WHAT IS PRAYER? PRAYER is the soul's sincere desire, That trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, The upward glancing of an eye, Prayer is the simplest form of speech Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, The saints in prayer appear as one, Nor prayer is made on earth alone : And Jesus on the eternal throne O Thou! by whom we come to God, As fail the waters from the deep, Man lieth down, no more to wake, Shall with a roll of thunder break, 323 Oh! hide me till thy wrath be past, JAS. MONTGOMERY. III. OUR DUTY HERE. "A CHRISTIAN's religion is co-extensive with his life.”—Arnold. And so to live, that when the sun May shrine our names in memory's light; A hundred fold in days to come. BOWRING. IV. THE REAPER AND THE FLOWERS. "WITH What energy does the spring preach to us the frailty and the end of life! See how far its beauties extend! But let us not exult too much in their splendid appearance; in a few days they will return to the dust whence they came. All that brilliant race of flowers, so diversified in their forms and shades, must die in the same spring in which they were born. Thus our life vanishes away, and its longest duration may, in some sort, be compared to a day in spring. An unexpected death hurries us into the grave; while that health and strength which we enjoy, promised us a long course of years. Often sickness and death come upon us the more certainly, as their snares were disguised with the charms of health and youth. We may view in the flowers of spring an emblem of our own frailty. But though these thoughts should make us deeply serious, yet they should not rob us of those comforts which the Creator has dispensed to us in the spring of our life. The thought of death is very consistent with the enjoyment of every innocent pleasure."-Sturm." HOPE BEYOND THE GRAVE. THERE is a Reaper, whose name is Death, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, "Shall I have nought that is fair ?" saith he; 66 325 Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, He gazed at the flowers with tearful eyes, It was for the Lord of Paradise He bound them in his sheaves. "My Lord hath need of these flowrets gay," V. HOPE BEYOND THE GRAVE. "THERE is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet, through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep."-Job xiv. 7–13. U "Tis night, and the landscape is lovely no more; I mourn-but, ye woodlands, I mourn not for you ; Kind Nature the embryo blossom will save: "Thy creature, who fain would not wander from thee! Lo, humbled in dust, I relinquish my pride; From doubt and from darkness thou only canst free.' So breaks on the traveller, faint and astray, The bright and the balmy effulgence of morn. See Truth, Love, and Mercy, in triumph descending, On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, BEATTIE. VI. WHAT MAKES A HAPPY OLD AGE. "REMEMBER now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."-Eccles. xii. 1. "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."—Psalm xxxvii. 25. In the species with which we are best acquainted, namely, our own, I am far, even as an observer of human life, from thinking that youth is its happiest season, much less the only happy one: as a Christian, I am willing to believe that there is a great deal of truth in the following representation given by a very pious writer, as well as excellent man.* "To the intelligent and virtuous, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment, of obedient appetite, of wellregulated affections, of maturity in knowledge, and of calm preparation for immortality. In this serene and dignified state, placed as it were on the confines of two worlds, the mind of a good man reviews what is past with the complacency of an approving conscience; and looks forward, with humble confidence in the mercy of God, and with devout aspirations towards his eternal and ever-increasing favour.”Paley. * Father's Instructions, by Dr. Percival, of Manchester. THE WATERS OF MARAH. "You are old, father William," the young man cried; You are hale, father William, a hearty old man ; "In the days of my youth," father William replied, "You are old, father William," the young man cried, And yet you lament not the days that are gone; "In the days of my youth," father William replied, I thought of the future, whatever I did, That I never might grieve for the past." "You are old, father William," the young man cried, You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death; "I am cheerful, young man," father William replied, In the days of my youth I remember'd my God, 327 SOUTHEY. 3. The meaning of need here? VII. THE WATERS OF MARAH. "AND Moses cried unto the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which, when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet." -Exodus xv. 25. By Marah's stream of bitterness When Moses stood and cried, |