ii. 17.) For, if we love our brethren, we know (1 John iii. 14. iv. 12.) what kind of fear is here meant. (Heb. xii. 28.)

Third Sunday after Trinity.-"O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

There is one acknowledgment in this Collect:

That God gives unto his people a hearty desire to pray. The life of the Christian should be a life of daily, hourly, continual prayer. (1 Thess. v. 17. 1 Tim. ii. 8.) The prayer of faith only is acceptable unto God for particular mercies, (James v. 15.) for general mercies, (James i. 6, 7.)

And faith is the gift of God. (Ephes. ii. 8.)

God creates the fruit of the lips. (Is. lvii. 19.)
Two Articles of Prayer in this Collect.

I. That God would mercifully hear us.

God does hear the prayer of his people, generally. (Ps. lxv. 2.) On particular occasions, as Elijah. (James v. 17, 18.) In particular temptations, as St. Paul. (2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.) For his glory, as our blessed Saviour. (John xii. 28.) In behalf of others. (1 Tim. ii. 1—3.) Our prayer, therefore, should be, Ps. lxi. 1, 2.

II. That we may, by God's mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities. God declares, by David, that he does defend his people in dangers, (Ps. xxxiv. 7.) and is as a buckler to them, (Prov. ii. 7.) and gives us victory over them all, (Rom. viii. 37.)

God declares, by St. Paul, that he does give his people comfort in adversities, (2 Cor. i. 4.) which all Christians must have, (Acts xiv. 22.) which, if we are not partakers of, we do not belong to Christ, (Heb. xii. 8.)

The Holy Ghost is the Comforter of God's people. (John xiv. 26.) Job and St. Paul are particular instances of Christians comforted in adversities or tribulations.

Our prayer, therefore, should be, Ps. xc. 14, 15. ac

cording to the character of the children of God, (2 Cor. vi. 10.)

Fourth Sunday after Trinity.—“Ọ God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake our Lord. Amen."

There are two Acknowledgments in this Collect:

1st. That God is the Protector of all that trust in him. As David, none of them that trust in him shall be desolate; that is, unprotected, lonely. (Ps. xxxiv. 22. and Ps. v. 11.) We may remark, how many titles are given unto God in Christ, shewing his protection to his people. He is a Rock, (Deut. xxxii. 4.) for a firm foundation. He is a Buckler, (Ps. xviii. 2.) for a covering. A Tower or Fortress, for security and defence. (Ps. xviii. 1, 2.) A Horn, for support and strength. (Ps. xviii. 2.)

Second Acknowledgment.

That, without God, nothing is strong or holy.

This is only a more general way of stating the same truth, as First Sunday after Trinity, to which we refer. There is One Article of Prayer.

That God would increase and multiply upon us his mercy. Mercy is here put for grace, which God gives by his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, and of which he gives an increase. (James iv. 6.) First, to build us up in all Christian virtues. (2 Peter i. 2, 5, 6, 7.) Secondly, to sanctify us wholly, which is the will of God. (1 Thess. iv. 3, 7. and v. 23.) And, thirdly, as here, to make us so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal, (1 Thess. iii. 13.) or to use this world as a transitory object. (1 Cor. vii. 31.) God's grace came by Jesus to teach us to look for a future life. (Titus ii. 11, 13.) For the condition and hope of the Christian for time only, is unhappy. (1 Cor. xv. 19.) But he looks for another life after death. (2 Pet. iii. 13.) Wherefore we should be against the snares of this present world, acting according to the apostle's direction. (1 Pet. iv. 7. and v. 8.)

Mark, how the apostles begin and end all their epistles with invocations to God for grace unto their people; as that which would alone enable them to stand against the manifold evils of the world, build them up in all Christian virtue, lead them safely through death, and bring them complete in the righteousness of Christ, unto a blessed and glorious immortality. We should pray, then, without ceasing, for more grace.

A PRAYER.

BLESSED Lord God, I would come to thee in the way of thine own appointment, even through Jesus thy beloved Son, the great Mediator between God and man. I am unworthy so much as to lift up my eyes to thy holy dwelling place, or to ask any favour at thy hands; but thou dost encourage me to come boldly to the throne of grace, depending upon the merits and never failing intercession of Christ my Saviour.

Heavenly Father, I desire to bless and praise thy holy name that thou hast brought me to some sense of my duty to thee as my Creator, and to some sense of my duty to thy dear Son, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I desire to thank thee that I have any wish to glorify thy name, and to do good in my day and generation.

But, O Lord, thou knowest how I am straitened in carrying my desires into good effect, how sore let and hindered in running my Christian course; and that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. Heavenly Father, thou mightest well abhor me, and well abhor too my poor polluted, imperfect services. But I come to thee for pardon for all that is faulty; I come to thee for strength for all that is weak. Thou art pleased to secure to thyself the glory of all that is done for thee in this world, by effecting it through very feeble and inadequate instrumentality. Thou dost put the treasure into earthen vessels, and dost impart it thence, that the excellency of the power may be seen to be of God and not of man. Then, heavenly Father, let no sense of weakness and insufficiency lead me to do nothing, but rather drive me to

the Strong for strength. May I glorify thee by trusting to thy promises, and believing that thou wilt make them good to those who seek thee. Make me to perceive and know what things I ought to do, and give me grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same. Strengthen and guide me to a due improvement of the talents thou hast entrusted to my care; and if I have but the one talent, may I never forget that for that one thou will hereafter call me to account. I thank and bless thee that thou hast put it into my heart to labour for the best interests of the young around me. From thee cometh every good and perfect gift, and all my sufficiency I must seek from thee. Give me wisdom and discretion. Give me patience and forbearance. May nothing in my example hinder the success of the precepts I teach, and may the love of Christ my Saviour ever lead me forward amidst discouragements which may beset me.

And, heavenly Father, grant I pray thee that in watering others I may be watered also myself. May my own vineyard flourish while I am cultivating that of others. May I drink at that stream to which I am privileged to direct the lambs of thy flock. And when my work on earth is ended, and I am called to stand before my judge, may it be my happy lot to appear with joyful confidence and say here, Lord, am I, and the children whom thou hast given me.

Heavenly Father, I venture to ask for these great blessings for the alone merits' sake of Christ, my interceding Saviour, to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all the praise and glory, now and for ever, Amen.

W.

MEMOIR OF A PUPIL

IN THE CLERGY DAUGHTERS' school, at casterton. (Concluded from page 36.)

G. very much dreaded the excitement of meeting her schoolfellows after their return from home; she was therefore removed, for a few days, to the Garden House, near the Hall. Her naturally lively turn of disposition never left her, even in sickness. In speaking of the Hall, she termed it the "Palace Beautiful," and this little cot

tage "The Lodge in the Garden of Comforts." While here, dear G. spent most of the day in the garden, where, as she reclined on her couch, beneath the shade of a spreading tree, she had great enjoyment in listening to the sweet melodies of the birds, and in gazing on the works of nature. With these her spirit seemed to hold communion, as from each object around her she continually gathered new instruction. This garden she styled, "The Walled City." Miss T. gives a further account of her in the following letter, addressed to Mrs. W., dated:

66

Lodge in a Garden of Comforts.

MY DEAR MRS. W.,-G. has given the above name to her new lodging; she says, we have been in the Palace Beautiful." She has been very happy and comfortable all the evening. While I was preparing tea, she was singing, "Guide us, O thou Great Jehovah." Mrs. came to see us after tea, and remarked, that G. would be better soon. When she was gone, G. said, "I do not like to hear her say I shall be better; but that is not resignation—is it?" On my reading a passage from "The Christian's Pocket Book," as follows: "The first thing in religion is to receive Christ; the second, to live upon him; the third, to walk in him; the last, to be for ever with him;" she said, "It is not now to walk in Him, but to recline on Him." So many little things have been the means of reviving the recollection of former comforts in her mind. One was, after the hymn, "What though a thorn my bosom bears," she told me, that used to be a great comfort to her, when she was striving to overcome her imperfect enunciation, which had been the source of great trial to her in her studies.

Yours affectionately,

M. T.

But the Walled City and the Lodge were soon exchanged for another residence, and Miss T. being called to attend to other duties, it was no small trial to dear G. to part with her faithful and affectionate nurse; but she was greatly comforted in finding that the one who came to supply her place, though a stranger to her, was not a stranger to her Saviour. The house in which G. was now placed was partly occupied by the coachman at the Hall, and his wife; and the kind, considerate, attentions of the latter, during the three months G. was under her roof, quite won the dear child's affectionate heart: nor was Mrs. T. less attached to her sweet, interesting patient. The Old Hall being only a few minutes walk from the school, G. was frequently cheered with a visit from her dear Miss H. and other friends; and it was the general observation of all who saw her, that they never left her, without gaining some spiritual good. Her state was that of calm, peaceful waiting upon her Godready either to live or die, as he might appoint. Once she remarked to a friend, "How sweet it is to live in uncertainty-not knowing what will happen on the morrow, or even the next hour-because it makes one live so near to God, and depend on him for every thing!" The window of her sitting-room commanded a pretty view of a green hill, upon which a flock of sheep were seen to graze; and it was her delight to sit with her Bible, and watch their movements; comparing her own state with theirs, as they here and there reclined on the green pastures, or cropt the herbage. Indeed, she had ever a ready and pleasing propensity to draw comparisons between natural things and spiritual.