sorrow.

Raise up the sufferer, and spare him to our entreaties and affections. We sink at the thought of the blank which Thou mightst set among us. Have mercy on him, and not on him only, but on us also, lest we should have sorrow upon But still would we say: Thy will be done! If it be Thy will to call him hence, may he abound in hope, may his spirit rejoice in God his Saviour, may he be ready to be offered, may he bequeath to us the twofold blessing of his life and death. May he be supported in the last pang of human love, by Thy promise, and amidst our deep sobs of grief may we realise the same,-Leave thy fatherless children, and I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me!

PRAYER FOR THE LIFE OF A CHILD.

THOU gavest, and Thou hast the right to take away! We dispute not with Thy justice or Thy mercy. But Thou hearest prayer! In the day of our trouble we seek the Lord! The prayer of faith has saved the sick! Name of Him who heard the father's entreaty, Come down ere my child die! Who said unto the mother, though a Canaanite, supplicating

In the

for her daughter, Be it unto thee even as thou wilt! we implore Thee to succour our suffering child that we may still press it to our bosom, that we may train it in the way in which it should go, that in its developed mind and holy decision our hearts may rejoice, even ours. We nevertheless bow to Thy will. Thy will be done. Should it please Thee to remove it from us, we would not murmur, we dare not repine. Thine it always was. Thou wilt send from above and take it, that Thou wilt redeem its soul from the power of the grave and receive it, that the child may be caught up to God and to His throne!

And our prayer is that

PRAYER IN ANTICIPATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.

O LORD! remember us who shall keep this Holy, as a Festal, Day. Thou dost spread the Banquet of Love! Thou hast bidden the guests! We are not worthy to gather the crumbs which fall from the children's table. For once we thought its fruit, even Thy meat, contemptible. Glory to Thy grace, not only for its overtures, but for its operations. We now hunger and thirst for these blessed provisions. May Jesus be made known to us in the breaking of bread.

May we discern the Lord's Body, and the Lord's Blood. Let us keep the Feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Let it be the Communion of His Crucified Humanity. And may it be also the Communion of Saints. May we be One Body, and have fellowship one with another. Oh how many have sat at this Board, and partaken of this Entertainment, who now eat and drink in Thy Kingdom. We succeed to their places. Soon we shall make room for others. May we now, in heavenly sympathies, come to the spirits of just men made perfect! May we, when our place at this sacred table shall know us no more, be called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!

PRAYER FOR THE NEWLY MARRIED.

LET Thy benediction rest upon this Votive Pair! May the God who formed Adam from the dust, but Eve from Adam, knit together these Thy servants as one flesh and as a common spirit! May the man be a son of Abraham in his faith: the woman a daughter of Sarah in her meekness. May they instantly rear for Thee a Domestic Altar !

May they and

their house serve the Lord! May they walk

in all Thy commandments and ordinances blameless! May their hearts be given to Thee supremely! May they make Thy will and glory the rule and end of their affection and their being! Should occasion arise in which human love might interfere with claims the highest and most sacred, suffer them not to confer with flesh and blood! Should the necessity occur of proving that they love Jesus their Lord more than husband and wife, let them evince the spirit of a holy, unwavering martyrdom ! May the Word of God and Prayer sanctify their all! So may their time be spent! So may their substance be consecrated! So may their family, shouldst Thou increase them with children, be disciplined! Long may they be spared to each other, prospered in their basket and store,— blessed with all spiritual blessings, their souls in health, the promoters of each other's piety, the bearers of each other's burden, the helpers of each other's joy! walking hand in hand toward their Home in Heaven! For come it will, when this Bridal shall be turned into mourning; and when, instead of this present joyance, there shall be weeping, the shroud,the bier, the grave! Prepare them for it! May they die daily! May they be found ready! Give to them the victory over the sting of death and the bitterness of separation! At the earliest

cry, may they go forth to meet the Bridegroom! May they dwell for ever in the intimacies of heavenly fellowship, their spirits renewed by a birth of grace and glory,-beyond the reach of imperfection, bereavement, and decay!

ON FRIENDS ABOUT TO SEPARATE.

WE bless Thee that we have a good hope that we are One! Adored be Thy Name for the communion of saints! We have the like precious faith! We interchange our hearts! Our souls have fellowship! We thank Thee that we may indulge our partial friendships. Thou dost suffer us, as our Holy Exemplar did, to choose the bosom on which we may most fondly lean. Look down upon us now that this immediate exercise of our affections must close. We part for different spheres and duties. We bid farewell to each other in the Lord. Thou didst behold with compassion the disciples kneeling down on the shore of Tyre, taking leave one of another. Think upon us amidst the grief of this hour. We commend each to Thee and to the Word of Thy grace, which is able to build us up, and give us an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Oh for a place