the verse was gradually introduced into the Vulgate by the Church of Rome. But we know from the writings of the African Fathers, that the Church of Africa possessed the verse long before the Church of Rome had any cecumenical authority. Mill says, "In Africanis codicibus lectam ostendimus jam olim ante Cyprianum et Tertullianum, etiam in Latina aliarum gentium exemplaria transiisse." 4. Bishop Marsh argues, that not a single Greek manuscript was ever known to contain the passage till after the invention of printing; to which Bishop Burgess opposes the following facts:-The same Prologue to the Canonical Epistles, whose authority the Bishop of Peterborough admits to prove that it was not in the Latin copies within the writer's knowledge, asserts, that it was in the Greek. The Greek writer, supposed to be Maximus, of the seventh century, who quotes St. John's authority for the unity of the three Divine persons,-PɑOKEL Ιωαννης, ότι τρεις το ἑν εισι,cannot be said to have taken the words from the eighth verse, without imputing to him a mystical interpretation of that verse, unknown to the Greek Fathers, and which, "forced and corrupt" as it is, cannot reasonably be imputed to any one who does not expressly comment on the words Spiritus, aqua, et sanguis. As to the manuscript which is the subject of this objection, the Bishop of St. David's remarks, that it is evident from Dr. Clarke's account that it is much more ancient than the age of printing, and probably of the 13th or 14th century. The Bishop also adduces evidence to prove that it was quoted in Greek by Cyrillus Alexandrinus in the fifth century, and from him by Enthymius, in the 12th century, and by Emanuel Calecas in the 14th. 5. To the fifth objection, the Bishop of St. David's replies, that as a large portion of the employment of the ancient monasteries was to transcribe manuscripts, many of our Greek MSS. must have been written in Italy, France, &c. The GræcoLatini codices, which are very ancient, and of great authority, must have been all written in the West. 6. To the sixth objection, the Bishop of St. David's opposes the statement of Simon, who says, that the verse originated not in Latin, but in a Greek gloss on the eighth verse-the Greek marginal scholia. Mill was of opinion, that instead of the text originating in the scholia, the scholia were fragments of the lost text. The Bishop considers that the scholia quoted by Simon were originally scholia on the seventh verse, and that, continuing on the margin after the loss of the verse, they were attached to the eighth verse. In extracting the foregoing summary, I have confined myself to the simple point of the Bishop of Peterborough's objections; which, with the short statements of the arguments on the other side in my former paper, will furnish a concise view of the present state of the controversy. CLERICUS. CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 265. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. IN answer to the questions of your correspondent C. I. A., why the officiating minister is required to stand during the prayers in the Communion Service, except in three particular instances, and whether this posture is not contrary to the usual observance of our Church, it may be replied, that the officiating minister is always supposed to stand in all her services, except in those cases in which he is specially directed to kneel. What reasons may be assigned for this it is not in my power particularly to say, except that it seems to have been the usual practice both in the Jewish and Christian churches. No instance occurs in the Scriptures of an officiating minister's kneeling in the publicworship of God, except that of King Solomon at the dedication of the temple. It may be observed, also, that a standing posture is more easy and convenient to a person engaged in the act of public speaking for any considerable length of time; to which it may be added, that it seems proper that the officiating minister should be seen by the people, which would not always be the case were he to kneel. This last reason may, perhaps, excite a smile; but I shield myself under the authority of Comber: "Our pious ancestors may make our devotion blush, when we see them all the time of prayer, in procinctu, with their knees bended, their hearts and hands lifted up, their eyes fixed on the minister, and their mouth ready to say Amen, and to answer wherever it was required." There seems to have been felt a general idea of the minister's acting both as the ambassador of God and the representative of the people; standing like Moses and the Prophets of old to transmit the commands and promises of God to the people, and to utter the wants and wishes of the people to God. The reading desks in our ancient churches had, accordingly, and some still retain, two fronts: the one facing the people, at which the lessons were read; the other towards the chancel, where the prayers were offered. C But whatever reasons may be will presently appear. In one of assigned for the minister's standing the rubrics of the Commination in prayer, (except in particular cases) it appears to have been the general practice; and it remains so to the present time amongst all denominations of Christians. I have always acted in conformity with this custom in performing the service of the church; and on looking into Wheatly, I find my practice supported by his sanction. In his comment on the Communion Office, he says; "I take it for granted that whenever the Church does not direct the minister to kneel, it supposes him to stand." This observation evidently refers to all the other services of the Church, as well as the Communion Office. Again: he says, Through the whole office he (the minister) is ordered to kneel but three times; namely, at the General Confession, the Prayer of Address, just before the Prayer of Consecration, and at his receiving the elements; which being three places where there least wants a rubric to direct him to kneel, (since, if there was no such rubric, a minister would, of his own accord, kneel down at those times), and yet there being an express direction at each of these places for him to kneel, it is very evident that where the rubric gives no such direction, the minister is always to stand." By noticing the various services of the Church, it will be observed that the places where the minister is directed to kneel are those which contain acts of confession and humiliation, and therefore he is required to join with the people in the same humble posture. Service, it is said, "Then shall they all kneel upon their knees, and, the priests and clerks kneeling (in the place where they are accustomed to say the Liturgy), shall say this Psalm-." Now if the words all kneel included the officiating minister, why should a special direction be given to him and the clerks? But let the whole service of the church be briefly examined:—At the commencement the minister is directed to kneel at the General Confession, for the reason before stated. He is then enjoined to stand up to pronounce the Absolution, which is not a prayer, but a ministerial and authoritative declaration of remission of sins to penitent and believing sinners, and an exhortation to look to God in prayer, for repentance and holiness. The priest is required to pronounce it standing, because it is an act of his authority in declaring the will of God. But the people are to continue kneeling in token of that humility and reverence with which they ought to receive the glad tidings of pardon from Him who, alone, is able to confer the boon. He is then directed again to kneel, to repeat the Lord's Prayer, and the Versicles that follow it; for which I can assign no particular cause, except it be to make more evident the reason of his standing to pronounce the Absolution; or except some peculiar respect be intended to be paid to the Lord's Prayer. It may, however, be remarked, that the Lord's Prayer is not, in all cases, to be repeated by the minister in a kneeling posture. After saying the Creed, the Kyrie Eleeison and the Lord's Prayer are directed to be repeated "all devoutly kneeling." The minister is here evidently included, because he is immediately afterwards enjoined to stand up. His kneeling here, therefore, appears to be either intended as an example to the people, or for the above-mentioned reason, of peculiar respect to the Lord's Prayer. He is then directed to rise, and is undoubtedly to continue standing until the end of the service. It is admitted that the rubric, at the termination of the Versicles, states, that the remaining prayers are to be said all kneeling; but this means only that all the people should continue kneeling. That the minister is not here included is evident, not only from the rubric before cited, but also for the following additional reasons: First, No probable cause can be assigned why the minister should stand up to repeat these Versicles, which are as strictly prayers as any of those that follow, and then be expected immediately afterwards again to kneel. Secondly, After the same Versicles in the Evening Service, there is nothing said respecting kneeling, and, consequently, the minister must continue standing. If, there. fore, this explanation of the rubric be not admitted, the remaining part of the Service in the morning must be read by the minister on his knees, and that in the afternoon in a standing posture. But,. as the prayers are exactly the same, with the exception of the two collects, peculiar to morning and evening prayer, it is not probable that any will suppose it to have been the inten tion of the compilers of the rubrics that these prayers should be read by the minister in two different postures. Let the other Occasional Services of the Church be now examined, and they will all be found to harmonize with the Communion Service in regard to this subject. In the Service for the Public Baptism of Infants, the rubric directs that "the priest, coming to the font, and standing there, shall say ". This direction appears to refer to the whole of the Service; for, after the first prayers, another rubric says, "Then shall the people stand up, and the priest shall say Hence, it is evident, that the priest is not supposed to kneel; as he would, in that case, be directed with the people to stand up. In the other prayers, before the performance of the baptism, there is no direction, either to the minister or people, to kneel, and consequently they are to continue standing. The concluding prayers, after the ordinance has been administered, are directed to be said all kneeling. But this, certainly, does not include the minister; as no reason can be assigned why he should there kneel, except it should be considered to be in consequence of the occurrence of the Lord's Prayer. But this does not appear to be a sufficient reason, as that prayer is introduced in the office to be used when private baptism has been previously administered, at a time when the minister and people are all standing. Similar remarks may be made on the Office for Baptism of such as are of Riper Years. At the introduction of the first prayers, the rubric says, "Here all the congregation shall kneel;" and, at their conclusion, "Then shall the people stand up." Hence it is evident, that the minister should continue standing during the repetition of these prayers. It does not appear, therefore, that he is required to kneel in any part of the three offices of baptism. In the Order of Confirmation the Bishop is not directed to kneel; and therefore he is to stand, as he would otherwise undoubtedly be directed to rise for the purpose of pronouncing the Blessing. In the Solemnization of Matrimony, the rubric before the first prayer, directs that 66 they [the man and woman] shall both kneel down, and the minister shall say ": and that placed before the prayers which follow the Psalm, is expressed thus; "The priest, standing at the table, and turning his face towards them, shall say- It is, therefore, clearly evident that the minister is not to kneel in any part of this service, although the Lord's Prayer occurs in it, as it does in all the other offices. In the Order for the Visitation of the Sick, the minister in |