iftoofe of ^Uncommon papers. Jl "38006 * of * * * Uncommon * literary omjriled AUTHOR OF "CONQUESTS OP THE CROSS, "SIMON PKTBR: HIS I.IFB AND TIJIKS," " ON HOLY GROUND," ETC.. FTC. an5 o., 26, t>s fianc, .@- HHHERE are almost innumerable collections of *- sacred poetry and hymns there are compara- tively few collections of prayers. "A good prayer," says worthy Thomas Fuller, " is not, like a stratagem of war, to be used but once. No : the oftener the better. The clothes of the Israelites, whilst they wandered forty years in the wilderness, never waxed old. So a good prayer, though often used, is still fresh and fair in the ears and eyes of Heaven. Despair not then, thou simple soul, who hast no exchange of raiment ; whose prayer cannot appear every day at Heaven's court in new clothes. Only add new, or new degrees of old affections thereunto, and it will be acceptable to God, thus repaired, as if new created." In these days of restless activity when men have no leisure, no repose, little inducement and less vi preface. opportunity for prayerful contemplation it has been found that in what brief intervals in the strain and struggle of life can be obtained, much spiritual help and refreshment have been gained in reading the devout thoughts, the aspirations, the hopes, the fears of men of all generations who, in prayer, have talked with God. It is quite true that the literature of prayer may be made conventional and common-place, and that a long series of prayers composed by one person, may become a book of mere repetitions, but it is equally true that in the selected prayers of men of large hearts and wide influence who have left their mark on the history of the Church in times of critical importance in the past, no less than in the prayers of thoughtful men in the changing and unstable present, there are to be found valuable gems of devout expression, deep and wondrous thoughts of God and man, fruitful aids from rich experience, and rousing words of hope and aspiration. I have endeavoured, therefore, to select Uncom- mon prayers some on the ground of their literary excellence, others for their biographical or historical interest, and the majority for the depth of their devotional spirit. Good prayers, like good hymns of praise, will live as long as the world, and will bear witness to preface. vii the true communion of saints in all ages and in all lands. I have great pleasure in acknowledging the gener- ous assistance I have received from my friends the Rev. James Durran, M.A. (Edinburgh), the Rev. Thomas Nicholson, M.A. (Bromley, Kent), Mr. J. M. Grant, J.P., and Mr. John Angell James Housden, in pointing out to me valuable sources of information while this work was in progress. I tender my cordial thanks to Mrs. Elmslie for kindly placing at my disposal the MS. prayers (Nos. 102, 103, 104, 105), hitherto unpublished, of her late husband, Professor W. Gray Elmslie, M.A., D.D. ; to Dr. Alexander Whyte for permission to use the prayers Nos. 10, 23, and 24 ; Dr. James Martineau for Nos. 92 and 107 ; the Earl of Love- lace and Messrs. Isbister and Co., Ld., for No. 72; Messrs. Macmillan and Co. for No. 73 ; the Rev. J. V. Charlesworth for No. 94 ; Dr. J. Oswald Dykes and Messrs. Jas. Nesbit and Co., Ld., for No. 96 ; Mrs. Service and Messrs. Macmillan and Co. for Nos. 98 and 99; Dr. Joseph Parker (City Temple) for Nos. 100 and 101 ; and to Messrs. I. MacLehose and Sons (Glasgow) for No. 108. I have used my best endeavours to discover the owners of the copyrights of all prayers included in this volume, but if in any instance I have viii preface. inadvertently made use of a prayer for which I should have obtained the permission so willingly extended in other cases, I tender my apology, and shall be glad to rectify the error in any subsequent editions. EDWIN HODDER. HEATHERDENE, HAEEWOOD ROAD, SOUTH CBOYDON. PREFACE Page. rf)ciug!)t5 an (1) DEFINITIONS OF PRAYKE 1 (2) ANSWERS TO PEAYBR 5 (3) DOTY OF PRAYER 8 (4) POWER OF PRAYEE 13 (5) NECESSITY OF PEAYBR 16 (6) DELIGHT AND CONSOLATION IN PBAYBB 19 No. Author. I. St. Polycarp . . II. St. James . . . III. St. Jerome . . IV. St. Augustine . V., VI. St. Basil . . . VII. John Damascenus VIII. Simeon Metaphrastes 10th cent. IX. St. Thomas Aquinas X. Archbishop Brad- wardine XL Thomas a Kempis . XII. Dean Colet . . . XIII. John Knox . . . XIV. St. Francis Xavier . XV. John Calvin . . . XVI. ... XVII. . . . XVIII. . . . XIX. Martin Luther . . XX. Vittoria Colonna . Date. A.D. 163 200 329-420 354-430 379 676-756 10th cent. 1224-1274 1290-1349 1380-1471 1466-1519 1505-1572 1506-1552 1509-1564 1521 1541 Subject. I Immediately before his Martyrdom .... A General Prayer . . . For Private Use before Communion For Rest in God .... Two Collects . . . .31- The, Cry of the Contrite Soul age 24 25 26 29 -32 33 35 36 38 39 42 44 45 46 47 49 50 51 63 An Acrostic Prayer . . . Before Communion . . . A Private Prayer . . . For Peace of Mind . . . A Family Prayer . . . In Time of Persecution and Trial Adoration .... A Morning Prayer . . . An Evening Prayer . . . Before Communion . . . Confession Before Appearance at Diet at Worms For Spiritual Life . . . (Contents. No. Author. Date. Subject. Page. XXI. Vittoria Colonna . 1543 For Renewal of Spiritual Life 54 XXII. Sir Walter Raleigh. 1552-1618 A Hymn of Prayer . . . 54 XXIII. Bishop Lancelot An- drewes .... 1555-1626 A Prayer on Awaking . . 55 xxrv. Bishop Lancelot An- drewes .... An Evening Prayer for Grace 58 XXV. Sir Henry Wotton . 1568-1639 Prayer in a Night of Sick- ness 60 XXVI. XXVII. Archbishop Laud . Ben Jonson . . . 1573-1645 1574-1637 A Family Prayer . . . To the Holy Trinity . . . 61 62 XXVIII. Bishop Hall . . . 1574-1656 A Private Prayer . . . 64 XXIX. Jacob Bohme . . 1575-1624 A Prayer of Contrition . . 65 YYX Robert Herrick . . 1591-1674 A Litany to the Holy Spirit 68 XXXI. George Herbert . 1593-1632 "The Elixir" . . . . 70 XXXII. Queen Elizabeth . 1597 For the Nation . . . . 71 XXXIII. King Charles I. . . 1600-1649 A Family Prayer . . . 72 XXXIV. Jeremy Taylor . . 1613-1667 Prayer for the Graces of XXXV. Faith, Hope, and Charity A General Prayer . . . 74 76 XXXVI. Drummond of Haw- thornden . . . 1617 A Prayer for Mercy . . . 77 xxxvn. Richard Baxter . . 1615-1691 A General Prayer . . . 78 XXXVIII. Blaise Pascal . . . 1623-1662 In Time of Sickness . . . 81 XXXTX' Dr. John Donne 1631 A Litany . . 82 XL.' XLI. A Hymn to God the Father A Prayer in Sickness . . 84 84 XLII. Francis Quarles . . 1635 The Hiding of God's Face 86 XLIII. XLIV. Johann Lassenius . 1636-'l692 A Private Prayer . . An Evening Prayer . . 88 89 XLV. Bishop Ken . 1637-1711 A Prayer of Thanksgiving 91 XLVI. Henry Vaughan 1650 "Begging" . . 93 XLVII. Bishop Wilson . . 1663-1755 A Private Prayer . . . 94 XLVIII. Andrew Rykman . 1674 99 95 XLIX. William Law . . 1686-1761 _ 101 L. Philip Doddridge . 1702-1751 For Divine Guidance in Dispensing Gifts . . . 102 LI. Dr. Samuel Johnson 170'J-1784 On Preparing for Study . 103 LII. Jt Against j| Inquisitive and Perplexing Thoughts . 104 LIII. Before Communion . . . 105 LTV. Moravian Brother- hood .... 1722 A Prayer for Missions . . 106 LV. Gerhard Tersteegen 1724 A Prayer of Self-Dedica- tion 107 LVI. 99 1731 To the Risen and Ascended Saviour 108 LVTI. Alexander Pope . . 1734 The Universal Prayer . . 111 LVIII. John Burn of Glas- gow 1738 A Covenant Prayer . . . 114 LIX. Charles Wesley . . 1740 A Hymn of Private Prayer 116 Contents. No. LX. Author. Susanna Wesley . Date. 1742 Subject. On the Love of God . . . Page. LXI. Thomas Chatterton 1752-1770 Rosi cnation 118 LXII. Robert Southey . 1774-1843 A Prayer 119 LXIII. Bishop Mant . 1776-1848 A Litany 120 LXIV. Thomas Moore 1779-1852 Bereavement 121 LXV Sir Robert Grant 1785-1838 A Litany 121 LXVI. Dr. Thomas Arnold 1795-1842 The Prayer of a Busy Man 123 LXVII. ,, 6th Form Morning Prayer at Rugby 123 LXVIII. John Greenleaf Whittier . . . 1807-1892 For Peace and Calm . . . 124 LXIX. Elizabeth Barrett Browning . 1809-1861 The Cry of the Human . . 125 T.XX. Dr. Thomas Chal- mers 1816 On Friendship .... 129 LXXI. Dr. Thomas Chal- mers }> In Time of Plague . . . 131 LXXII. LXXIII. Mrs. John Sheppard Matthew Arnold . 1821 1822-1888 A Prayer for Lord Byron . "Save, oh ! save" . . . 133 136 LXXIV. Sir John Bowring . 1825 A Hymn of Prayer . . . 139 LXXV. LXXVI. Adolphe Monod . . Bishop Heber 1826 A Cry from the Depths . . Prayer for Conversion . . 140 141 LXXVII. Rev. Richard Knill. 1829 The Old and New Year . 142 LXXVI II. LXXIX. Principal Forbes . 1830 On Coming of Age . . . After Sickness and Sorrow 143 143 LXXX. Rev. Alexander Fletcher . . . 1834 A Morning Family Prayer . 144 LXXXI. Henry Thornton, MP 1834 147 LXXXII. James Russell Lowell 1841 Prayer for a Life . . . 150 LXXXIII. Abbe Lacordaire . 1846 On Preaching Christ . . 150 Lxxxrv. Eliza Cook . . . 1849 Evening Prayer for the Sick and Sorrowful .... 151 LXXXV. Sir Robert Peel . . 1850 A Statesman's Prayer . . 152 LXXXVI. Sir Henry Lawrence 1852 For the Duties of the Day . 153 LXXXVII. Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D ... . 1853 A Morning Prayer . . . 164 T, XXXVIII. John Sheppard of Frome .... For Assurance of Faith . . 158 T.yYXTy John Sheppard of Frome .... M For Pardon under Distress- ing Doubt 160 xc. Dr. James Hinton . 1859 Some Thoughts on Prayer . 162 XCI. London School Board 1870 Used at Meetings of First London School Board 163 XCII. Miss Frances Power Cobbe .... 1871 For the Indwelling of God 166 XCIII. Prince Imperial of France .... 1879 Prior to Departure for Zululand 168 xcrv. Rev. C. H. Spurgeon 1878 A Pulpit Prayer. Extem- pore . 170 ii Contents. No. Anthor. Date. Subject. Page. XCV. Rev. H. W. Beecher 1813-1887 A Pulpit Prayer. Extem- pore 178 XCVI. Dr. J.OswaldDykes 1881 For the Last Evening of the Year 187 XCVII. Seventh Earl of Shaftesbnry . 1885 Special Prayers .... 190 XCVIII. Dr. John Service M General Prayer for Public Worship 193 XCIX. }> At the Burial of the Dead . 200 C. Dr. Joseph Parker 1889 A Family Prayer .... 203 CI. 205 CII. Professor W. Gray Elmslie, D.D. M General Prayer for Public Worship 206 CIII. Professor W. Gray Elmslie M For Restoration of the Divine Likeness . . 210 CIV. Professor W. Gray Elmslie .... CV. Professor W. Gray " Two Prayers of Invocation 212 Elmslie .... CVI. Benjamin Jowett, " A Prayer of Intercession . 213 Master of Balliol. CVII. Dr. James Martineau CVIII. Dr. John Hunter . 1891 1895 A College Prayer in Illness For Morning or Evening . For Sunday Morning in 214 216 i Autumn 218 CIX . A Prayer for the Use of the Young People of a Household 2211 ex. A Little Child's Prayer . 224) CXI. The Blind Chaplain of the American Senate .... 1897 For the Queen .... 225 INDEX OP AUTHOES QUOTED 226 SUBJECT INDEX 227 of ^Uncommon on (1) Sefimttong of PEAYEE, if I may speak so boldly, is inter- course with God. Even if we do but lisp, even though we silently address God without opening our lips, yet we cry to Him in the inmost recesses of the heart ; for God always listens to the sincere direction of the heart to Him. Clement of Alexandria. Prayer is the meeting-point of the seen and the unseen; it is the borderland between earth and heaven; it is the contact and communion of finite beings with the Infinite. Dr. Huntingdon. Prayer is not the synonym of petition prayer is speaking to God whatsoever be the voice, the language, the subject of discourse. It may be con- fession, it may be adoration, it may be thanksgiving, it may be petition. If it be petition it may be entreaty, it may be deprecation, it may be inter- cession, it may be for the life, it may be for the soul. . . prayer is the soul's language in the ear of a God known to be present. A man may pray who asks nothing, who but " dwells in the secret place of the Most High" silent petition, counting it enough to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, the All-Loving. The reality of prayer is the meeting of the two spirits, the "I," and the "I Am," unto communication, unto converse, unto interchange (with reverence be it spoken) of thought and speech, of life and love. Very Rev. C. J. Vauyhan, D.D. Heaven is the magazine wherein God puts Both good and evil ; prayer's the key that shuts And opens this great treasure ; 'tis a key Whose wards are Faith, and Hope, and Charity. Francis Quarks. Prayer is helplessness casting itself upon power ; it is infirmity leaning on strength, and misery wooing bliss; it is unholiness embracing purity, hatred desiring love; it is corruption panting for immortality, and the earth-born claiming kindred in the skies ; it is the flight of the soul to the bosom of God, and the spirit soaring upward and claiming nativity beyond the stars ; it is the restless Befimttons. 3 dove on drooping wing turning to its loved repose ; it is the soaring eagle mounting upward in its flight, and with steady gaze pursuing the track till lost to all below ; it is the roving wanderer looking toward his abiding-place, where are all his treasures ; it is the prisoner pleading for release ; it is the mariner on a dangerous sea upon the reeling topmast, descrying the broad and quiet haven of repose ; it is the soul oppressed by earthly soarings, escaping to a broader and a purer sphere, and bathing its plumes in the ethereal and eternal. Thornton Wells. Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed ; The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burthen of a sigh, The falling of a tear, The upward glancing of the eye, When none but God is near. Prayer is the simplest form of speech That infant lips can try ; Prayer the sublimest strains that reach The Majesty on high. Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, The Christian's native air. His watchword at the gate of death ; He enters heaven with prayer. James Montgomery. Prayer draws all the Christian graces into its focus; it draws charity, followed by her lovely train her forbearance with faults, her forgiveness of injuries, her pity for errors, her compassion for want. It draws repentance with her holy sorrows, her pious resolutions, her self-distrust; it attracts faith with her elevated eye ; hope, with her grasped anchor; beneficence, with her open hand; zeal looking far and wide to serve ; humility with intro- verted eye, looking at home. Prayer, by quickening these graces in the heart, warms them into life, fits them for service, and dismisses each to its appro- priate practice. Mrs. Hannah More. Prayer is a culture of the soul, That turns to wheat our tares ; Prayer is a begging angel, whom We shelter unawares. Prayer is a wisdom which the wise To babes have oft resign'd, But He who bade us seek, be sure He meant that we should find . . . A small hand feeling in the night, A natural gasp for air, A half-articulate aim at speech To want to pray is prayer. J. B. Monsell &nsfocrs to Draper. 5 (2) &n<*toerg to $Jrancr. God often answers the prayer of His people, as He did the seed of Isaac, with a hundredfold increase. As His word never returns empty to Him, so the prayers of His servants never return empty to them ; and usually the crop of prayer is greater than the seed out of which it grew ; as the putting in of a little water into a pump makes way to the drawing out of a great deal more. Bishop Reynolds. God delays to answer prayer, because He would have more of it. If the musicians come to play at our doors or our windows, if we delight not in their music, we throw them out money presently that they may be gone. But if the music please us, we forbear to give them money, because we would keep them longer to enjoy their music. So the Lord loves and delights in the sweet words of His children, and therefore puts them off and answers them not presently. Archbishop Usher. Prayer flies where the eagle never flew, and rises on wings broader and stronger than an angel's, It travels further and faster than light. Eising from the heart of a believer, it shoots away beyond that starry sky, and, reaching the throne, enters into the ear of God. So soon as the heart begins to work on earth, it moves the hand of God in heaven; and ere the prayer has left the lips of faith, Jesus has presented it to His Father, and secured its answer. Dr. Thomas Guthrie. You account it a good answer to a petition when you have that which is better than the thing desired; but when you desire that which is not good, the denial is better than the grant. These denials are great mercies, and hence sweet returns of prayer. Rev. David Clarkson. So weak is man, So ignorant and blind, that did not God Sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, We should be ruin'd at our own request. Hannah More. We, ignorant of wisdom, Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good ; so find we profit By losing of our prayers. Shakespeare. God sometimes delays the answer that it may be more beneficent when it comes. The stream is made to turn and wind that it may receive contributions &nsfoers to Draper. 7 from every valley which it passes, and all to flow more largely into the bosom at last. When God's plans ripen slowly, it is that the fruit may be the richer and mellower. Hence it is that the royal munificence of His bounty knows no limits at last. James Me Cosh, LL.D. Thy prayer shall be fulfilled ; but how \ His thoughts are not as thine, While thou wouldst only weep and bow, He saith " Arise and shine ! " Thy thoughts were all of grief and night, But His of boundless joy and light. Thy Father reigns supreme above ; The glory of His name Is Grace and Wisdom, Truth and Love. His will must be the same. And thou hast asked all joys in one, In whispering forth Thy Will be done ! " Frances Ridley Havergal Pray ! though the gift you ask for May never comfort your fears ; May never repay your pleading, Yet pray, and with hopeful tears ! An answer ; not that you long for, But diviner, will come some day ; Your eyes are too dim to see it, Yet strive, and wait and pray. Adelaide Proctor. (3) IZHjc IButg of Prayer has always been recognised as one of the duties of natural religion. In all ages and among all nations it has been common, by some form or rite, to supplicate divine protection and favour. Among the golden verses of Pythagoras we find the following : In all thou dost, first let thy prayers ascend, . And to the gods thy labours first commend ! From them implore success, and hope a prosperous end. W. Fleming. Prayer is not a duty to be entered upon rashly and without preparation. If we pass into the Almighty's presence reeking, as it were, of the earth, not pausing on the threshold to compose and solemnise the mind by a deliberate act of reflection and examination, it can hardly be wondered at that we find slight, if any, comfort, in drawing nigh unto our Father who is in Heaven. IT. Melville, B.D. A man cannot be a true believer, a child of God, unless he be a man of prayer. For what the breath is to the body, prayer is to the soul. If the breath gasp and be faint, the body grows out of order; and, if prayer be slack and unfrequent, the soul Butg of Draper. 9 becomes diseased. If breath ceases, life is at an end; and, if prayer ceases, all bope for tbe soul perishes. As soon as we give over communing with God, Satan enters in and begins to commune with us. Man can never walk alone. If he choose not the better part to walk with his God, he must choose to walk with God's adversary and his own. Oh that man would but be persuaded " Prayer is man's best work." Martin Luther. Let prayer be the key of the morning, and the bolt of the evening. Matthew Henry. Prayer has the power of sanctifying life, because it brings God into life. Twice in the day it has been for ages the habit of the race to use this talisman, once for the sanctification of the day, once for the sanctification of the night. The morning prayer chimes in with the joy of the creation, with the quick world, as it awakes and sings. Such a prayer is the guard of life. It makes us conscious of our Father's presence, so that we hear His voice in the hour of our folly and our sin: "My child, this morning you called Me to your side ; do not drive Me away. Bridle that passionate temper, restrain that excitement which is sweeping you beyond the power of will ; keep io pagers. back that foolish, word which will sting your neigh- bour's heart; do not do that dishonesty; be not guilty of that cowardice, I am by your side." Stopford Brooke. Be not afraid to pray to pray is right. Pray if thou canst, with hope ; but ever pray, Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay : Pray in the darkness, if there be no light. Far is the time, remote from human sight, When war and discord on the Earth shall cease. Yet every prayer for universal peace Avails the blessed time to expedite. "Whate'er is good to wish, that ask of Heaven, Though it be that thou canst not hope to see ; Pray to be perfect, though material leaven Forbid the spirit so on earth to be ! But if for any wish thou darest not pray, Then pray to God to cast that wish away. Hartley Coleridge. Who goes to bed and doth not pray, Maketh two nights of every day. Geo. Herbert. Men ought always to pray and not to faint. St. Luke, xviii. 1. As God knows all things, it is not in order that He may be informed of our wants that He has appointed prayer, nor is it to dispose and incline of Him to show mercy, because God in Christ Jesus is self-moved by His love to His people to do this, but there are three principal reasons why God re- quires prayer in order to the bestowment of mercies on men. First, thereby to acknowledge our de- pendence on Him ; for as God has made all things for His glory, so He will be glorified and acknow- ledged by His people especially, and it is fit He should require this of those who would be the subjects of His mercy. Second, to exercise and strengthen the Christian graces. Prayer tends to strengthen faith, to increase love, humility, and patience, to invigorate hope, and benefit all the graces of the Spirit in the real believer ; and the more he prays in faith, the more all these graces grow. And, thirdly, God requires prayer to make us more sensible of the value of the mercies we seek. If we were to have favours without asking for them, such is our depravity that we should think too lightly of them; but by being made to wait for them, and kept, by faith, in expectation of receiving them, when they come they are generally better received. Hereby is excited a sense of our need of the mercies we pray for, and the mind is better prepared to prize them when received, and to rejoice and be thankful for them when bestowed. Thus we have the greatest reason to bless the Lord that He has made prayer a duty, and we should pray that it may be made our delight. President Edwards. What wondrous grace ! who knows its full extent ? A creature, dust and ashes, speaks with God ; Tells all his woes, enumerates his wants, Yea, pleads with Deity, and gains relief. Tis prayer, yes, 'tis effectual, fervent prayer Puts dignity on men, proves life divine, Makes demons tremble, breaks the darkest cloud, And, with a princely power, prevails with God. And shall this privilege become a task ? My God forbid ! Pour out Thy Spirit's grace, Draw me by love, and teach me how to pray. Yea, let Thy holy unction from above Beget, extend, maintain my intercourse, With Father, Son, and Spirit, Israel's God, Until petitions are exchanged for praise. Rev. Prebendary Irons. Prayer was not meant for luxury Or selfish pastime sweet ; It is the prostrate creature's place At his Creator's feet. Faber. Serve God before the world : let Him not go Until thou hast a blessing ; then resigne, The whole unto Him : and remember who Prevailed by wrestling ere the sun did shine. Pour oyle upon the stones ; weep for thy sinne, Then journey on, and have an eie to heaven. H. Faughan. $ofoer of Draper. 13 More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer, Both for themselves and those who call them friend ? For so the whole round world is every way Bound by gold chains about the feet of G-od. Tennyson. (4) E&* $ofocr of Keligion is the bond between the soul and God, which sin, by virtue of its very nature, breaks and destroys. It is of importance to inquire whether man can strengthen and intensify that which he can, it seems, so easily ruin if he will. Does his power lie only in the direction of destruction ? Has he no means of invigorating and repairing a tie in itself so precious, yet in some respects so frail ? The answer lies in our Lord's promise: "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." Prayer is the act by which man, conscious at once of his weakness and of his immortality, puts himself into real and effective communication with the Almighty, the Eternal, the self-existent God. Canon Liddon. 14 Then, fainting soul, arise and sing ! Mount ! but be sober on the wing ; Mount up : for Heaven is won by prayer. Be sober, for thou art not there. Keble. Sometimes a fog will settle over a vessel's deck, and yet leave the topmast clear. Then a sailor goes up aloft and gets a look-out which the helmsman on deck cannot get. So prayer sends the soul aloft; lifts it above the clouds in which our selfishness and egotism be-fog us, and gives us a chance to see which way to steer. C. H. Spurgeon. Prayer does not directly take away a trial or its pain, any more than a sense of duty directly takes away the danger of infection, but it preserves the strength of the whole spiritual fibre, so that the trial does not pass into the temptation of sin. Stopford Brooke. It is said of Archimedes, that famous mathe- matician of Syracuse, who having by his art framed a curious instrument, that if he could but have told how to fix it, it would have raised the very foundations of the whole earth. Such an instru- ment is prayer, which, if it be set upon God and of Draper. 15 fixed in heaven, will fetch earth up to heaven, change earthly thoughts into heavenly conceptions, turn flesh into spirit, metamorphose nature into grace, and earth into heaven. Venatorius. Prayer moves the Hand which moves the world. J. A. Wallace. Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make ; What heavy burdens from our bosoms take ; What parched grounds refresht as with a shower ! We kneel, and all around us seems to lower ; We rise, and all the distant and the near Stands forth, in sunny outline, brave and clear. We kneel ; how weak ! We rise ; how full of power ! Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, Or others, that we are not always strong ? That we are ever overborne with care, That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, when with us in prayer, And joy, and strength, and courage are with Thee ? Trench. Would you measure in some sort the gains of this communion with God to which we are admitted and invited, consider only what we may gain by communion with good and holy men, and then con- clude from this less to the greater. Consider the elevating, ennobling influences which it exercises 1 6 on the character to live in habitual intercourse with the excellent of the earth, with those whose conver- sation is in heaven, tones of whose minds are high, and lofty, and pure. Almost without being aware of it, we derive some of their spirit into ourselves ; it is like an atmosphere of health which we un- consciously inhale. But how much more must this be the case, how far weightier the reactive influence for good, when we continually set before us, when we live in fellowship with Him, who is the highest, the purest, and the best ; in whom all perfections meet, from whom all true nobleness proceeds : when thus our fellowship is not with men, who have caught a few glimpses of the glory of God, but with God Himself, from whom all greatness and glory proceeds. Archbishop Trench. (5) J)* 4te*$tts of As familiar conversation (wherein men do express their minds and affections mutually) breedeth acquaintance, and cherisheth goodwill of men to one another, but long forbearance thereof dissolveth or slackeneth the bonds of amity, breaking their intimacy, and cooling their kindness ; so it is in respect to God ; it is frequent converse with Him that begetteth a particular acquaintance with Him, J=lecessttg of ^rager. 17 a mindful regard of Him, a hearty liking to Him, a delightful taste of His goodness, and consequently a sincere and solid goodwill toward Him; but intermission thereof produceth estrangement or enmity toward Him. If we seldom come to God, we shall little know Him, not much care for Him, scarce remember Him, rest insensible of His love, and regardless of His favour ; a coldness, a shyness, a distaste, an antipathy toward Him will by degrees creep upon us. Abstinence from His company and presence will cast us into conversations destructive or prejudicial to our friendship with Him ; wherein soon we shall contract familiarity and friendship with His enemies (the world and the flesh) which are inconsistent with love to Him, which will dispose us to forget Him, or to dislike and loathe Him. Isaac Barrow. When you have given over the practice of stated prayer, you gradually become weaker without knowing it. Samson did not know he had lost his strength till the Philistines came upon him. You will think yourselves the men you used to be, till suddenly your adversary will come furiously upon you, and you will as suddenly fall. Cardinal Newman. i8 A prayer in an hour of pain, Begun in an undertone, Then lowered, as it would fain Be heard by the heart alone ! A throb, when the soul is entered By a light that is lit above, Where the God of Nature has centered The Beauty of Love ! The world is wide, these things are small, They may be nothing, but they are All. Houghton. No soul can preserve the bloom and delicacy of its existence without lonely musing and silent prayer ; and the greatness of this necessity is in proportion to the greatness of the soul. There were many times during our Lord's ministry when, even from the loneliness of desert places, He dismissed His most faithful and most beloved, that He might be yet more alone. Archdeacon Farrar. It is because we are God's children, not merely His creatures, that He will have us pray. Because He is educating us to know Him ; to know Him, not merely to be an Almighty Power, but a living, loving Person ; not merely an irresistible Fate, but a Father who delights in the love of His children, who wishes to shape them into His own likeness, and make them fellow-workers with Him. There- in |i3rnncr. 19 fore it is that He will have us pray. Doubtless He could have given us everything without our asking : for He does already give us almost everything without our asking. But He wishes to educate us as His children; to make us trust in Him ; to make us love Him ; to make us work for Him of our own free wills, in the great battle which He is carrying on against evil ; and that He can only do by teach- ing us to pray to Him. I say it reverently, but firmly. As far as we can see, God cannot educate us to know Him, the living, willing, loving Father, unless He teaches us to open our hearts to Him, and to ask Him freely for what we want, just because He knows what we want already. Charles Kingsley. Thrice blest, whose lives are faithful prayers, Whose lives in higher love endure ! What souls possess themselves so pure ? Or is there blessedness like theirs ? (6) iDdtgljt ant) Consolation in IJvancr. My God ! is any hour so sweet ; From blush of morn to evening star, As that which calls me to Thy feet, The hour of prayer ! 20 Blest be that tranquil hour of morn, And blest that hour of solemn eve, When, on the wings of prayer upborne, The world I leave. For then a dayspring shines on me, Brighter than morn's ethereal glow ; And richer dews descend from Thee, Than earth can know. Then is my strength by Thee renewed, Then are my sins by Thee forgiven, Then dost Thou cheer my solitude, With hopes of heaven. Words cannot tell what sweet relief Here for my every want I find, What strength for warfare, balm for grief, What peace of mind. Hushed is each doubt, gone every fear, My spirit seems in heaven to stay ; And e'en the penitential tear Is wiped away. Charlotte Elliott. Speak to Him thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meet; Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet. Tennyson. Go thou into thy closet ; shut thy door And pray to Him in secret : He will hear. But think not thou, by one wild bound, to clear The numberless ascensions ; More and more Consolation in ^Jrager. 21 Of starry stairs that must be climbed, before Thou comest to the Father's likeness near ; And bendest down to kiss the feet so dear That, step by step, their mounting flights passed o'er. Be thou content if on thy weary need There falls a sense of showers and of the Spring ; A hope that makes it possible to fling Sickness aside, and go and do the deed ; For higher aspiration will not lead Unto the calm beyond all questioning. Geo. MacDonald. Prayer is to the penitent heart a sweet source of consolation, long even before the answer come ; because a generous mind rejoices in acknowledging the obligations it desires to receive, or has received ; or the faults, errors, and offences which it has com- mitted ; and a candid mind delights in holy un- burdenings, and an humble mind in the confession of its own incapacity for doing good ; all which sentiments accompany penitential prayer. And, also, that the exercise itself is a drawing nigh unto One who giveth liberally and upbraideth not. God has no frowns for the penitent ; He hears their cry, and will help them. Rev. J. S. Knox. There is something in the very act of prayer that for a time stills the violence of passion, and elevates and purifies the affections. When affliction presses hard, and the ^weakness of human nature looks 22 Drapers. around in vain for support, how natural is the impulse that throws us on our knees before Him who has laid His chastening hand upon us, and how encouraging the hope that accompanies our sup- plications for His pity. We believe that He who made us cannot be unmoved by the sufferings of His children; and in sincerely asking his com- passion we almost feel that we receive it. Jeremy Taylor. When hearts are full of yearning tenderness For the loved absent, whom we cannot reach By deed, or token, gesture, or kind speech, The spirit's true affection to express ; When hearts are full of innermost distress, And we are doomed to stand inactive by, Watching the soul's or body's agony, Which human effort helps not to make less, Then, like a cup capacious to contain The overflowings of the heart, is prayer ; The longing of the soul is satisfied, The keenest darts of anguish blunted are ; And though we cannot cease to yearn or grieve, Yet we have learned in patience to abide. Trench. " They who have steeped their souls in prayer Can every anguish calmly bear They who have learnt to pray aright From pain's dark well draw up delight." Your words are fair, CToncIusum. 23 But oh ! the truth lies deeper still ! I know not when absorbed in prayer Pleasure or pain, or good or ill ; They who God's face can understand, Feel not the motions of His hand. Houghton. If we with earnest effort could succeed To make our life one long connected prayer, As lives of some perhaps have been and are ; If never leaving Thee we had no need Our wandering spirits back again to lead Into Thy presence, but continued there, Like angels standing on the highest stair Of the sapphire throne, this were to pray indeed. But if distractions manifold prevail, And if in this we must confess we fail, Grant us to keep at least a prompt desire, Continual readiness for prayer and praise An altar heaped and waiting to take fire With the least spark, and leap into a blaze ! Trench. L $ragcr of j&t $olgcarp, ^tartgr 33t^op of ^rngrna, ag fy gtooD fagite t&* gtafee afoaiting \)i$ fate, A.D. 163. OLOED GOD, Father Almighty, the Father of Thy well-beloved and ever-blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of Thee ; the God of angels, powers, and of every creature, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before Thee, I thank Thee that Thou hast graciously thought me worthy of this day and of this hour, that I may receive a portion in the number of Thy martyrs, and drink of Christ's cup for the resurrection to immortal life, both of body and soul, in the incorruptibleness of the Holy Spirit, among whom may I be admitted this day as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as Thou, true and faithful God, hast prepared, and foreshown, and accomplished. Wherefore I praise Thee for all Thy mercies: I bless Thee, I glorify Thee with the &t. Barnes. A.D. 200. 25 eternal and heavenly Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, to whom with Thee and the Holy Spirit be glory now and for ever. Amen. II. %L ^rager from tfre Siturgg of j&t. 3}am*3. PBIOE TO A.D. 200. [The Liturgy of Jerusalem, popularly called after St. James, is the parent of St. Basil's, and so of St. Chrysostom's, and of a great number of Syrian forms.] God, the Father of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Lord, Whose name is great, "Whose nature is blissful, Whose goodness is inex- haustible, Thou God and Master of all things, Who art blessed for ever ; Who sitteth on the Cherubim, and art glorified by the Seraphim, before Whom stand thousands of thousands, and ten thousand times thousands, the hosts of holy angels and arch- angels : sanctify, Lord, our souls and bodies and spirits, and touch our apprehensions, and search out our consciences, and cast out of us every evil thought, every base desire, all envy and pride and hypocrisy, all falsehood, all deceit, all worldly anxiety, all covetuousness, vain-glory, and sloth, all malice, all wrath, all anger, all remembrance of injuries, all blasphemy, and every motion of the flesh and spirit that is contrary to Thy holy will And grant us, Lord, the Lover of men, with 26 Drapers. freedom, without condemnation, with a pure heart and a contrite soul, without confusion of face and with sanctified lips, boldly to call upon Thee our holy God and Father who art in Heaven. Amen. III. & ^ragcr for $ribate ttge fcrfo ?^olg ommumon. 33g j&t. ^Jerome. 329-420. [St. Jerome, a Father of the Latin Church, born in Dalmatia, died at Bethlehem. His Latin version of the Old Testament, from the original language, was the foundation of the Vulgate.] Behold, my God, I am the man who went down to Jericho and fell among thieves ; sorely have they wounded me and left me lying half-dead. Come, Lord, Thou faithful Helper, raise me up and heal me. I have sinned heavily in my whole conduct, and done evil in Thy sight ; I have not exercised myself in the knowledge of Thee ; I have been unthankful for Thy many benefits, and have not praised Thy name aright. Often and in many ways have I abstained from uttering Thy truths, and when Thou hast stood and knocked at the door of my heart I have been slothful, and have not welcomed Thee as I ought. This body, which fadeth like a shadow, and shall be the food of worms, I have cherished too much ; I have defiled my lips with unseemly words, and I have been negligent and careless about &t. gjtrome. 329- 27 Thy wholesome Word. I have not ever and always turned away my eyes from beholding vanity, nor kept my ears from listening to unprofitable things. Many a time my hands have not served my neigh- bour in his need, while my feet were swift to evil. What need I say more, my God ? From the crown of my head to the sole of my feet there is no health in me. Ah ! my Lord Jesus, hadst Thou not died for me on the Cross, and redeemed me, my soul must have perished for ever ; but now am I a partaker, merciful Lord, in Thy great salvation. reject not one, my Saviour, whom Thou hast so dearly purchased with Thy precious blood. Behold, I am a wandering sheep, seek me, Thou good Shepherd, and bear me home to Thy fold, according to Thy promise. Thou hast promised, my Helper, that whenever a poor sinner shall sigh unto Thee Thou wilt hearken unto him. Now see how humbly I mourn and acknowledge my sins, which are ever before me. In truth, I am not worthy to be called Thy son, yet make me, my Saviour, to hear joy and gladness, and turn not away Thy face from me. Thou Son of the Living God, Only Begotten of Thy Father before all worlds ! blessed are those who love Thee and desire naught else ; blessed are those who daily remember Thee and keep Thy ways 28 prayers. unto their life's end. Holy Bread of Heaven, how rich and bounteous art Thou ; how overflowing are Thy gifts ! For Thou excludest no man unless it be that he despises Thee and refuses to come to Thee. Is anyone young and small, let him come boldly to Thee and eat, and he will grow and increase ; he will put away his childish mind, and walk in the paths of true wisdom. Is any yet weak, let him hasten to Thee and eat and he shall soon wax strong. Is any sick, he shall be relieved. Is any dead in sins, let him but hearken to Thee and he shall attain everlasting life. And though one be strong and full grown, yet will he perceive that he is still in need of many things, and in Thee will he find abundantly that whereby he may daily increase in them. None can live a moment without Thee, for it is Thou alone who givest life to all creatures. God, the joy and consolation of my heart, my soul is glad in Thee, and my spirit hath a desire unto Thee ; for all who turn away from Thee must pine for ever. Thou true and invisible Light which never can be quenched, behold me sitting like a poor blind man beside the way, and crying unto Thee, " Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me, open the eyes of my soul, that I may see Thee ! Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Thou art my Help and my Confidence, oh lead me Sbt. Augustine. 354. 29 unto eternal salvation ! Lord, Thou art my physician, heal me ! I am naked, and suffer cold, Thou rich Lord, cover me with the mantle of Thy righteousness. My soul hungers in this desert; do Thou, Lord, the true Food, quicken my heart. My soul is athirst. Lord, Thou art the true healing Spring, water and refresh my spirit with Thy wholesome comfort. I am come into the deep mire, and my strength faileth me ; 1 am far out on the seas, and the floods threaten to swallow me up. I have cried till I am weary and hoarse, and the waters of death are coming into my very soul. Save me, Lord, my Shield, my Deliverer, my Comfort, my Eefuge, my Strength, my King and my God, for Thy mercies' sake. Amen. IV. & ^rager for &cgt in ffioD. 33g j&t. 8ugujtiiu. 354- 430. [St. Augustine, a renowned Father of the Christian Church, was born at Tagaste, in Africa. His mother, Monica, was a Christian ; his father, Patricius, a pagan. He became a convert of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, by whom he was baptised. In 395 he became Bishop of Hippo. " He was a man of great enthusiasm, self-devotion, zeal for truth, and powerful intellect, and though there have been Fathers of the Church more learned, none have wielded a more powerful influence."] Thee, Lord, who fillest the heavens and the earth ; Thee Who upholdest all things by Thine ever- 30 present might : Thee, most merciful God, do I now invoke to descend into my soul which Thou hast prepared for Thy reception by the desire which Thou hast breathed into it. Enter into it and renew it in Thy likeness that Thou mayest possess it, and that I may have Thee as a seal upon my heart. Ere ever I cried to Thee, Thou, most Merciful, hadst called and sought me, that I might find Thee, and finding, love Thee. Even so I sought and found Thee, Lord, and desire to love Thee. Increase my desire, and grant me what I ask. Bestow Thyself upon me, my God. Yield Thee unto me : see I love Thee but too little ; strengthen my love : let love to Thee alone influence my heart, and let the thought of Thee be all my joy. When my spirit aspires to Thee, and meditates on Thine unspeakable goodness, the burden of the flesh becomes too heavy, the tumult of thought is still, the weight of mortality is less oppressive. Then fain would my soul find wings, that she may rise in tireless flight ever up- wards to Thy glorious throne, and there be filled with the refreshing solace that belongs to the citizens of heaven. Let my soul thus ever seek Thee and never grow weary of seeking ; for he who seeketh Thee not is miserable, and he who refuses to live to Thee is dead. Therefore, Thou full of Compassion, do I commit and commend myself unto Sbt. 23astl. 379- 31 Thee, in Whom I am, and live, and know. May my soul be occupied with Thee only. Be Thou the goal of my pilgrimage, and my rest by the way. Let my soul take refuge from the crowding turmoil of worldly thoughts beneath the shadow of Thy wings ; let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in Thee, God. Thou bounteous giver of all good gifts, give to him who is weary refreshing food; gather our distracted thoughts and powers into harmony again, and set the prisoner free. See, he stands at Thy door and knocks ; be it opened to him, that he may enter with a free step and be quickened by Thee. For Thou art the Well-spring of Life, the Light of Eternal Brightness wherein the just live who love Thee. Be it unto me according to Thy word ! Amen. V. ollcct. tfg St. iSasil. 379. [St. Basil, called the Great, a well-known Father of the Greek Church, was born in 329, and in 370 was made Bishop of Csesarea, in Cappadocia, where he died in 379. He was the author of several prayers, and com- piled a Liturgy still in use in the East. The Greek Church honours hi as one of its most illustrious Saints, and celebrates his festival on January 1.] Eternal God, Thou self-existent Light, which wast from the beginning ; Maker of all creatures, Fountain of mercy, Ocean of goodness, Thou fa- thomless Abyss of loving-kindness ; suffer now the 32 light of Thy countenance to arise upon us ! Shine into our hearts, Thou true Sun of righteousness, and fill our souls with Thy beauty. Teach us evermore to think and talk of Thy judgments and acknowledge Thee at every moment as our Lord and our Benefactor. Direct according to Thy will the work of our hands, and lead us in the right way to do that which is pleasing in Thy sight ; so that through us, unworthy though we be, Thy Holy Name may be glorified, the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to whom alone be praise, honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. VI. ¬jier ollert. Eg &t. Lord our God, who hast given peace to men, and hast sent down Thy Holy Spirit on Thy apostles and disciples, bestowing on them in Thy power fiery tongues wherewith to speak Thy praise ; open also our lips, sinners though we be, and teach us to ask Thee aright for the right blessings. Steer Thou the vessel of our life toward Thyself, Thou tranquil Haven of all storm-tost souls. Show us the course wherein we should go. Eenew a willing spirit within us. Let Thy Spirit curb our wayward senses, and guide and ennoble us unto that which is our true good, to keep Thy laws, and in all our IBamascenus. 33 works evermore to rejoice in Thy glorious and glad- dening presence. Let us not be deluded by the fleeting pleasures of this world, but strengthen us, that we may aspire to the enjoyment of that which is to come. For Thine is the glory and praise from all Thy saints for ever and ever. Amen. VII. <8L ^ragcr &g 3)o|)n Uamagccnug. EARLY IN EIGHTH CENTUBY. " In our selection from the Anacreontic hymn, the tears seem to trickle audibly : we welcome them as a Castalia, or, rather, ' as Siloa's hrook,' flowing by an oracle more divine than any Grecian one : From my lips in their defilement, From my heart in its beguilement, From my tongue which speaks not fair, From my soul stained everywhere, O my Jesus, take my prayer ! Spurn me not for all it says, Not for words and not for ways, Not for shamelessness endued ! Make me brave to speak my mood, my Jesus, as I would ! Or teach me, which I rather seek, What to do and what to speak. 1 have sinned more than she, Who learning where to meet with Thee, And bringing myrrh, the highest-priced, Anointed bravely, from her knee, D 34 Thy blessed feet accordingly, My God, my Lord, my Christ ! As Thou saidest not " Depart," To that suppliant from her heart, Scorn me not, Word, that art The gentlest one of all words said ! But give Thy feet to me instead, That tenderly I may them kiss And clasp them close, and never miss With over-dropping tears as free And precious as that myrrh could be, T' anoint them bravely from my knee ! Wash me with Thy tears ; draw nigh me, That their salt may purify me. THOU remit my sins who knowest All the sinning to the lowest Knowest all my wounds, and seest All the stripes Thyself decreest ; Yea, but knowest all my faith, * Seest all my force to death, Hearest all my waitings low, That mine evil should be so ! Nothing hidden but appears In my knowledge, Divine, Creator, Saviour mine Not a drop of falling tears, Not a breath of inward moan, Not a heart-beat which is gone ! After this deep pathos of Christianity, we dare not say a word ; we dare not even praise it as poetry ; our heart is stirred, and not ' idly.' The only sound which can fitly succeed the cry ,of the contrite soul, is that of divine condona- 35 tion or of angelic rejoicing. Let us, who are sorrowful still, be silent too." ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, The Greek Christian Poets, 1842. VIII. urtoug &croiitu ^ragcr of j&tmcon CLOSE OF TENTH CENTTJKY. Ah, tears upon mine eyelids, sorrow on mine heart, I bring Thee soul-repentance, Creator as Thou art ! Bounding, joyous actions, deep as arrows go ; Pleasures self-revolving, issue into woe ! Creatures of our mortal, headlong rush to sin ; I have seen them ; of them ah me, I have been ! Duly pitying Spirits, from your spirit-frame Bring your cloud of weeping, worthy of the same ! Else I would be bolder ; if that light of Thine, Jesus, quell the evil, let it on me shine ! Fail me truth, is living, less than death forlorn, When the sinner readeth " better be unborn " ? God, I raise toward Thee both eyes of my heart, With a sharp cry "Help me!" while mine hopes depart. Help me ! Death is bitter, all hearts comprehend; But I fear beyond it end beyond the end. Inwardly behold me, how my soul is black; Sympathise in gazing, do not spurn me back ! Knowing that Thy pleasure is not to destroy, That Thou fain wouldst save me this is all my joy. Lo, the lion, hunting spirits in their deep, (Stand beside me !) roareth (help me !) nears to leap. May'st Thou help me, Master ! Thou art pure alone, Thou alone art sinless, one Christ on a throne. Nightly deeds I loved them, hated day's instead ; Hence this soul-involving darkness on mine head. 36 Drapers. O Word, who constrainest things estranged and curst, If Thy hand can save me, that work were the first ! Pensive o'er my sinning, counting all its ways, Terrors shake me, waiting adequate dismays. Quenchless glories many, hast Thou many a rod Thou, too, hast Thy measures. Can I bear Thee, God 1 Rend away my counting from my soul's decline, Show me of the portion of those saved of Thine ! Slow drops of my weeping to Thy mercy run : Let its rivers wash me, by that mercy won ! Tell me what is worthy, in our dreary now, As the future glory ? (madness !) what, as THOU ? Union, oh, vouchsafe me to Thy fold beneath, Lest the wolf across me gnash his gory teeth ! View me, judge me gently ! spare me, Master bland, Brightly lift Thine eyelids, kindly stretch Thine hand ! Winged and choral angels ! 'twixt my spirit lone And all deathly visions, interpose your own ! Yea, my Soul, remember death and woe inwrought After-death affliction, wringing earth's to nought ! Zone me, Lord, with graces ! Be foundations built Underneath me; save me ! as Thou know'st and wilt ! The omission of our X (in any case too sullen a letter to be employed in the service of an acrostic) has permitted us to write line for line with the Greek. . . . ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, The Greek Christian Poets, 1842. IX. ^tager of jfct. ^fromaiS Aquinas. 12241274. BEFOBE COMMUNION. Almighty and everlasting God, behold I draw near to the Sacrament of Thine only -begotten Son, Sbt. ^fjomas & luhcn !)c foag brought before tfje Diet at ilitorms. " His faith grew weak ; his enemies multiplied before him ; his imagination was overwhelmed at the sight. ... In this hour of bitter sorrow, in which he drinks the cup of Christ, and which was to him a Garden of Gethsemane, he falls to the earth and utters these broken cries which we cannot under- stand unless we can figure to ourselves the depth of the anguish whence they ascend to God " ; "0 Almighty and everlasting God ! How terrible is this world! Behold it openeth its mouth to swallow me up, and I have so little trust in Thee ! How weak is the flesh and how powerful is Satan ! If it is in the strength of this world only that I must put my trust, all is over ! My last hour is come, my condemnation has been pronounced. God I 52 pagers. God ! God ! do Thou help me against all the wisdom of the world ! Do this ; Thou shouldst do this ; Thou alone, for this is not my work but Thine ! / have nothing to do here, nothing to con- tend for with these great ones of the world ! I should desire to see my days flow on peaceful and happy. But the cause is Thine, and it is a righte- ous and eternal cause. Lord ! help me ! Faithful and unchangeable God ! In no man do I place my trust. It would be vain all that is of man is uncertain, all that cometh of man fails. God ! My God, nearest Thou me not ? My God art Thou dead ? No ! no, Thou can'st not die ! Thou hidest Thyself only ! Thou hast chosen me for this work. 1 know it well ! Act, then, God, stand at my side, for the sake of Thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, who is my defence, my shield, and my strong tower." After a moment of silent struggle, he thus continued : "Lord! where stayest Thou! my God where art Thou ? Come ! Come ! I am ready ! I am ready to lay down my life for Thy truth, patient as a lamb. For it is the cause of justice it is Thine ! I will never separate myself from Thee, neither now nor through eternity ! And though the world may be filled with devils, though my body, which is Ufttorta (o(onna. 1541. 53 still the work of Thy hands, should be slain, be stretched upon the pavement, be cut in pieces, re- duced to ashes my soul is Thine ! Yes ! I have the assurance of Thy word. My soul belongs to Thee ! It shall abide for ever with Thee. Amen. God ! help me. Amen. " This prayer explains Luther and the Reformation. His- tory here raises the veil of the sanctuary, and discloses to our view the secret place whence strength and courage were im- parted to this humble and despised man who was the instru- ment of God to emancipate the soul and the thoughts of men, and to open a new era. ... In our opinion it is one of the most precious documents in all history." HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. By Merle VAutigne. [It was in the evening of that same day that Luther, standing in the midst of the great assembly, uttered those memorable words : "I cannot and I will not retract. Here I stand, I can do no other. May God help me! Amen." ED.] XX. ^rager of the Eatig Uittoria olonna, .$aarcf)tone$g of ^cjJcara. & follofoer of 3)uan UalDej, one of the fierce* of tf)e Reformation in Italg. 1541. Thanks to Thy sovereign grace God, if I Am graft in that true Vine a living shoot, Whose arms embrace the world, and in whose root Planted by faith, our life must hidden lie. But Thou beholdest how I fade and dry Choked with a waste of leaf and void of fruit Unless Thy spring perennial shall recruit My sapless branch, still waiting fresh supply. 54 0, cleanse me, then, and make me to abide Wholly in Thee, to drink Thy heavenly dew, And watered daily with my tears, to grow. Thou art the Truth, Thy promise is my guide ; Prepare me when Thou comest, Lord, to show Fruits answering to the stock on which I grow. XXL Inotijer $ragcr fcg STtttoria olonna, 1543. [FOR EENEWAL OF SPIRITUAL LIFE.] Grant, I pray, Lord, that with that lowliness of mind which befits my humble condition, and that elevation of soul which Thy majesty demands, I may ever adore Thee ; may I continually live in that fear which Thy justice inspires, in that hope which Thy clemency permits. May I submit myself to Thee as All-powerful, leave myself in Thy hands as All-wise, and turn unto Thee as All-perfect and good. I beseech Thee, most merciful Father, that Thy most vivid fire may purify me; that Thy clearest light may illuminate me, and that purest love of Thine may so advance me that, held back by no mortal influence, I may return safe and happy to Thee. XXII. & $>%mn of ^rager. &ttrifcute& to jfcir 15521618. Kise, oh my soul, with thy desires to heaven : And with devoutest contemplation use Thy time, where time's eternity is given ; ^Lancelot ^ntrrete. 1555. 55 And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse, But down in darkness let them lie ; So live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die ! And thou my soul, inspired with holy flame, View and review, with most regardful eye That Holy Cross, whence thy salvation came, On which thy Saviour and thy sin did die ! For in that sacred object is much pleasure, And in that Saviour is my life, my treasure ! To Thee, Jesus, I direct my eyes, To Thee my hands, to Thee my humble knees, To Thee my heart shall offer sacrifice ; To Thee my thoughts, who my thoughts only sees To Thee myself ; myself and all I give ; To Thee I die j to Thee I only live ! XXIII. & ^rager on &foafcing. 3$g Lancelot 3$tehop of 2t&tncf)*stcr. Jprom " ^ribate Sebottonis. 15551626. Blessed art Thou, O Lord Our God The God of our Fathers ; Who turnest the shadow of death into the morning, and renewest the face of the earth : Who rollest away the darkness from before the light, banishest night, and bringest back the day ; Who lightenest mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death ; Who deliverest me from the terror by night, from the pestilence that walketh in darkness : Who drivest sleep from mine eyes and slumber from mine eyelids ; 56 Who makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice ; because I laid me down and slept and awaked for the Lord sustained me ; because I waked and beheld and my sleep was sweet unto me. Blot out as a thick cloud of night my transgressions and scatter as a morning cloud my sins. Grant me to be a child of the light and of the day, to walk soberly, spotlessly, honestly as in the day. Vouchsafe to keep me this day without sin. Thou who upholdest the falling and liftest the fallen, let me not harden my heart in provocation or temptation, or deceitfulness of sin ; Moreover deliver me this day from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence, from the arrow that flieth by day from the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Defend this day against my evil against the evil of this day defend Thou me. Let not my days be spent in vanity nor my years in sorrow. Day unto day uttereth speech : to-day some knowledge, or deed, unto yesterday ; Cause me to hear Thy loving kindness in the morning for in Thee do I trust ; Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk for I lift up my soul unto Thee. Deliver me, Lord, from mine enemies ; I flee unto Thee to hide me. Teach me to do Thy will for Thou art my God ; Thy Spirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightness. Hancdot glntofoes. 1555. 57 Quicken me, Lord, for Thy name's sake, for Thy righteousness sake, bring my soul out of trouble. Eemove from me foolish imaginations, inspire those which are good and pleasing in Thy sight. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity ; let mine eyes look right on And let mine eyelids look straight before me. Hedge up mine enemies with thorns lest they incline to undisciplined words. Give me early the ear to hear and open mine eyes to the instruction of Thine oracles. Set a watch, Lord, before my mouth, Keep the door of my lips. Let my speech be seasoned with salt That it may minister grace to the hearers. Let no deed be grief unto me nor offence of heart ; Let me do some work for which Thou wilt remember me, Lord, for good, and spare me according to the multitude of Thy mercies. Into Thy hands I commit my spirit, soul, and body which Thou hast created, redeemed, regenerated Lord, Thou God of Truth ! and together with me all mine, and all that belongs to me ! Lord in Thy goodness preserve us from all evil preserve our souls. 1 beseech Thee Lord Keep us from falling 5 8 and present us faultless in the presence of Thy glory in that day. Preserve my going out and my coming in from this time forth and even for evermore. Prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of those who meet him. O God make speed to save me ! Lord make haste to help me ! turn unto me and have mercy upon me. Give Thy strength unto Thy servant and save the son of Thy handmaid. Show me a token for good, that they who hate me may see it and be ashamed : because, Thou, Lord, hast holpen me and comforted me. [Dr. Whyte* says : " Every page, almost every line of the Private Devotions has some strong word in it, some startling word, some selected, compounded and compacted -word, some heart -laden clause, some scrip- tural or liturgical expression set in a blaze of new light and life, and ever after to be filled with new power as we employ it in our prayers and XXIV. &n Fbening ^ragcr for raw. 33g Lancelot 9St!Si)op of a&tnc&csster, 1555 1626. Having spent the day I give Thee thanks, Lord. Evening draws nigh, make it bright. * Quoted from " Lancelot Andrewes and his Private Devotions." By Dr. Alex. Whyte. Nisbet & Co., Limited. Lancelot &n&ttfoS. 1555. 59 As day has its evening so also has life. The evening of life is age ; Age has overtaken me ; make it bright. Cast me not off in the time of old age forsake me not when my strength faileth. Even to my old age be Thou He and even to hoar hairs carry me do Thou make, do Thou bear, do Thou carry and deliver me. Abide with me Lord for it is toward evening and the day is far spent of this toilful life ; Let Thy strength be made perfect in my weakness. The day is fled and gone ; life, too, is going This lifeless life. Night cometh, and cometh death ; The deathless death. As the end of the day is near so too is the end of life ; We then, also remembering it, beseech of Thee for the close of our life that Thou wouldest guide it in peace to be Christian, acceptable, sinless, shameless, and, if it please Thee, painless. Lord, Lord, gathering us together under the feet of Thy chosen, 60 whom Thou wilt and as Thou wilt only without shame and sin. Let us remember the days of darkness for they are many lest we be cast into outer darkness. Let us remember to outstrip the night doing some good thing. Near is judgment ; A good and acceptable answer at the dread and awful judgment seat of Jesus Christ Vouchsafe to us, Lord ! * XXV. & ^rager to ing ffiofc in a nigfjt of mg late j&icfe TWiSg. i3g j&ir l^cnrg 2Hotton. 15681639. O Thou great power ! in whom we move, By whom we live, in whom we die, Behold me through Thy beams of love While on this couch of tears I lie ; And cleanse my sordid soul within By Thy Christ's blood, the bath of sin. No hallowed oils, no gums I need, No rags of saints, no purging fire ; One rosy drop from David's seed Was worlds of seas to quench Thine ire. precious Eansom ! which, once paid, That consummatum est was said ; And said by Him who said no more, But sealed it with His sacred breath ; * Quoted from "Lancelot Andrewes and his Private Devotions." By Dr. Alex. Whyte. Nisbet & Co., Limited. &rri)tri$!)op Uaufc. 1573. 61 Thou then that hath disponged my score And, dying, wert the death of Death, Be to me now, on Thee I call, My Life, my Strength, my Joy, my All. XXVI. & $ragcr fcg &tcpi5$op Saul). BORN 1573, BE- HEADED 1645. Lord and most merciful Father, against heaven and in Thy sight have we sinned ; blot out, we beseech Thee, all our sins from the book of Thy remembrance which Thou hast written before Thee : give us henceforth wise and sober, believing, peni- tent, and obedient hearts souls full of devotion to do Thee service ; and grant us evermore strength against all temptations. blessed Lord, enable us to fulfil Thy commands, and command what Thou wilt. Prepare our souls for Thy coming and come when Thou wilt, Thou Saviour of all who hope in Thee. Do with us and ours as shall seem best in Thine own eyes; only vouchsafe us patient and dependent spirits. Make our service acceptable unto Thee while we live, and our souls ready for Thee when we die. Give us grace in this life and glory in the life to come. Bless gracious Father, Thine holy Catholic Church. Fill it with truth and grace. Where it is corrupt, purge it ; where it is in error, direct it ; 62 where it is superstitious, rectify it; where it is amiss, reform it ; where it is right, strengthen and confirm it ; where it is divided and rent asunder, heal the breaches of it, Thou Holy One of Israel. Bless all those who are called to any office or ministration in Thy Church ; replenish them with the truth of Thy doctrine, and with integrity and innocence of life ; remember all their offerings and accept their burnt sacrifice. Lord, let their prayers be pre- cious in Thine ears, and the cries of all Thy people, even of the city of God, be not in vain. Almighty God, bless and preserve our King, and all in authority under him. Comfort all that are in affliction. Give Thy blessing to all our relations and friends, to every member of this family whether present or absent : and grant us grace to forgive our enemies, if we have any, as we trust to be ourselves forgiven, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ who, with Thee Father and with Thee Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth one God, world without end. Amen. XXVII. a ^ragcr fcg Wen Songon, to tlje ^olfi Ertnitg. 15741637. Holy, blessed, glorious Trinitie Of Persons, still one God in Unitie, The faithful man's beleev^d mysterie, Helpe, helpe to lift . 1574. 63 Myselfe up to Thee, harrow'd, tome, and bruised By sinne and Sathan and my flesh misused ; As my heart lies in peeces, all confused, take my gift. All-gracious God, the sinner's sacrifice, A broken heart Thou wert not wont despise ; But Hbove the fat of rammes and bulls, to prize An offering meet For Thy acceptance ; behold me right And take compassion on my grievous plight ! What odour can be than a heart contrite To Thee more sweet ? Eternall Father, God, who didst create This All of nothing, gav'st it form and fate And breath'd into it life and light and state, To worship Thee ! Eternall God, the Sonne, who not denyd'st To take our nature ; becam'st man, and died'st To pay our debts, upon Thy Crosse, and cryd'st All's done in Me / Eternall Spirit, God from both proceeding, Father and Sonne the Comforter, imbreeding Pure thoughts in man, with fiery zeale them feeding For acts of grace ! Increase those acts, Glorious Unitie, Of Persons, still one God in Trinitie Till I attain the longed-for mysterie Of seeing your face, Beholding One in Three, and Three in One, A Trinitie to shine in Union ; The gladdest light darke man can thinke upon grant it me ! 64 Drapers. Father, and Sonne and Holy Ghost, you Three, All co-eternall in your Majestic Distinct in Persons, yet in Unitie One God to see. My Maker, Saviour and my Sanctifier ! To heare, to meditate, to sweeten my desire With grace and love, with cherishing entire ; Oh then how blest ! Among Thy saints elected to abide, And with Thy angels placed side by side, But in Thy presence truly glorified, Shall I there rest. From "The Underwoods " (Poems of Devotion). XXVIII. $ras*r &g ftteftop f^all. 15741656. my God, I am justly ashamed to think what favours I have received from Thee, and what poor returns I have made to Thee. Truly, Lord, I must needs say Thou hast thought nothing either in earth or in heaven too good for me ; and I, on the other side, have grudged Thee that weak and worthless obedience which Thou hast required of me. Alas! what pleasure could I have done to Thee who art infinite, if I had sacrificed my whole self to Thee, as Thou commandest ? Thou art, and wilt be, Thyself, though the world were not ; it is I, I only, that could be a gainer by this happy match, which to my own wrong I have unthank- 1575. 65 fully neglected. I see it is not so much what we have as how we employ it. Oh Thou that hast been so bountiful in heaping Thy rich mercies upon me, vouchsafe to grant me yet one gift more ; give me grace and power to improve all Thy gifts to the glory of the Giver, otherwise it had been better for me to have been poor than ungrateful. [Warton, in his " History of Poetry," says of the writings of Bishop Hall : " His chief fault is obscurity, arising from a remote phraseology, constrained combinations, unfamiliar allusions, elliptical apostrophes, and abruptness of expression."] XXIX. a ^rager of Contrition. 33g 3)aeofc 236iwe. 1575 1624. [Jacob Bohme (or Behmen) was the son of a peasant at Gorlitz in Silesia, where he lived as a shoemaker, and the author of many works on philosophy and religion.] " Behmen is so deep and so original in his purely philoso- phical, theological, and speculative books, that in many places we can only stand back and wonder at the man. But in his Holy Week, Behmen kneels down beside us. Not but that his characteristic depth is present in his prayers also ; but we all know something of the nature, the manner, and the blessedness of prayer, and thus it is that we are so much more at home with Behmen the prodigal son, than we are with Behmen the theosophical theologian. When Behmen begins to teach us to pray, and when the lesson comes to us out of his own closet, then we are able to see in a nearer light something of the originality, the greatness, the strength, and the true and genuine piety of the philosopher and the F 66 theologian. When Behmen's philosophy and theology become penitence, prayer, and praise, then by their fruits we know how good his philosophy and his theology must be, away down in their deepest and most hidden nature." JACOB BEHMEN, An Appreciation, By Alex. WTiyte, D.D. Thou mighty, unsearchable, and holy God, Lord of all beings, who of Thy great love to us, hast in Jesus Christ revealed Thy holy essence in our humanity ; I am a sinful man come before Thy face, though I am not worthy to lift up my eyes to Thee. I confess that I have been unfaithful to Thy love and grace, and have broken the covenant which Thou hast made with me in my baptism when Thou didst accept me as Thy child and an inheritor of eternal life. Thee have I forsaken and turned my desires to the vanities of this world and con- taminated my soul with them. I am yet sunk in the sins and vanity of my corrupt flesh, and have but one little spark of the living breath of Thy spirit in me which longs for Thy grace. I am faint and powerless ; I am a wild branch in Thy vine ; I have squandered my portion in the evil pleasures of this world. God in Christ Jesus, who didst become man for the sake of poor sinners that Thou mightest succour them, unto Thee do I haste, unto Thee I lament my need, unto Thee do I cry for aid, for 1575. 67 Thou art my only refuge, and there is yet a little spark of faith and trust in Thee left alive in my soul. Here I stand, poor and destitute before Thee. I cast me at Thy feet. I call upon Thy compassion. Accept me, Lord, in Thy death and let my sinful life perish therein. Smite down my selfishness ; slay, through Thy death, this self-love in me that I may no longer live to myself but unto Thee who hast died for me. Thou rich Fountain of the Love of God, let me be buried in my Saviour's death to my vain ambitions and my sins. Thou Breath of the mighty Love of God, fan the dim spark of Thy spirit within me, that I may begin to hunger and thirst after Thee ! Oh how powerless is my soul ! Give Thou her to drink from Thy sweet fountain of living waters, that she may be awakened from her deathly lethargy. Convert Thou me, Lord, for I cannot convert myself. Thou Conqueror over death, help me in my strife and redeem me from the fetters of Satan. Vanquish my self-love, melt my stubborn will, break my hard heart, that I may live in Thy fear and be obedient as an instrument in Thy hands, willing only what Thou wilt. Thou Abyss of Love draw the desires of my soul unto Thyself, and lead me out of death into Thy resurrection. God the Holy Spirit in Christ my Saviour, teach me what I should do to turn unto Thee ; con- 68 vert Thou my will, draw me, through Christ, to the Father, help me to depart from all sin and vanity, and never again to consent thereto voluntarily. Awake in me true repentance for my sins past. Keep me in Thy cords, and never let me go away from Thee lest the enemy once more lead me back through my own weak, evil, flesh and blood into the state of death. Yes : Thou faithful God : in myself I am blind and know not myself for vanity; even Thou art hidden from me, Who art yet so close to me. suffer a ray of Thy grace to reach my soul. I lie before Thee like a dying, man, whose life is just hovering on his lips. Quicken me, Lord, and raise me up as a living soul. I wait upon Thy pro- mise who hast said : "As I live I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner but that he should be con- verted and live." Now, therefore, I sink into the death of my Eedeemer and wait for Thee: Thy Word is Life and Truth. Amen. XXX. a Sitang to t&* f^olp Spirit. 9Sg ttofart Umick. 15911674. [There were great incongruities in the life as in the -writings of Robert Herrick. His poems were of two kinds, love songs often indecent and sacred pieces, but both ' ' exhibiting a richness of fancy mingled with the quaintness of the age in which he lived such as to render him worthy of a high place in the scale of British lyrical poets." " When the ore is pure," says Campbell, " it is of great value." ED.] f^crrfcfc. 1591- 69 In the hour of my distress, When temptations me oppress, And when I my sins confess, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When I lie within my bed, Sick in heart and sick in head, And with doubts discomfited, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the house doth sigh and weep, And the world is drowned in sleep, Yet mine eyes the watch do keep, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the artless doctor sees No one hope but of his fees, And his skill runs on the lees, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the passing-bell doth toll, And the furies in a shoal Come to fright a parting soul, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the tapers now burn blue, And the comforters are few, And that number more than true, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the priest his last has prayed, And I nod to what is said 'Cause my speech is now decayed, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! 70 ^tapers. When, God knows, I'm tossed about, Either with despair, or doubt ; Yet before the glass be out, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the tempter me pursu'th With the sins of all my youth, And half damns me with untruth, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the flames and hellish cries Fright mine ears and fright mine eyes, And all terrors me surprise, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! When the judgment is revealed, And that opened which was sealed, When to Thee I have appealed, Sweet Spirit, comfort me ! XXXI. & ^ragcr &g eorgc ?^crf>nt, "t& jfcfoectegt j&ing of tl)c CKngltgJ) J)urc|)." 1593 1632. ENTITLED " THE ELIXIR." Teach me, my God and King, In all things Thee to see, And what I do in anything, To do it as for Thee. A man that looks on glass, On it may stay his eye, Or if he pleaseth through it pass, And then the heaven espy. 1597. 71 All may of Thee partake ; Nothing can be so mean "Which with this tincture (for Thy sake) Will not grow bright and clean. A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine ; Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws, Makes that and the action fine. This is the famous stone That turneth all to Gold ; For that which God doth touch and own Cannot for less be told. XXXII. & tacr comoscD ti tEaplor. 1613. 75 A PRAYER FOB THE GRACES OF FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY. Lord God of infinite mercy, of infinite excel- lency, who hast sent Thy Holy Son into the world to redeem us from an intolerable misery, and to teach us a holy religion, and to forgive us our infinite debt : give me Thy Holy Spirit, that my under- standing and all my faculties may be so resigned to the discipline and doctrine of my Lord that I may be prepared in mind and will to die for the testimony of Jesus, and to suffer any affliction or calamity that shall offer to hinder my duty, or tempt me to shame, or sin, or apostacy : and let my faith be the parent of a good life, a strong shield to repel the fiery darts of the devil, and the author of a holy hope, of modest desires, of confidence in God, and of a never-failing charity to Thee, my God, and to all the world ; that I may never have my portion with the unbelievers or uncharitable and desperate persons : but may be supported by the strengths of faith in all tempta- tions, and may be refreshed with the comforts of a holy hope in all my sorrows, and may bear the burden of the Lord and the infirmities of my neigh- bour, by the support of charity : that the yoke of Jesus may become easy to me, and my love may do all the miracles of grace, till, from grace it swell to glory, from earth to heaven, from duty to reward, from the imperfections of a beginning and still grow- 7 6 ing love, it may arrive at the consummation of an eternal and never-ceasing charity, through Jesus Christ the Son of Thy love, the anchor of our hope, the author and finisher of our faith, to whom with Thee, Lord God, Father of heaven and earth, and with Thy Holy Spirit be all glory and love and obedience and dominion now and for ever. Amen. From " Holy Living and Dying." XXXV. ¬far 39rapet ftp Qkrcmp aJor. 1613 1667. most glorious and powerful Jesus, who with Thine own right hand and Thy holy arm hath gotten to Thyself, on our behalf, the victory over sin, hell, and the grave ; remember this Thy mercy and truth, which Thou hast promised to all that believe in Thee ; give us pardon of our sins, sealed unto us by the testimony of thy Holy Spirit and of a good conscience ; and grant that we, by Thy strength, may fight against our ghostly enemies and by Thy power may overcome them, that we may rejoice in a holy peace and sing and give Thee thanks for our victory and our crown. Extend this mercy, and enlarge the effect of Thy great victories to the heathen, that all the ends of the earth may sing a new song unto Thee, and see the salvation of God : that, when Thou comest to judge the earth, we may all find mercy, Brummonb of f^afotfjornten. 1617. 77 and be joyful together before Thee in the festivity of a blessed eternity, through Thy mercies, blessed Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus. Amen. XXXYI. & ^rager fog IhummonD of ^afotijorn&cn. 1617. A PRAYER. Great God, whom we with humble thoughts adore, Eternal, Infinite, Almighty King, Whose palace heaven transcends, whose throne before Archangels serve and Seraphim do sing ; Of nought who wrought all that with wondering eyes We do behold within this spacious round ; Who mak'st the rocks to rock, and stand the skies ; At whose command the horrid thunders sound ; Ah ! spare us worms ; weigh not how we, alas ! Evil to ourselves, against Thy laws rebel ; Wash off those spots which still in conscience' glass, Though we be loth to look, we see too well. Deserved revenge do not, do not take. If Thou revenge, what shall abide Thy blow ? Pass shall this world, this world which Thou didst make, Which should not perish till Thy trumpet blow. For who is he whom parents' sin not stains, Or with his own offence is not defiled ? Though Justice ruin threaten, Justice' reins Let Mercy hold, and be both just and mild. From " Spiritual Poems." Quoted in " Drummond of Hawthornden ; The Story of his Life and Writings." By David Masson, M.A., LL.D., p. 65. 7 8 XXXVII. & General ^rager. ^rom ftaxter'ss Eiturgg, 16151691. [The whole Liturgy was drawn up by Richard Baxter in a fortnight, " nor could he make use of any book except a Bible and a Concordance ; but he compared it all with the Assembly's Directory and the Book of Common Prayer." Orme's " Life of Baxter," p. 407.] most holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Three persons and one God, our Greater, Eedeemer, and Sanctifier, our Lord, our Governor and Father, hear us and have mercy upon us, miserable sinners. Lord our Saviour, God and man ! who, having assumed our nature by Thy sufferings and death and burial, wast made a ransom to take away the sins of the world ; who, being raised from the dead, ascended and glorified, art made Head over all things to the Church which Thou gatherest, justifiest, sanctifiest, rulest and preservest, and which, at Thy coming, Thou wilt raise and judge to endless glory : we beseech Thee to hear us, miserable sinners. Make sure to us our calling and election, our un- feigned faith and repentance, that being justified and made the sons of God we may have peace with Him as our reconciled God and Father. Let Thy Holy Spirit sanctify us and dwell in us, and cause us to deny ourselves, and to give up our- 23a.xter. 1615. 79 selves entirely to Thee, as being not our own but Thine. As the world was created for Thy glory, let Thy name be glorified throughout the world ; let self- love and pride and vain glory be destroyed ; cause us to love Thee, fear Thee, and trust in Thee with all our hearts, and to live to Thee. Let all the earth subject themselves to Thee, their King. Let the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Lord and of His Christ. Let the atheists, idolaters, Mahometans, Jews, and other infidels and ungodly people be converted. Send forth meet labourers into the harvest and let the gospel be preached throughout all the world. Preserve and bless them in Thy work. Sustain in patience and seasonably deliver the churches that are oppressed by idolators, infidels, Mahometans or other enemies, or by the Koman papal ursurpations. Unite all Christians in Jesus Christ, the true and only universal Head, in the true Christian and Catholic faith and love; cast out heresies and corruptions ; heal divisions ; let the strong receive the weak and bear their infirmities ; restrain the spirit of pride and cruelty and let nothing be done in strife or vain glory. Keep us from atheism, idolatry and rebellion against Thee ; from infidelity, ungodliness and 8o sensuality ; from security and presumption and despair. Let us delight to please Thee, and let Thy Word be the rule of our faith and lives ; let us love it and understand it, and meditate in it day and night. Let us not corrupt or neglect Thy worship ; nor take Thy holy name in vain. Keep us from blas- phemy, perjury, profane swearing, lying, contempt of Thy ordinances, and from false, unworthy and unreverent thoughts and speeches of God or holy things, and from the neglect and profanation of Thy holy day. . . . [Here follow petitions for Kings and Rulers, especially "Thy servant Charles our King," and also for pastors and teachers, for parents, and for strength to keep the several items of the moral law as set forth in the Ten Commandments. The general prayer concludes thus :] Cause us to watch against temptations, to resist and overcome the flesh, the devil and the world, and by no allurements of pleasure, profit or honour to be drawn from Thee to sin ; let us patiently suffer with Christ that we may rejoice with Him. Deliver us and all Thy people from the enmity and rage of Satan and all his wicked instruments, and preserve us to Thy heavenly kingdom. For Thou art the universal Xing : all power is Rascal. 1623. 81 Thine in heaven and earth ; of Thee, and through Thee, and to Thee, are all things, and the glory shall be Thine for ever. Amen. XXXVIII. & ^rager of ttlatee $a*cal, in Eime of IK**. 16231662. Grant, Lord, that such as I am, I may be con- formed to Thy will ; and that being in sickness I may glorify Thee in my sufferings. Without them I cannot arrive at glory ; even Thou, my Saviour, didst not will to reach thither without them. It was by the mark of Thy sufferings that Thou wert recognised by Thy disciples; and it is by their sufferings also that Thou recogniseth Thy disciples. Eecognise me, then, for Thy disciple in the pains which I endure, both in my body and in my soul, for the sins which I have committed. And since nothing is well-pleasing to God, if it be not offered by Thee, unite my will to Thine, and my griefs to those Thou hast endured. Cause that mine become Thine. Unite me to Thyself; fill me with Thyself and Thy Holy Spirit. Enter into my soul and my heart, there to bear my sufferings, and to continue to endure in me what remains of Thy passion* which Thou art accomplishing in Thy members Col. i. 24. 82 until the perfect consummation of Thy body; so that, being full of Thee, it shall be no longer I that live and suffer, but Thou that livest and sufferest in me, my Saviour ! And thus having some small part in Thy sufferings, that Thou mayest fill me wholly with that glory which Thou hast acquired, and in which Thou livest with the Father and the Holy Spirit through all ages. So be it. PenseeS vol. i. XXXIX. a aitana. #8 13*. Slw Bonne, Bean of j&t. 1631. [This strangely obscure Litany, full of the quaint conceits and pedantry of the times, was written when Dr. Donne was in a consumption and nearing his end. It was used in worship at St. Paul's Cathedral.] THE FATHER Father of Heaven, and Him by whom It and us for it, and all else for us Thou mad'st, and governest ever, come And re-create me now grown ruinous. My heart is by dejection clay, And by self-murder red. From this red earth, Father, purge away All vicious tincture, that new fashioned I may rise up from death, before I'm dead. THE SON. Son of God, who seeing two things, Sin and Death, crept in which were never made, By bearing one tryd'st with what stings The other could Thine heritage invade \ Br. 3fofw Bonne. 1631. 83 be Thou nailed unto my heart And crucified again. Part not from it, though it from Thee would part, But let it be, by applying so Thy pain, Drowned in Thy blood and in Thy passion slain. THE HOLY GHOST. Holy Ghost, whose temple I Am, but of mud walls and condensed dust, And being sacrilegiously Half wasted with youth's fires of pride and lust, Must with new storms be weather-beat, Double in my heart the flame, Which let devout sad tears attend ; and let (Though the glass lanthorn flesh do suffer maim), Fire, sacrifice, priest, altar, be the same. THE TRINITY. blessed, glorious Trinity, Bones to philosophy but milk to faith, Which as wise serpents diversely Most slipperiness yet most entanglings hath, As you distinguished, undistinct By power, love, knowledge be, Give me a such self -different instinct ; Of these let all me elemented be, Of power to love, to know, you unnumbered Three. " It is difficult to realise what those emotional feelings were which could find wings and expression in these strains, or what the mind could be which found its recreations, during severe illness, in stringing together such perplexities of thought and language." Isabella L. Bird. 84 ^ XL. ¬|)cr $rager, frg 39r. 3J&n Bonne, Bean of j&t. Caul's, WRITTEN SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH, 31sT MARCH, 1631, AND ENTITLED A HYMN TO GOD THE FATHER. Wilt Thou forgive that sin, where I begun, Which was my sin, though it were done before ? Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run, And do run still, though still I do deplore 1 When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done, For I have more. Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won Others to sin, and made my sin their door 1 Wilt Thou forgive that sin, which I did shun A year or two, but wallowed in a score 1 When Thou hast done Thou hast not done, For I have more. I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun My last thread, I shall perish on the shore ; But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son Shall shine, as He shines now and heretofore, And having done that, Thou hast done ; I fear no more ! XLL & ^rager in j&icfcnegg. $g Br. 3)i>n Bonne, most mighty and merciful God, the God of all true sorrow and true joy too, of all fear and of all hope too, as Thou hast given me a repentance not to be repented of, so give me, Lord, a fear of which I may not be afraid. Give me tender, and Br. 3fofm Bonn*. 85 supple, and conformable affections, that as I joy with them that joy, and mourn with them that mourn, so may I fear with them that fear. In this sickness, in which there is danger, let me not, Lord, go about to overcome the sense of that fear, so far as to pretermit the fitting and preparing of myself for the worst that may be feared the passage out of this life. Many of Thy blessed martyrs have passed out of this life without any show of fear : but Thy most blessed Son Himself did not so. Thy martyrs were known to be but men, and therefore it pleased Thee to fill them with Thy spirit and Thy power, so that they did more than men : Thy Son was declared by Thee and by Himself to be God, and it was requisite that He should declare Himself to be Man also, in the weakness of man. Let me not, therefore, my God, be ashamed of those fears, but let me feel them, to determine, where His fear did, in a present submitting to all Thy will. And when Thou shalt have inflamed and thawed my former coldnesses and indevotions with these heats, and quenched my former heats with these sweats of Thine, and rectified my former presumptions and negligences with these fears, be pleased, Lord, as one made so by Thee, to think me fit for Thee ; and whether it be Thy pleasure to dispose of this body, this 86 garment, so as to put it to a further wearing in this world, or to lay it up in the common wardrobe, the grave, for the next, glorify Thyself in Thy choice now, and glorify it then with that glory which Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ hath purchased for them whom Thou makest partakers of His resurrection. Amen. XLIL & $tag*r of Brands uarlejj, &utf)or of " &e CFmfolemg," founfceD upon tft* text, 3i& x ^- 24, ) fa." 1635. Why dost Thou shade Thy loving face 1 why Does that eclipsing hand so long deny The sunshine of Thy soul-enlivening eye ? Without that light, what light remains to me 1 Thou art my Life, my Way, my Light ; in Thee I live, and move, and by Thy beams I see. Thou art my Life ; if Thou dost turn away, My life's a thousand deaths ; Thou art my Way ; Without Thee, Lord, I travel not, but stray. My Light Thou art ; without Thy glorious light Mine eyes are darkened with perpetual night ; My God, Thou art my Way, my Life, my Light. Thou art my Way ; I wander, if Thou fly : Thou art my Light ; if hid, how blind am I ! Thou art my Life ; if Thou withdraw, I die. Mine eyes are blind and dark, I cannot see ; To whom, or whither, should my darkness flee But to the Light ? And who's that Light but Thee 1 jprancts uarks. 1635. 87 My path is lost, my wandering steps do stray ; I cannot safely go, nor safely stay ; Whom should I seek but Thee, my Path, my Way ? 0, I am dead ; to whom shall I, poor I, Repair ? To whom shall my sad ashes fly But Life ? And where is Life but in Thine eye ? And yet Thou turn'st away Thy face, and fly'st me ; And yet I sue for grace and Thou deny'st me ! Speak, art Thou angry, Lord, or only try'st me ? Unscreen those heavenly lamps, or tell me why Thou shad'st Thy face ? Perhaps Thou think'st no eye Can view those flames, and not drop down and die ? If that be all, shine forth, and draw Thee nigher ; Let me behold and die, for my desire Is, phoenix-like, to perish in that fire. Death-conquered Lazarus, was redeem'd by Thee, If I am dead, Lord, set Death's pris'ner free. Am I more spent, or moulder'd worse than he ? If my puffd Life be out, give leave to tine* My flameless snuff at that bright lamp of Thine ; O, what's Thy lamp the less for lighting mine ? If I have lost my path, great Shepherd, say, Shall I still wander in a doubtful way ? Lord, shall a lamb of Israel's sheepfold stray ? Thou art the pilgrims' path, the blind man's eye, The dead man's life ; on Thee my hopes rely ; If Thou remove, I err, I grope, I die. Disclose Thy sunbeams, close Thy wings and stay ; See, see how I am blind, and dead, and stray ; O Thou that art my Light, my Life, my Way. * I.e. kindle, set on fire. XLHL another ^rager &g JFranci^ ^uaiUg. 1635. Great Shepherd of my soul, whose life was not too dear to rescue me, the meanest of Thy little flock, cast down Thy gracious eye upon the weakness of my nature, and behold it in the strength of Thy compassion; open mine eyes, that I may see that object which flesh cannot behold. Enlighten mine understanding, that I may clearly discern that truth which my ignorance cannot apprehend; rectify my judgment, that I may constantly resolve those doubts which my understanding cannot determine ; and sanctify my will, that I may wisely choose that good which my deceived heart cannot desire ; fortify my resolution, that I may constantly embrace that choice which my inconstancy cannot hold ; weaken the strength of my corrupted nature, that I may struggle with my lusts and strive against the base rebellions of my flesh. Strengthen the weak- ness of my dejected spirit, that I may conquer myself, and still withstand the assaults of mine own corruption ; moderate my delight in the things of this world, and keep my desires within the limits of Thy will. Let the points of my thoughts be directed to Thee, and let my hopes rest in the assurance of Thy favour : let not the fear of worldly loss dismay me, nor let the loss of the world's 3Jof)ann Hassem'us. 1636. 89 favour daunt me. Let my joy in Thee exceed all worldly grief, and let the love of Thee expel all carnal fear ; let the multitudes of my offences be hid in the multitudes of Thy compassions, and let the reproachfulness of that death which Thy Son suffered for my sake, enable me to suffer all reproach for His sake. Let not my sin against Thy mercies remove Thy mercies from my sin ; and let the necessity of my offences be swallowed up in the all-sufficiency of His merits ; let not the foul- ness of my transgressions lead me to distrust, nor let the distrust of Thy pardon leave me in despair. Fix in my heart a filial love, that I may love Thee as a Father, and remove all servile fear from me, that Thou mayest behold me as a son. Be Thou my all-in-all, and let me fear nothing but to dis- please Thee ; that, being freed from the fear of Thy wrath, I may live in the comfort of Thy promise, die in the fulness of Thy favour, and rise to the inheritance of an everlasting kingdom. Amen. XLIV. fin leaning ^ragcr. #5 Wann 3La**cnta*. 1636 1692. [Johann Lassenius was pastor and professor at Copenhagen, and the author of various devotional works.] Lord God, our Father in Heaven, Lord of our life, Thy works are pure goodness and truth. Thou 9 hast kept us in life this day and has shown us much loving kindness, and preserved us from evil : there- fore our mouth is full of Thy praise. But we are ashamed before Thee, God, for we have once more sinned against Thee this day: we have not trod unswervingly in Thy path of duty. Ah Lord ! who can tell how oft he offendeth : forgive us even our secret faults. Help us to overcome them, Thou Consolation of Israel, and dispel our misdeeds as a cloud, and our sins as the morning mist. Eedeem us and purify our consciences from dead works through the cross of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and withdraw not Thy helping hand from us. Behold, Blessed Lord, the night is gathering fast ; the dark- ness surrounds us ; leave us not, Thou who art our Light : go not down upon our hearts, Thou our Sun ! Watch over and defend us, parents and children, our household and home, our health and wealth, and keep us from harm and danger. May we calmly rest on Thy unfathomable goodness, and may Thy Word be our lantern and our guiding star. Unto Thee we commend ourselves, for in Thee is our hope : continue to guard and succour our souls, and may we awake to-morrow, if it be Thy will, with joyful hearts ready to sing Thy praise. Hear us for Thy dear Son's sake. Amen. . 1637. 91 XLV. & tfraser of fc&anfcjsgibing. 33g Bte&op iUn. BORN 1637, DIED 1711. Worthy art Thou, Lord of heaven and earth, to receive glory and honour and power and might and majesty: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all the hosts of them; the earth, and all things therein, and the host of heaven praiseth Thee. Glory be to Thee, Lord God Almighty, for creating man after Thine own image, and making so great a variety of creatures to minister to his use. Glory be to Thee, heavenly Father, for our being, and preservation, health and strength, under- standing and memory, friends and benefactors, and for all our abilities of mind and body. Glory be to Thee for our competent livelihood, for the advantages of our education, for all known or unobserved deliverances, and for the guard which Thy holy angels keep over us, but, above all, glory be to Thee for giving Thy Son to die for our sins, and for all the spiritual blessings which He has purchased for us. Glory be to Thee, Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for Thine inexpressible love to lost mankind, in undertaking the wonderful work of our redemption and rescuing us from the slavery 92 of sin and dominion of the devil : for descending, in order to accomplish this prodigy of goodness, from heaven, and putting on the form of a servant : for the heavenly doctrine which Thou didst preach for our instruction, the undoubted miracles which Thou didst work for our conviction, and Thy un- blameable example to be our rule and pattern ; for Thine agony and bloody sweat, the torments and anguish of Thy bitter passion; and Thy precious death and burial, ascension into heaven, and intercession for us at the right hand of the Father. Glory be to Thee Lord, blessed Saviour, for all the miraculous gifts and graces which Thou didst bestow upon prophets, apostles, and evan- gelists, to fit them to convert the world: for in- spiring them to write the holy scriptures and preach the Gospel among the nations, and for bringing the glad tidings to this land of our nativity for those ordinary gifts, by which sincere Christians have in all ages been enabled to work out their salvation for subduing our understand- ing, will, and affections to the obedience of faith and godliness for infusing into our minds holy thoughts, and enkindling in our hearts pious desires for all the spiritual strength and support, comfort and illumination which we receive from Faug&an. 1650. 93 Thee, and for all Thy preserving, restraining and sanctifying grace. Blessing and honour, thanksgiving and praise be unto Thee adorable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost from all angels, all men, and all creatures for ever and ever. Amen. XLVL & $rag*i &g ?^^2 ^augfcan (j&tlurtet). 1650. BEGGING. King of Mercy, King of Love, In whom I live, in whom I move, Perfect what Thou hast begun, Let no night put out this Sun ; Grant I may, my chief desire ! Long for Thee, to Thee aspire, Let my youth, my bloom of dayes Be my comfort, and Thy praise, That hereafter, when I look O'r the sullyed, sinful book, I may find Thy hand therein Wiping out my shame and sin. it is Thy only Art To reduce a stubborn heart, And since thine is victorie, Strongholds should belong to Thee ; Lord then take it, leave it not Unto my dispose or lot, But since I would not have it mine, my God, let it be Thine ! From " Silex Scintillans." Fac-simile of First Edition, 1650, with Introduction by Rev. William Clare, B.A. Adelaide, 1885. 94 XLVII. & ipribat* ^ragcr fcg ^omag a&ttgon, 13.13., for fiftg=dgi)t gearg 9ftt!S|)op of j&o&or anil ,|&an. BORN 1633, DIED 1755. From SACRA PRIVATA. God, almighty and merciful, let Thy fatherly kindness be upon all whom Thou hast made. Hear the prayer of all that call upon Thee ; open the eyes of them that never pray for themselves ; pity the sighs of such as are in misery ; deal mercifully with them that are in darkness, and increase the number of the graces of such as fear and serve Thee daily. Preserve this land from the misfortunes of war; this Church from all dangerous errors; this people from forgetting Thee, their Lord and bene- factor. Be gracious to all those countries that are made desolate by the sword, famine, pestilence, or persecution. Bless all persons and places to which Thy providence has made me a debtor : all who have been instrumental to my good by their assist- ance, advice, or example ; and make me in my time useful to others. Let none of those that desire my prayers want Thy mercy : but defend and comfort and conduct them through to their lives' end. Glory be to God my Creator, glory be to Jesus my Eedeemer, glory be to the Holy Ghost my Sanctifier, my Guide and Comforter ; all love, all glory be to God Most High. Amen. * Grfe anD Italian tongues." JULY 25, 1776. God who hast ordained that whatever is to be desired should be sought by labour, and who, by Thy blessing, bringest honest labour to good effect ; look with mercy upon my studies and endeavours. Grant me, Lord, to design only what is lawful i<>4 Drapers. and right; and afford me calmness of mind and steadiness of purpose, that I may so do Thy will in this short life as to obtain happiness in the world to come, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Eedeemer. Amen. LII. ¬f)ct -jpraricr, " againgt tnquteittbc ant) tf)oug|)ts." ATOUST 12, 1784. Lord, my maker and protector, who hast graciously sent me into this world to work out my salvation, enable me to drive from me all such unquiet and perplexing thoughts as may mislead or hinder me in the practice of those duties which Thou hast required. When I behold the works of Thy hands and consider the course of Thy provi- dence, give me grace always to remember that Thy thoughts are not my thoughts nor Thy ways my ways. And while it shall please Thee to con- tinue me in this world, where much is to be done and little to be known, teach me by Thy Holy Spirit to withdraw my mind from unprofitable and dangerous inquiries, from difficulties vainly curious, and doubts impossible to be solved. Let me rejoice in the light which Thou hast imparted; let me serve Thee with active zeal and humble confidence, and wait with patient expectation for the time in which Br. Seamud 3Jofwson. 1784. 105 the soul which Thou receivest, shall be satisfied with knowledge. Grant this, Lord, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. LDJ. Wat following ^rager te statefc frg St. jfetrafjan a former Utcar of Islington, to ho publishes a collection of ^ragerg unlier tf)e title 4< $rager* anD Recitations of 13r. jeamuel 3)of)n3on " to !)abe been composel) anD ugeO fig Dr. ^ojjnson previous to his receiving the Sacrament of t^e XorU'g Cupper, on j&unfcag, 13ecem= ber 5, 1784. Almighty and most merciful Father, I am now as to human eyes it seems, about to communicate for the last time* the death of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Saviour and Eedeemer. Grant, Lord, that my whole hope and confidence may be in His merits and Thy mercy; enforce and accept my imperfect repentance; make this communication available to the confirmation of my faith, the establishment of my hope, and the enlargement of my charity, and make the death of Thy Son Jesus Christ effectual to my redemption. Have mercy upon me and pardon the multitude of my offences. Bless my friends ; have mercy upon all men. Support me by Thy Holy Spirit in the days of weakness and at the hour of death, and receive Dr. Johnson died on the 13th December, 1784. io6 Drapers. me, at my death, to everlasting happiness, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen. LI V. 3 ^tesionarg Draper. Jprom t&c Sttang rabian |)urc|) of tofjom torn tj)e Jpatfjerg of Christian /tltestons t&rougfrout tljc foortt). u0eti in tij* iWorntng ^crbia of t^at 5>untiag. 1722. Thou Light and Desire of all nations, Watch over Thy messengers both by land and sea ; Prosper the endeavours of all Thy servants to spread the Gospel among the heathen nations ; Accompany the word of their testimony con- cerning Thy atonement, with demonstration of Thy spirit and of power ; Bless our congregations gathered from among the heathen ; Keep them as the apple of Thine eye ; Have mercy on Thy ancient covenant-people, the Jews ; deliver them from their blindness ; And bring all nations to the saving knowledge of Thee: Let the seed of Israel praise the Lord; Yea, let all the nations praise Him : Give to Thy people open doors to preach the tftersttegen. 1724. 107 Gospel ; and set them to Thy praise on earth. Amen. LV. 1724. [Tersteegen, who has been called ' ' the greatest poet of the mystical school of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries," was a ribbon-weaver at Mulheim on the Ruhr. At the age of twenty-seven he wrote, in his own blood, the following form of " dedication of himself to Jesus." The depth and wisdom of his piety attracted multitudes of people from hia own and otlier countries, to his house, " The Pilgrim's Cottage," to receive spiritual aid and counsel. He was the author of several devo- tional works full of calm, trustful surrender to God, and intense aspira- tion after holiness. One, entitled "Crumbs from the Master's Table," has been translated into English, and is well known.] "To MY JESUS." " I dedicate myself to Thee, Christ Jesus, my only Saviour and my Bridegroom, to be Thine entire and everlasting possession. From this even- ing I reject with all my heart whatever right and power Satan, without right, gave me over myself, as one whom Thou, my Bridegroom by blood and my God, hast purchased through Thy fight with death, through Thy wrestling and bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane, to be Thy possession and bride ; for whom Thou hast burst the gates of hell and revealed to me the living heart of Thy Father. From this evening may my heart and all my love be offered up to Thee eternally in mental thanksgiving! From this day till eternity may io8 Drapers. Thy will and not mine be done ! Command, rule, and govern me ! I give Thee full power over me, and promise, with Thy help and grace, that this my blood shall flow out to the last drop, sooner than, with will and knowledge, inwardly or out- wardly, I be unfaithful or disobedient to Thee. Lo ! Thou hast me altogether, Thou Friend of Souls ! in modest virgin love I cling to Thee ! Take not away Thy Holy Spirit from me ; may Thy Spirit not turn from me; may Thy death- fight strengthen me ! Yea. Amen. May Thy Spirit seal what in simplicity hath written, "Thine unworthy possession, " GERH. TERSTEEGEN." "On Green Thursday evening, 1724." LVL & $rag*r 65 ffiw&arfc fltotwgnt. 1731. TO THE ElSEN AND ASCENDED SAVIOUR. Jesu, our Lord and King, who art highly exalted, in what glory has Thy course ended, how have the heavenly hosts welcomed Thee when Thou didst enter Thy Kingdom as Conqueror over Sin, Death, and Hell, and didst sit down on the right hand of God ! Ah ! we strangers here on earth desire to par- take in the joy of the heavenly ones, to bow the (Strfjarfc tEersteegcn. 1731. 109 knee and give glory to Thee with them. Hosanna to the Son of David ! Hosanna in the highest ! Kule, Jesus ; send forth the sceptre out of Zion and bring all hearts under Thy sway. Thou hast passed into heaven, but we are yet dwelling upon earth ; Thou hast completed Thy course, but we are yet treading the narrow and thorny way." Help us, and let all our steps be sanctified for the sake of Thy sorrowful path; may all Thy deeds, Thy self-denial, Thy prayers, Thy sufferings, hallow ours. Hold us by Thy strengthening hand, that we may walk fearlessly forward on the way that leads to heaven ; not fainting beneath its toils, not standing still as beginners, but going on, through Thy Spirit, to holiness, perfection, and the final bliss. And to this end teach us the practice of true, earnest prayer from the heart, of quiet retirement, of patient waiting for Thy Spirit from on high. Jesu Christ, Thou our Head art glorified, and we are Thy members. Thou hast said, " When I am lifted up I will draw all men unto Me." Draw us then out of all our wickednesSj our selfishness, our absorption in the things of sense and sight, into Thine own heavenly life that we may live with Thee where now Thou art. Let all worldliness be banished out of us, that we may not lose ourselves in what is temporal but seek after that which is no eternal ; so shall we with full hearts and true love, cleave to Thee alone, and occupy ourselves with that which alone can comfort and sustain us in the hour of trial or of death. Prince of Life ! teach us to stand more boldly on Thy side, to face the world and all our enemies more courageously and not to let ourselves be dis- mayed by any storm of temptation ; may our eyes be steadfastly fixed on Thee in fearless faith : may we trust Thee with perfect confidence that Thou wilt keep us, save us, and bring us through by the power of Thy grace and the riches of Thy mercy. Come and set up Thy kingdom in our hearts ; unto Thee we submit ourselves and our powers, heart and mind, senses and thought, all must be subject to Thee, all Thy faithful people must learn to be guided by the tokens of Thy good pleasure and walk as ever in Thy sight. And Mighty King ! bring under Thy sway all who as yet rebel against Thee. Send out apostles and teachers who shall make known to sinners the greatness of Thy majesty and the greatness of Thy love, that Thy kingdom may be spread abroad even unto the ends of the world. Ah! when Lord, wilt Thou come in Thy power, that the hearts of all nations may be turned unto Thee ? Awaken us from all indolence and dreaminess ; ^Jope. 1734. m teach us to walk before Thee with burning lamps, with cheerful hearts, day by day expecting our summons home, that when it comes we may be found ready. Give us abundantly the oil of Thy Spirit and Thy Love, that we may be kept alert in constant watchfulness and unwearied prayer. Draw us heavenwards that we may every day mount thither in faith till we do so perfectly on that day when Thou dost call us home. Bless all Thy children throughout the earth ; mould them to Thy heavenly image, so that their holy conduct may draw many to Thee, and make them willing subjects to Thy rule. Strengthen all, strengthen each one, to be faithful to Thee unto the end. Lord we lay our sighs upon Thy heart ; bring them, Priest, to the Holy of holies, bring our prayers unto Thy Father, obtain a gracious hear- ing, seal Thy Word to our hearts, and fulfil all our desires. Amen. LVII. %$e tKnibwal raer. 33g SUmnDor $o*. 1734. [" Concerning this poem, it may be proper to observe that some passages in the preceding essay " ' The Essay on Man ' " having been unjustly suspected of a tendency towards fate and naturalism, the Author com- posed this prayer as the sum of all to show that his system was founded on free-will, and terminated in piety ; that the First Cause was as well the Lord and Governor of the universe as the Creator of it, and that, by submission to His Will (the great principle enforced throughout the ii2 Drapers. Essay) was not meant the suffering ourselves to be hurried along with a blind determination, but a religious acquiescence and confidence full of hope and immortality. To give all this the greater weight and reality, the poet chose for his model the Lord's Prayer, which, of all others, best deserves the title prefixed to this paraphrase." WARBUETON.] DEO OPT. MAX. Father of all ! in every age, In every clime adored, By saint, by savage, and by sage, Jehovah, Jove, or Lord ! Thou Great First Cause, least understood ; Who all my sense confined To know but this, that thou art good, And that myself am blind ; Yet gave me in this dark estate, To see the good from ill ; And binding nature fast in fate Left free the human will. What conscience dictates to be done, Or warns me not to do, This, teach me more than hell to shun, That, more than heaven pursue. What blessings Thy free bounty gives, Let me not cast away ; For God is paid when man receives, To enjoy is to obey. Yet not to earth's contracted span Thy goodness led me bound, Or think Thee Lord alone of man, When thousand worlds are round. pope. 1734. 113 Let not this weak, unknowing hand Presume Thy bolts to throw, And deal damnation round the land, On each I judge Thy foe. If I am right, Thy grace impart Still in the right to stay ; If I am wrong, oh, teach my heart To find that better way. Save me alike from foolish pride, Or impious discontent, At aught Thy wisdom has denied, Or aught Thy goodness lent. Teach me to feel another's woe, To hide the fault I see : That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me. Mean though I am, not wholly so, Since quickened by Thy breath ; Oh, lead me wheresoe'r I go Through this day's life or death. This day, be bread and peace my lot ; All else beneath the sun, Thou knowest if best bestowed or not ; And let Thy will be done. To Thee, whose temple is all space, Whose altar earth, sea, skies, One chorus let all being raise, All natures incense rise ! ii4 pagers. LVIII. & oboiant anD Prager, fog 3)of)n 33urn of (HHaggoto. 1738. ["It was a custom among pious Scotch people to write out ' a cove- nant ' in accordance with the theological notion that the promises of God, as recorded in the Scriptures, are conditional on certain terms on the part of man. The first bond, or oath, drawn up by the Scottish Reformers, and signed in 1557, was a covenant ; the ' Confession of Faith,' drawn up in 1581, was also a covenant, the subscription to which was renewed from time to time ; when the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland con- tracted with the Commissioners of the English Parliament in 1643 for uni- formity of doctrine, worship, and discipline throughout Scotland, Eng- land, and Ireland ' according to the Word of God, and the example of the best reformed churches,' the instrument was 'the Solemn League and Covenant.' "The idea of a covenant, as distinct from a contract (the former having no civil penalty necessarily following the infraction of it), being in- grained in the Scottish mind, it is not surprising that when a man found himself in an attitude ' to accept salvation on God's own terms,' as the phrase went, he should, taking the written Word of God as the first part of the covenant, enter into a written engagement to fulfil the second part, namely, his own moral and religious obligations. And as subscription to the ' Confession of Faith ' was renewed from time to time, so with these ' covenants with God ' or ' dedications ' as they were in later times called it was customary to keep them in constant remembrance, and, at recurring intervals, or at great crises in the history of those who made them, to officially ' recognise ' the covenant. It may interest those who are not familiar with this quaint old notion in religion to read a part of the covenant of John Burn." "Life of Sir George Burns, Bart."] Luss, June 25, 1738, Sabbath afternoon. Lord God Almighty, I would in Thy presence humbly confess that iniquities greatly prevail against me, the power of conquering which, O Lord, Thou knowest is far beyond my feeble strength ; but in Thee alone is my sufficiency. perfect Thy strength in my weakness and deliver me from the love, the . 1738. 115 power, the stain and the guilt of all sin, original and actual. Alas ! with what aggravated transgressions do I stand chargeable ? . . . I have, times and ways, Lord, without number, broken all Thy Command- ments, for which I deserve Thy wrath and fury to be poured out upon my soul and body to all eternity ! But now, most merciful God, I desire this after- noon to renounce the love and practice of every wicked way, and in Thy name and strength to devote myself soul and body to Thee, that I may be Thine in prosperity or adversity, in health or sickness, in time and through eternity. I desire to believe in God the Father, who sent the Son into the world on the gracious errand of man's salvation, as my God and Father, and in Jesus Christ as my only Lord and Eedeemer whom I desire to embrace as the Lord my righteousness ; and in the Holy Ghost as my sanctifier, and the applier of all Christ's purchase to my defiled and polluted soul, and whose quickening influences and Divine illumination I be- seech Thee, Holy Father, to shed abroad into my soul, through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, Thine only and well-beloved Son, in whom Thou art ever well pleased. . . . keep me by Thy mighty power through faith in Jesus Christ unto eternal life : for without Thee, this, like all my former resolutions and engagements, will become as the morning cloud n6 Drapers. and early dew, which soon passeth away. Lord, renouncing all my own righteousness, all I have done or ever can do, I desire to embrace Thee in all Thy mediatory character, and henceforth desire to walk in Thy strength, making mention of Thy righteousness, even Thine only. JOHN BUKN. Recognised at Stirling, May 12, 1750. Eecognised at Glasgow, April 8, 1780. LIX. & ^ragu of jjarkg 2SEegks- 1740. Jesu, lover of my soul, Let me to Thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high ! Hide me, my Saviour, hide Till the storm of life is past, Safe into the haven guide ; receive my soul at last ! Other refuge have I none ; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee ; Leave, ah ! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me ! All my trust on Thee is stay'd, All my help from Thee I bring ; Cover my defenceless head With the shadow of Thy wing ! Wilt Thou not regard my call 1 Wilt Thou not accept my prayer ? Lo ! I sink, I faint, I fall ! Lo ! on Thee I cast my care ! Susanna SSJtskp. 1740. 117 Reach me out Thy gracious hand ! While I of Thy strength receive, Hoping against hope I stand, Dying and behold I live. Thou, O Christ, art all I want ; More than all in Thee I find ; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick and lead the blind ! Just and holy is Thy Name ; I am all unrighteousness ; False and full of sin I am, Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin ; Let the healing streams abound ; Make and keep me sure within ! Thou of Life the Fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee ; Spring Thou up within my heart ! Rise to all Eternity ! LX. & Ptaget frg j&uganna a&egfog, tfie $lort)er of If to esteem and have the highest reverence for Thee, if constantly and sincerely to acknowledge Thee, the supreme, the only desirable God, be to love Thee, I DO LOVE THEE ! If to rejoice in Thy essential majesty and glory ; if to feel a vital joy overspread and cheer the heart at each perception of Thy blessedness, at every thought that Thou art n8 Drapers. God, and that all things are in Thy power ; that there is none superior or equal to Thee; be to love Thee, I DO LOVE THEE. If comparatively to despise and undervalue all the world contains, which is esteemed great, fair, or good ; if earnestly and constantly to desire Thee, Thy favour, Thy acceptance, Thyself, rather than any or all things Thou hast created, be to love Thee, I DO LOVE THEE. [Susanna Wesley has more claim to be linked with Methodism than giving it its founders namely, the claim of " that clear sense, vigorous intellect, supremacy of duty and firm conscientiousness, that meditative piety and holy living" that made her a noblewoman, that helped to make John Wesley a noble man the man he was and Charles Wesley, one of the greatest poets of the Church.] LXL & ^ragcr of ^Ijomag @&att*rton. 17521770. THE EESIGNATION. O God, whose thunder shakes the sky, Whose eye this atom globe surveys, To Thee, my only rock, I fly, Thy mercy in Thy justice praise. The mystic mazes of Thy will, The shadows of celestial light, Are past the pow'r of human skill But what th' Eternal acts, is right. teach me in this trying hour, When anguish swells the dewy tear, To still my sorrows, own Thy pow'r, Thy goodness love, Thy justice fear. Sbourtjej). 17741843. 119 If in this bosom ought but Thee, Encroaching sought a boundless sway, Omniscience could the danger see, And Mercy took the cause away. Then why, my soul, dost thou complain ? Why, drooping, seek the dark recess ? Shake off the melancholy chain, For God created all to bless. But ah ! my breast is human still ; The rising sigh, the falling tear, My languid vitals' feeble rill The sickness of my soul declare. But yet, with fortitude resign'd, I'll thank th' inflicter of the blow ; Forbid the sigh, compose my mind, Nor let the gush of mis'ry flow. The gloomy mantle of the night, Which on my sinking spirit steals, Will vanish at the morning light, Which God, my East, my Sun reveals. LXIL & $rager of &ofart ^outfjeg. 17741843. Lord, who art merciful as well as just, Incline Thine ear to me, a child of dust, Not what I would, Lord, I offer Thee, Alas ! but what I can. Father Almighty ! who hast made me man, And bade me look to Heaven, for Thou art there, Accept my sacrifice and humble prayer. 120 Four things which are not in Thy treasury, I lay before Thee, Lord, with this petition : My nothingness, my wants, My sins, and my contrition. LXIIL & $rager *g fti^op &tc&arD J&ant. 17761848 Son of God, to Thee I cry ; By the holy mystery Of Thy dwelling here on earth, By Thy pure and holy birth, Lord, Thy presence let me see, Manifest Thyself to me. Lamb of God, to Thee I cry ; By Thy bitter agony, By Thy pangs to us unknown, By Thy Spirit's parting groan, Lord, Thy presence let me see, Manifest Thyself to me. Prince of Life, to Thee I cry ; By Thy glorious majesty, By Thy triumph o'er the grave, Meek to suffer, strong to save, Lord, Thy presence let me see, Manifest Thyself to me. Lord of Glory, God most high, Man exalted to the sky, With Thy love my bosom fill ; Prompt me to perform Thy will ; Then Thy glory I shall see, Thou wilt bring me home to Thee, rant. 17851838. 121 LXIV. m ^raser of Efcoma* #*oo. 17791852. THE WIPER AWAY OF TEARS. " He healeth the broken in heart." PSALM cxlvii. 3. Thou ! who dry'st the mourner's tear, How dark this world would be, If, when deceiv'd and wounded here, We could not fly to Thee ! The friends, who in our sunshine live, When winter comes are flown ; And he, who has but tears to give Must weep those tears alone. But Thou wilt heal that broken heart, Which, like the plants that throw Their fragrance from the wounded part, Breathes sweetness out of woe. When joy no longer soothes nor cheers, And e'en the hope that threw A moment's sparkle o'er our tears Is dimm'd and vanish 'd too ; Oh ! who would bear life's stormy doom, Did not Thy wing of love Come, brightly wafting through the gloom, Our Peace-branch from above ? Then sorrow, touch'd by Thee, grows bright, With more than rapture's ray, As darkness shows us worlds of light We never saw by day ! LXV. & Uttang. #2 Sir fco&crt rant. 17851838. Saviour, when in dust to Thee Low we bend the adoring knee ; When, repentant, to the skies Scarce we lift our weeping eyes ; 122 Drapers. Oh, by all the pains and woe Suffered once for man below, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our solemn Litany ! By Thy helpless infant years , By Thy life of want and tears ; By Thy days of sore distress In the savage wilderness ; By the dread mysterious hour Of the insulting tempter's power ; Turn, oh, turn a favouring eye, Hear our solemn Litany ! By the sacred grief that wept O'er the grave where Lazarus slept ; By the boding tears that flowed Over Salem's loved abode ; By the anguished sigh that told Treachery lurked within Thy fold ; From Thy seat above the sky Hear our solemn Litany ! By Thine hour of dire despair ; By Thine agony of prayer ; By the cross, the nail, the thorn, Piercing spear, and torturing scorn ; By the gloom that veiled the skies O'er the dreadful sacrifice ; Listen to our humble cry, Hear our solemn Litany. By Thy deep expiring groan ; By the sad sepulchral stone ; By the vault, whose dark abode, Held in vain the rising God ; ^rnolfc. 1795 1842. 123 Oh ! from earth to heaven restored, Mighty re-ascended Lord, Listen, listen to the cry Of our solemn Litany. LXVI. &r. ^otna<5 &rnoto'55 ^rager, for fitu oton Hails ubc before entering upon Ijis d)ool Duties at iiugbij. 17951842. Lord, I have a busy world around me ; eye, ear, and thought will be needed for all my work to be done in that busy world. Now, ere I enter upon it, I would commit eye, ear, and thought to Thee ! Do Thou bless them and keep their work Thine, such as, through Thy natural laws, my heart beats and my blood flows without any thought of mine for them, so my spiritual life may hold on its course at those times when my mind cannot con- sciously turn to Thee to commit each particular thought to Thy service. Hear my prayer for my dear Eedeemer's sake. Amen. LXVIL ^rager real) eberg morning bg Ur. &rnofo in tjje form at &ugbg. Lord, who, by Thy holy apostle, hast taught us to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus and to Thy glory, give Thy blessing, we pray Thee, to this our daily work, that we may do it in faith, 124 and heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. All our powers of body and mind are Thine, and we would fain devote them to Thy service. Sanctify them and the work in which they are engaged ; let us not be slothful, but fervent in spirit, and do Thou, Lord, so bless our efforts, that they may bring forth in us the fruits of true wisdom. Strengthen the faculties of our minds and dispose us to exert them, but let us always remember to exert them for Thy glory, and for the furtherance of Thy kingdom, and save us from all pride, and vanity, and reliance upon our own power or wisdom. Teach us to seek after truth, and enable us to gain it ; but grant that we may ever speak the truth in love that, while we know earthly things, we may know Thee, and be known by Thee, through and in Thy Son Jesus Christ. Give us this day Thy Holy Spirit, that we may be Thine in body and spirit in all our work and all our refreshments, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen. LXVni. aa&tttier'js $rager. 18071892. Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our feverish ways ! Eeclothe us in our rightful mind ; In purer lives Thy service find, In deeper reverence, praise. Barrett 23rofomng. 18091861. 125 In simple trust, like theirs who heard, Beside the Syrian sea, The gracious calling of the Lord ; Let us, like them, without a word, Rise up and follow Thee. 0, Sabbath rest by Galilee ! calm of hills above, Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee The silence of Eternity Interpreted by love ! With that deep hush subduing all Our words and works that drown The tender whisper of Thy call, As noiseless let Thy blessing fall As fell Thy manna down. Drop Thy still dews of quietness Till all our strivings cease ; Take from our souls the strain and stress ; And let our ordered lives confess The beauty of Thy peace. Breathe through the pulses of desire Thy coolness and Thy balm ; Let sense be dumb, its heats expire ; Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, O still small voice of calm ! LXIX. f)e rg of t$e ?uman. 13g 0U|abet& ttamtt aSrofomng. 18091861. I. " There is no God," the foolish saith, But none, " There is no sorrow," And nature oft the cry of faith, In bitter need, will borrow ; 126 Eyes, which the preacher could not school, By wayside graves are raised, And lips say, "God be pitiful," Who ne'er said, " God be praised." Be pitiful, God ! ii. The tempest stretches from the steep The shadow of its coming, The beasts grow tame and near us creep, As help were in the human ; Yet, while the cloud-wheels roll and grind, We spirits tremble under The hills have echoes, but we find No answer for the thunder. Be pitiful, God ! in. The battle hurtles on the plains, Earth feels new scythes upon her : We reap our brothers for the wains, And call the harvest honour : Draw face to face, front line to line, One image all inherit, Then kill, curse on, by that same sign, Clay clay, and spirit spirit. Be pitiful, God ! IV. The plague runs festering through the town, And never a bell is tolling, And corpses, jostled 'neath the moon, Nod to the dead-cart's rolling ; The young child calleth for the cup, The strong man brings it weeping ; The mother from her babe looks up And shrieks away its sleeping ! Be pitiful, God ! 23arrett 23rofonmg. 18091861. 127 v. The plague of gold strikes far and near, And deep and strong it enters ; This purple chimar which we wear, Makes madder than the centaur's ; Our thoughts grow blank, our words grow strange, We cheer the pale gold-diggers, Each soul is worth so much on 'Change, And marked, like sheep, with figures. Be pitiful, God ! VI. The curse of gold upon the land The lack of bread enforces ; The rail-cars snort from strand to strand, Like none of Death's white horses ; The rich preach "rights " and "future days," And hear no angel scoffing, The poor die mute, with starving gaze On corn-ships in the offing. Be pitiful, God ! VII. We meet together at the feast, To private mirth betake us ; We stare down in the winecup, lest Some vacant chair should shake us ; We name delight, and pledge it round " It shall be ours to-morrow ! " God's seraphs, do your voices sound As sad, in naming sorrow ? Be pitiful, God ! VIII. We sit together, with the skies, The steadfast skies, above us, We look into each other's eyes, " And how long will you love us ? " 128 Drapers. The eyes grow dim with prophecy, The voices, low and breathless, " Till death us part ! " words, to be Our lest, for love the deathless. Be pitiful, God ! IX. We tremble by the harmless bed Of one loved and departed ; Our tears drop on the lips that said Last night "Be stronger-hearted ! " O God, to clasp those fingers close, And yet to feel so lonely ! To see a light upon such brows, Which is the day -light only ! Be pitiful, God ! x. The happy children come to us, And look up in our faces ; They ask us : " Was it thus, and thus, When we were in their places ? " We cannot speak ; we see anew The hills we used to live in, And feel our mother's smile pass through The kisses she is giving. Be pitiful, God ! XI. We pray together at the kirk For mercy, mercy solely ; Hands weary with the evil work, We lift them to the Holy. The corpse is calm below our knee, Its spirit, bright before Thee Between them, worse than either, we Without the rest or glory. Be pitiful, God ! Br. ^omas painters. 1816. 129 XII. We leave the communing of men, The murmur of the passions, And live alone, to live again, With endless generations ; Are we so brave ? The sea and sky In silence lift their mirrors, And, glassed therein, our spirits high Eecoil from their own terrors. Be pitiful, God ! XIII. We sit on hills our childhood wist, Woods, hamlets, streams beholding : The sun strikes through the farthest mist, The city's spire to golden ; The city's golden spire it was, When hope and health were strongest, But now it is the churchyard grass We look upon the longest. Be pitiful, God ! XIV. And soon all vision waketh dull ; Men whisper, " He is dying ; " We cry no more " Be pitiful ! " We have no strength for crying ; No strength, no need. Then, soul of mine, Look up and triumph rather Lo, in the depth of God's Divine, The Son adjures the Father. BE PITIFUL, GOD ! LXX. $rajKt of 29r. 1816. [In a letter to his intimate friend, Mr. Thomas Smith (January, 1816) Dr. Chalmers wrote : " I shall not take up the remainder of my time wit, any topic of observation whatever, but recollecting that Dr. Samuel K 130 Johnson often wrote his prayers, and found this a more powerfully devo- tional exercise than if he had said them, I entreat my dear friend's indulgence if I do the same at present ; and as a blessing on that tender intimacy to which God, who turneth the heart of man whithersoever He will, has turned our hearts, is the great burden of my present aspiration to Heaven, I send it to you that you may, if you approve, join in it, and that the promise may be realised in us, that if two shall agree, touching anything they shall ask it shall be done unto them." " Dr. Hanna's Memoirs of Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D."] God, do Thou look propitiously on our friend- ship. Do Thou purify it from all that is base, and sordid, and earthly. May it be altogether sub- ordinated to the love of Thee. May it be the instrument of great good to each of our souls. May it sweeten the path of our worldly pilgrimage ; and after death has divided us for a season, may it find its final blessedness and consummation at the right hand of Thine everlasting throne. We place ourselves before Thee as the children of error. grant that in Thy light we may clearly see light ; for this purpose let our eye be single. Let our intention to please Thee in all things be honest. With the childlike purpose of being altogether what Thou wouldst have us to be, may we place ourselves before Thy Bible, that we may draw our every lesson, and our every comfort out of it. that Thy spirit may preside over our daily reading of Thy word, and that the word of our blessed Saviour may dwell in us richly in all wisdom. 29r, palmers. 1832. 131 save us from the deceitfulness of this world. Forbid that any one of its pleasures should sway us aside from the path of entire devotedness to Thee. Give us to be vigilant, and cautious, and fearful. May we think of Thine eye as at all times upon us; and may the thought make us to tremble at the slightest departure from that narrow way of sanctification which leads to the house of our Father who is in Heaven. "We desire to honour the Son even as we honour the Father. We act in the presumption of our hearts when we think of placing ourselves before Thee in our own righteousness. Draw us to Christ. Make Him all our desire and all our salvation. Give remission of sins out of His blood. Give strength out of His fulness ; and, crowned with all might, may we not only be fellow-helpers to each other, but may the work of turning sons and daughters unto righteousness, prosper in our hands. All we ask is for the sake of Thy Son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. LXXL another ^rager bg 13t. fcalmer*. On t|)c National jFa<5t Sag, 22nD Jfffcruarg, 1832, appointed for $ragcr against UK approach of (fljolcra. Do Thou, Lord, ward off from us the further inroads of that desolating plague, which, in its mysterious progress over the face of the earth, has made such fearful ravages among the families of other lands. Hitherto, God, hast Thou dealt mildly and mercifully with the city of our own habitation. Do Thou pour out the spirit of grace and supplication upon its inhabitants, and spare them, if it be Thy blessed will, the inflictions of that wrath which is so rightfully due to a careless and ungodly generation. We pray, Lord, in a more especial manner, for those patriotic men whose duty calls them to a personal encounter with this calamity, and who, braving all the hazards of infection, may be said to stand between the living and the dead. Save them from the attacks of disease ; save them from the obloquies of misconception and prejudice ; and may they have the blessings and acknowledgments of a grateful community to encourage them in their labours. Above all, we pray, God, that the infidelity which places all its reliance on secondary causes, may never sway either the councils of this city or the councils of this nation.* May there at all times be the public recognition of a God in the midst of us. And let not the defiance or levity of irreligious men ever * In the House of Commons the recognition of God's hand in the pestilence had been denounced by one member as " cant, hypocrisy, and humbug." 1821. 133 tempt us to forget that mighty, unseen Being, who has all the forces of nature at His command who sits behind the elements that He has formed, and gives birth and movement and continuance to all things. Quoted in Hanna's " Memoirs of Chalmers," vol. ii., p. 249. LXXIL Ehc 5torg of a ^rager for Horl) a&gron. 1821. John Sheppard, of Frome, in Somerset, the friend of John Foster, and the author of " Thoughts at Seventy-nine," " Thoughts on Private Devotion," &c., wrote to Lord Byron thus : "Frome, Somerset, November 21st, 1821. " To the Eight Hon. Lord Byron, Pisa. " MY LORD, More than two years since, a lovely and beloved wife was taken from me by a lingering disease, after a very short union. She possessed unvarying gentleness and fortitude, and a piety so retiring as rarely to disclose itself in words ; but so influential as to produce uniform benevolence of conduct. In the last hour of life, after a farewell look on a lately born and only infant, for whom she had evinced inex- pressible affection, her last whispers were, " God's happiness i God's happiness ! ' Since the second anniversary of her decease, I have read some papers which no one had seen during her life, and which contained her most secret thoughts. I am induced to communicate to your lordship a passage from these papers, which, there is no doubt, refers to yourself, as* I have more than once heard the writer mention your agility on the rocks at Hastings. i34 Drapers. " ' 0, my God, I take encouragement from the assurance of Thy word, to pray to Thee in behalf of one for whom I have been lately much interested. May the person to whom I allude (and who is now, we fear, as much distinguished for his neglect of Thee, as for the transcendent talents Thou hast bestowed on him) be awakened to a sense of his own danger, and led to seek that peace of mind, in a proper sense of reli- gion, which he has found this world's enjoyments unable to procure. Do Thou grant that his future example may be productive of far more extensive benefit, than his past con- duct and writings have been of evil. And may the Sun of Righteousness, which we trust will, at some future period, arise upon him, be bright in proportion to the darkness of those clouds which guilt has raised, and soothing in propor- tion to the keenness of that agony which the punishment of his vices has inflicted on him. May the hope that the sincerity of my own efforts for the attainment of holiness, and the approval of my own love to the great Author of religion, render this prayer, and every other for the welfare of mankind, more efficacious, and cheer me in the path of duty. But let me not forget that, while we are permitted to animate our- selves to exertion by every innocent motive, these are but the lesser streams which may serve to increase the current, but which, deprived of the great Fountain of Good (a deep convic- tion of inborn sin, and firm belief in the efficacy of Christ's death for the salvation of those who trust in Him, and really seek to serve him), would soon dry up and leave us as barren of every virtue as before. " ' Hastings, July 31st, 18 14.' " There is nothing, my lord, in this extract, which, in a literary sense, can at all interest you. But it may, perhaps, appear to you worthy of reflection, how deep and expansive a concern for the happiness of others, a Christian faith can Jtflrs. 3Nw ^fjeppartJ. 1821. 135 awaken in the midst of youth and prosperity. Here is nothing poetical and splendid, as in the expostulatory homage of M. de Lamartine ; but here is the ' sublime,' my lord, for this intercession was offered on your account to the Supreme Source of happiness. It sprang from a faith more confirmed than that of the French poet : and from a charity which, in combination with faith, showed itself unimpaired amidst the languor and pains of approaching dissolution. I will hope that a prayer which, I am sure, was deeply sincere, may not be always unavailing. " It would add nothing, my lord, to the fame with which your genius has surrounded you, for an unknown and obscure individual to express his admiration of it. I would rather be numbered with those who wish and pray that wisdom from above, and peace, and joy, may enter such a mind." To this communication, Lord Byron sent the following reply : "Pisa, December 8th, 1821. " SIR, I have received your letter. I need not say that the extract which it contains has affected me, because it would imply a want of all feeling to have read it with indifference. Though I am not quite sure that it was intended by the writer for me, yet the date, the place where it was written, with some other circumstances which you mention, render the allusion probable. But, for whomsoever it was meant, I have read it with all the pleasure which can arise from so melan- choly a topic. I say pleasure, because your brief and simple picture of the life and demeanour of this excellent person, whom I trust that you will again meet, cannot be contem- plated without the admiration due to her virtues, and her pure and unpretending piety. Her last moments were particularly striking ; and I do not know that, in the course of reading the story of mankind, and still less in my observations upon the existing portion, I ever met with anything so unostentatiously beautiful. Indisputably, the firm believers in the gospel have a great advantage over all others : for this simple reason that, if true, they have their reward hereafter ; and if there be no hereafter, they can be but with the infidel in his eternal sleep, having had the assistance of an exalted hope through life, without subsequent disappointment, since (at the worst of them) out of nothing nothing can arise ; not even sorrow. . . . "But my business is to acknowledge your letter and not to make a dissertation. I am obliged to you for your good wishes ; and more obliged by the extract from the papers of the beloved object whose qualities you so well described in a few words. I can assure you that all the fame which ever cheated humanity into higher notions of its own importance, would never weigh on my mind against the pure and pious interest which a virtuous being may be pleased to take in my welfare. In this point of view, I would not ex- change the prayer of the deceased in my behalf, for the united glory of Homer, Caesar, and Napoleon, could they be accumu- lated upon a living head. Do me the justice to suppose that ' video meliora proboque ' however the ' deteriora sequor ' * may have been applied to my conduct. I have the honour to be, your obedient servant, "BYRON." Contributed by Rev. WM. DORLING to "Sunday Magazine," 1879. LXXIIL ft ^rager ty JWattljefe &rnolD. 18221888. STAGIRIUS. [Stagirius was a young monk to whom St. Chrysostom addressed three books, and of whom those books give an account. They will be found in the first volume of the Benedictine Edition of St. Chrysostom' a Works.] * " Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor " = " I see and approve the better things, I follow the worse." ED.] gtrnofo. 18221888. 137 Thou, who dost dwell alone Thou, who dost know thine own Thou, to whom all are known From the cradle to the grave Save, oh ! save From the world's temptations, From tribulations, From that fierce anguish Wherein we languish, From that torpor deep Wherein we lie asleep Heavy as death, cold as the grave, Save, oh ! save. When the soul growing clearer Sees God no nearer ; When the soul, mounting higher, To God comes no nigher, But the arch-fiend Pride Mounts at her side, Foiling her high emprise, Sealing her eagle eyes, And, when she fain would soar, Makes idols to adore, Changing the pure emotion Of her high devotion, To a skin-deep sense Of her own eloquence ; Strong to deceive, strong to enslave Save, oh ! save. From the ingrain'd fashion Of this earthly nature That mars thy creature : 138 From grief that is but passion, From mirth that is but feigning, From tears that bring no healing, From wild and weak complaining Thine old strength revealing, Save, oh ! save. From doubt, where all is double, Where wise men are not strong ; Where comfort turns to trouble, Where just men suffer wrong ; Where sorrow treads on joy, Where sweet things soonest cloy; Where faiths are built on dust, Where love is half mistrust, Hungry, and barren, and sharp as the sea Oh ! set us free. O let the false dream fly Where our sick souls do lie, Tossing continually ! O where Thy voice doth come Let all doubts be dumb, Let all words be mild, All strifes be reconciled. All pains beguiled ! Light bring no blindness, Love no unkindness, Knowledge no ruin, Fear no undoing, From the cradle to the grave, Save, oh ! save. From "Early Poems." By Matthew Arnold. Macmillan & Co. 1895. g. 1825. 139 LXXIV. a ?!?smn of ^raget. Eg SJo&n HJoforing. 1825. From the recesses of a lowly spirit Our humble prayer ascends ; Father, hear it ! Upsoaring on the wings of awe and meekness, Forgive its weakness ! I know, I feel, how mean and how unworthy The trembling sacrifice I pour before Thee ; What can I offer in Thy presence holy, But sin and folly ? For in Thy sight who every bosom viewest Cold are our warmest vows, and vain our truest : Thoughts of a hurrying hour ; our lips repeat them, Our hearts forget them. We see Thy hand it leads us, it supports us ; We hear Thy voice it counsels and it courts us; And then we turn away ; and still Thy kindness Forgives our blindness. And still Thy rain descends, Thy sun is glowing, Fruits ripen round, flowers are beneath us blowing, And, as if man were some deserving creature, Joys cover nature. Oh, how long-suffering, Lord ! but Thou delightest To win with love the wandering ; Thou invitest, By smiles of mercy, not by frowns or terrors, Man from his errors. Who can resist Thy gentle call, appealing To every generous thought and grateful feeling ? That voice paternal whispering, watching ever, My bosom ? never. 140 Father and Saviour ! plant within each bosom The seeds of holiness, and bid them blossom In fragrance and in beauty bright and vernal, And spring eternal. Then place them in those everlasting gardens, Where angels walk and seraphs are the wardens, Where every flower that creeps through death's dark portal Becomes immortal. LXXV. " & rg from tyt IBcptI)*." ftg &t>olpi)* 1826. [In 1826, Adolphe Monod became the first pastor of a French colony in Naples, and " it was when he was called for the first time to fulfil the serious duty of instructing men in religious truth, that he was startled to discover how inadequate were his own convictions. He then passed through the great crisis of his spiritual life. . . . He found God after an agonizing spiritual conflict . . . passing like Pascal, through one of those soul vigils, one of those wrestlings all the night, which leave the com- batant, to use Monod' a own words, vainqueur, mais tout meurtri ; tout meurtri, mais vainqueur. ' ' Can we not catch an echo of the bitterness of soul through which he himself had passed in this concluding passage from his first sermon ? " E. de Pressense, D.D., " Contemporary Portraits," p. 163.] God ! who humblest only that Thou mayest lift up, who troublest only to calm, who dost shake only to stablish and settle, we bow to the sentence which condemns us. We accept it with penitence and tears. Hide nothing from us of our misery. Shed abroad in our souls Thy pure and searching light, that we may see ourselves as we truly are ! And at such a sight let there rise at once from this ifoginatti f^tbcr. 1826. 141 whole congregation, a cry of surprise and anguish which shall rend the atmosphere of indifference around us, which shall reach Thy ear and move Thy fatherly compassion towards us, so that, re- nouncing henceforward all our self-esteem, humbled with a deep humility, believing with a simple faith, we may yield ourselves unreservedly to Thy love, to be raised out of the depth of our misery by the depth of Thy mercy. Amen. LXXVL 33te|)op fteginafo ^cbcr's Draper for onfacrsion. Sltrttten in J)te fcoofe of ^ri&ate Scbotiows, ,#larcl) 28, 1826, fibc fcagd before fcte Sufcticn Dcati). my Father, my Master, my Saviour and my King, unworthy and wicked as I am, reject me not as a polluted vessel, but so quicken me by Thy Spirit from the death of sin that I may walk in newness of life before Thee. Convert me first, Lord, that I may be the means, in Thy hand, of strengthening my brethren. Convert me, that I may be blessed to the conversion of many ! Yea, convert me, Jesus, for mine own sins' sake and the greatness of my undeserving before Thee, that I, who need Thy help most, may find it in most abundance. Lord, I believe, help Thou my un- belief ! Lord, I repent, help Thou my impenitence ! Turn Thou me, Lord, and so I shall be turned. 142 Be favourable unto me, and I shall live. And let what remaineth of my life be spent in Thy service, Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. Amen. LXXVIL $ragcr*from t&* Utarg of fyt &e of j&t. ^etcrjsiurg, on ti)c dossing of an to ear anfc tije opening of a jfiefo Hear. 18281829. December 31, 1828. my God and Father, all things concur to increase my debt of gratitude ! By Thy grace I am what I am. Thy bounty feeds and clothes me, and every good and perfect gift cometh down from Thee. I feel, Lord, that in everything I am deficient. I end the year lamenting over my cold and selfish heart, yet adoring Thy rich, free, and sovereign love. Hallelujah ! January 1, 1829. New Year's Day. The good- ness of God to me is very great. Few among the human race have so much reason for gratitude. Lord, have mercy upon me, and help me to honour Thee ! Let my services be acceptable in Thy sight, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Make this year peculiarly useful in the conversion of sinners ; the increase of piety among true believers ; the zeal of the Church ; the circulation of the Holy principal Jportos. 1830. 143 Scriptures and other good books, and the prosperity of all things connected with Thy cause. Oh ! prosper the work of our hands upon us the work of our hands, Lord, prosper Thou it ! " " Life of Richard Knill." By Charles M. Birrell. Page 149. LXXVIIL prager of principal dForbes, of t. &nl>reto'S. Citdttcn in bis journal on completing \)i$ ttocntn=first gear. 1830. . . . Make every branch of study which I may pursue strengthen my confidence in Thy overruling providence, that, undeceived by views of false philosophy, I may ever in singleness of heart elevate my mind from Thy works unto Thy divine essence. Keep from me a vain and overbearing spirit ; let me ever have a thorough sense of my own ignorance and weakness, and keep me through all the troubles and trials of a transitory state, in body and soul, unto everlasting life, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. LXXIX. another ^rager of principal dporbes, on ft* return borne after a protracted periot) of sickness ant) Sorrofo, SEPTEMBER, 1854. God, who hast visited us with many trials and led us, like the Israelites of old, from place to place 144 without any certain abode, bless, we beseech Thee, our return home, and mercifully grant that the amictions and anxieties of that long probation may bear fruit in a more self-denying and godly life, and that we may have our hearts fixed on a yet more abiding resting-place, eternal in the heavens, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. LXXX. & iorning JFamtlg ^ragcr, tig tfjc #e 33.39., of ^ingtiurg frapd, Sonton. 1834. [" Fletcher's Prayers "* were once familiar in innumerable households throughout the country. They were contained in a portly volume, giving (1) The text of the selected portion of Scripture to be read, (2) " Reflections" on the same, (3) the Family Prayer. This was, in almost every instance, based upon the Scripture lesson read. We give a fair average specimen, the Reading being Gen. xxxii., Jacob at Peniel. Fletcher called his " Guide to Family Devotion " " My Legacy to my Country and the Church of Christ."] Lord, who art the God of all grace and of all comfort, we would earnestly supplicate thy Spirit as a spirit of prayer at this time, that our hearts as well as our lips may be engaged in acts of holy devotion. Thou art the Almighty Jehovah, and Thou dost mercifully exercise Thy power in preserving Thy people amid the dangers which assail them in their journey to their Father's house, while passing * " A Guide to Family Devotion," by the Rev. Alex. Fletcher. George Virtue, 26, Ivy Lane. 1834. Jfktrfjcr, D.D. 1834. 145 through the vale of tears. Great was the danger to which Jacob, his family, and his property were exposed when his brother, burning with rage and revenge, came with four hundred men to destroy him. Thou didst avert the brother's rage, Thou didst change the storm into a calm. At Thy com- mand, fraternal affection was enkindled in the bosom where malignant and resentful passion long reigned. Lord, Thou savest by Thy right hand them who put their trust in Thee. Thou gavest to Thy servant the shield of Thy Salvation ; Thy right hand did hold him up, and Thy gentleness did make him great. For our multiplied and aggravated offences we deserve the severest chastisement and the heaviest judgments. In the midst of deserved wrath, remember us with undeserved mercies. Thou delightest in mercy, and may we delight to seek mercy from Him who delights to bestow it. Sanctify to us the afflictions and trials of the past. May we see not only Thy justice but Thy wisdom and goodness in all that has befallen us. Jacob saw Thy goodness in all he suffered ; O give us Jacob's faith, then shall we glorify Thee in the furnace and acknowledge that in mercy Thou hast afflicted us. Prepare us for the afflictions that are to come. Suffer us not to imagine that we are to L 146 papers. escape them in the path of duty. Let the words of our Saviour ever be preserved alive in our remem- brance, " Through much tribulation ye must enter the Kingdom." Blessed Jesus, give us Thy presence, counsel, and protection on our way to the Heavenly Canaan. As an host of angels met and defended Jacob, give Thine angels charge over us, to hold us up in their hands. Holy Spirit, impart Thy grace in the hour of temptation. When temptations are strong let faith be strong. The more the tempter strives, the more may we wrestle in prayer. teach the dear children to wrestle with God in prayer betimes, then they shall be preserved from ten thousand snares. All their days may they resemble wrestling Jacob. We thank our God for the providential care of the last night, and that we are now prostrated before the throne of God, to supplicate the salvation which is in Christ. Lord save us : save us else we perish. Let Thy grace appear this day in our lives and conversation. Teach us to watch over ourselves, to watch as under Thine eye, and to watch as those who must give an account. In our worldly employ- ments and in all we do, let a rich savour of un- feigned piety be constantly manifest. May it be evident that we have been with Jesus. tft&ornton, Jtt.^p. 1840. 147 Forgive our sins and hear our imperfect prayers for a Saviour's sake. Amen. LXXXL a Tamils Corning ^rager, fcg ?*nrg E&ornton, ^&.p. (t&e jFrtcnD of ZiliUiam for use in Iris olini fnmilij. Almighty and Eternal God, our. Creator and Pre- server, and continual Benefactor, we desire to begin this day with the acknowledgment of Thy power and goodness, and of our obligation to love and serve Thee ; and we beseech Thee to grant us grace to pass the whole of it in Thy fear, and in the ful- filment of Thy commandments. Thou hast appointed to each of us our work in life. Lord enable us diligently to perform our respective duties. Grant that we may not waste our time in unprofitableness or idleness; or be unfaithful to any trust committed to us, or put on the mere appearance of goodness, or endeavour in any respect to deceive those around us, but may we remember that Thine eye is upon us ; and may we have the testimony of our consciences that, in sim- plicity and godly sincerity, we may have our con- versation in the world. May truth be ever on our lips. May we be examples of all integrity and up- rightness. Help us also to perform a kind and 148 Drapers. Christian part towards those who may come under our influence. May we labour to do them service ; and may we continually deny ourselves that we may the more effectually and abundantly minister to the various wants of others. May we rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep, and be kindly affection ed one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another. We also beseech Thee to give us patience to bear the several trials and vicissitudes of life, with an equal and contented mind. Grant that we may not be perplexed with the cares of this world, or overwhelmed with unnecessary fears, but may we ever trust Thy gracious providence, and hope in Thy goodness and mercy. Give to us, when we are in prosperity, a spirit of moderation and sobriety. Save us from pride and from self-indulgence. Deliver us from the love of earthly things, and teach us to remember that it is Thou who givest us all things richly to enjoy. Bless unto us the afflictive circumstances through which we may pass. May we see Thine hand in all Thy various dispensations, and adore Thee for the several events of Thy providence, knowing that, if we truly love and serve Thee, all things will work together for our good u ^fjornton, JW.^. 1840. 149 "We commend to Thy fatherly care our friends and relations. Direct, Lord, their steps in life and enrich them with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Vouchsafe unto them the pardon of their sins and the glorious hope of eternal life. We pray for the rising generation. May they remember their Creator in the days of their youth, and find Thee to be their refuge in all the scenes through which they pass. Have mercy on all who are in any sorrow or trouble. Do Thou provide for them through the riches of Thy grace and send special help in their hour of need. Be favourable to this nation. Bless the Queen and all her Eoyal Family. Direct her counsellors. [Give wisdom to the Houses of Parliament.] Inspire the magistrates with integrity ; and the clergy with the spirit of true religion. Deliver us from the hands of our enemies and give us peace among ourselves. We offer up these our imperfect prayers in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. From "Family Prayers." By the late Henry Thornton, Esq., M.P. 31st edition. Thomas Hatchard. 1854. 150 LXXXIL & $rager. 82 Same* &u$$ell Sofoell. 1841. God ! do not let my loved one die, But rather wait until the time That I am grown in purity Enough to enter Thy pure clime. Then take me, I will gladly go So that my love remain below. Oh ! let her stay ! She is by birth What I through death must learn to be : We need her more on our poor earth Than Thou canst need in Heaven with Thee. She hath her wings already, I Must burst this earth-shell ere I fly. Then, God, take me ! We shall be near, More near than ever, each to each : Her angel ears will find more clear My Heavenly than my earthly speech. And still, as I draw nigh to Thee, Her soul and mine shall closer be. LXXXIH. & $ragcr of Uje &bfce SacorDaire, fo&en, at tfje commencement of J)is j&tation* of 1846, " on tfje morroto of ti)e fiercest of all &is struggle's in tfje cause of libertg," IK announced Ins intention of speaking on UK familiar tlife of $esu$ &ri*t. 1846. Lord Jesus, during the ten years that I have been preaching to this audience, Thou wert ever at the bottom of my discourses ; but to-day, at last, * This word has a peculiar meaning in France. It is used to designate a series of sermons given annually by the same preacher, from the first Sunday in Advent until the Epiphany ; and from the first Sunday of Lent until Low Sunday. These two periods are called Stations. ?a OToofe. 1849. 151 I come more directly to Thyself, to that Divine Face which is daily the object of my contemplation ; to those Sacred Feet which I have so often kissed ; to those loving Hands which have so often blessed me ; to that Life whose fragrance I have inhaled from my cradle, which my boyhood denied, which my youth again learned to love, and which my manhood adores and preaches to every creature. Father ! Master ! Lover ! Jesus ! help me more than ever, since, being nearer to Thee, my audience must feel it, and I must draw from my heart accents indicative of thy admirable proximity. From " Memoir of the Abbe Lacordaire." By the Count de Monta- lembert. LXXXIV. SEbening Draper for tfje j&icfe anD jfcorrotoful. ooft. 1849. Let me ask Thee, ere I sleep, To remember those who weep, Those who moan with some wild sorrow, That shall dread to meet the morrow ; Let me ask Thee to abide At the fainting sick one's side, Where the plaints of anguish rise In smother'd groans and weary sighs ; Give them strength to brook and bear Trial pain, and trial care ; Let them see Thy saving light ; Be Thou " Watchman of their night ! " LXXXV. $rager of {* tto&crt $eel. Jpounti tn tf>e pri= bate Drafoer of Jig Urging cage, after \}i& gutJfcen beat!), 2, 1850. Great and Merciful God, ruler of all nations, help me daily to repair to Thee for wisdom and grace suitable to the high office whereto Thy provi- dence has called me. Strengthen, Lord, my natural powers and faculties, that the weighty and solemn interests with which Thy servant is charged may not greatly suffer through weakness of body and confusion of mind. Deign, I beseech Thee, to obviate or correct the ill-effects of such omissions or mistakes in my proceedings as may result from partial knowledge, infirmity of judgment, or unfaith- fulness in any with whom I may have to do. Let Thy blessing rest upon my Sovereign and my country. Dispose the hearts of all in high stations to adopt such measures as will preserve public order, foster industry, and alleviate distress. May true religion nourish, and peace be universal. Grant that, so far as may consist with human weak- ness, whatever is proposed by myself or others for the general good may be viewed with candour, and that all new and useful measures may be conducted to a prosperous issue. As for me, Thy servant, grant, Merciful God, that I may not be so engrossed with public anxieties as that Thy word Sett f^enrg Hatormce. 1852. 153 should become unfruitful in me, or be so moved by difficulty or opposition as not to pursue the narrow way which leadeth me to life. And, most gracious Father, if, notwithstanding my present desires and purposes, I should forget Thee, do not Thou forget me, seeing that I entreat Thy constant remembrance and favour only for the sake of our most blessed Advocate and Eedeemer Jesus Christ, to whom with Thee and the Holy Spirit be glory for ever. Amen. LXXXVI. ^rager of &tr l^nra Saforence " <&ne fo&o tvtrti to tio Ins. Duty." JiXvittcu in Iris -J)ouvnnl amt& tljc fcu*tle of a&mtnigtratibe foorfe, 2 October, 1852. Lord, give me grace and strength to do Thy will, to begin the day and to end it with prayer and searching of my own heart, and with reading of Thy Word. Make me to understand it, to under- stand Thee ; to bring home to my heart the reality of Thy perfect Godhead and perfect humanity, and, above all, of my entire need of a Saviour ; of my utter inability to do aught that is right in my own strength ; make me humble, reasonable, contented, thankful, just, and considerate. Eestrain my tongue and my thoughts ; may I act as ever in Thy sight, as if I may die this day. May I not fear man nor man's opinions, but remember that Thou knowest 154 f tapers. my motives and my thoughts, and that Thou wilt be my Judge. It is not in me to be regular ; let me be so as much as I can. Let me do to-day's work to- day, not postponing, clear up and finish daily ; so living in humility, thankfulness, and contentment. LXXXVIL ^ ^Wormng ^rager. 13g t&e JEUb. . ft. 9.19. 1853. [Dr. Pusey wrote many prayers for the private use of some members of his flock in whose spiritual history he was much interested. The following is a portion of one such prayer.] Eternal God, Author of my being, Fountain of all love, trusting in Thy love, I, a poor worm and miserable sinner, come before Thee to speak to Thee, to ask for Thy love. Thou knowest all I would ask Thee if I dared; Thou knowest how I would love Thee, if I could ; Thou knowest all I would hope of Thee, if mine own unworthiness did not keep me back. Yet Thou givest me the longing, Thou wilt give what I long for, even Thyself. Thou preparest the heart prepare my heart, Loving God, that I may long for Thee more, adore Thee more humbly, ask at least with all the desires of my heart, all which Thou art ready to give me, if I love Thee. Make me to love Thee through all Thy love for me, through Thine own love in me. God, my God ! I praise Thee and thank Thee .B. 1853. 155 from my inmost heart that in all eternity Thou didst think of me and didst love me with Thine infinite love ; that out of pure love for me Thou willedst to make me that I might love Thee and be loved by Thee, and be happy in Thy love. Thou willedst in all eternity to redeem me with the Precious Blood of Thine Only Co-equal Son ; Thou willedst to unite me in Him to Thyself; Thou willedst that He should become man that we might, through Him, be one with Thee. This Thou willedst for me, too, my God, and for this Thou didst wait for me when I looked not for Thee. Thou rememberedst me when I forgot Thee ; Thou didst make me Thy child ; Thou didst give me Thy graces ; Thou didst speak to my heart ; by all the yearnings of my heart Thou didst draw me unto Thee ; if I did not hear Thee, Thou didst not weary, but didst anew call me, and Thou hast conquered and hast made me Thine. then let my soul melt for love of Thee; let it melt through Thy love, into thy love, that in love I may adore Thee, in love serve Thee, in love thank Thee, in and with Thy love, love Thee everlastingly. For these and all Thy blessings bestowed on me, Thy poor sinner, upon Thy whole Church, upon every member of Thy Church, and especially upon all whom Thou hast ever given me to love, or to be i 56 loved by me, for all the benefits of nature, provi- dence, grace, up to this hour. ... I give Thee most humble and hearty thanks in union with the thanks- givings of my Lord Jesus Christ, and of His whole Church in Heaven and in earth. Enlarge Thou my heart that I may love Thee more and more ; kindle my soul that I may praise Thee ; order my thoughts, words, and deeds that, within and without, I may be wholly Thine, wholly serve Thee, wholly praise and glorify Thee with all Thine Angels and Saints for ever and ever. . . . And now, God, I do desire this day most earnestly to please Thee ; to do Thy will in each several thing which Thou shalt give me to do ; to bear each thing which Thou shalt allow to befall me contrary to my will, meekly, humbly, patiently, persistently, as a precious gift from Thee to subdue self-will in me ; and to make my will wholly Thine. What I do make me do simply as Thy child ; let me be throughout the day as a child in his [her] loving Father's presence, ever looking up to Thee. If I joy, joying before Thee ; if I sorrow, sorrowing unto Thee ; if I work, working for Thee ; if I rest, resting in Thee. May I breathe, think, speak, act, in Thy love. May I love Thee for all Thy love. May I thank Thee, if not in words yet in my heart, for each single gift of Thy Heb. <. 33. fusee, B.B. 1853. 157 love, for each refreshment of my body, for each comfort which Thou allowest me day by day. May I do nothing without looking to Thy grace, if not actually yet in the habit of my mind. Teach me how, momentarily, to ask Thee, silently, for Thy help. If I fail, teach me at once to ask Thee to forgive me. If I do anything ever so little well, teach me at once to thank Thee and own it all Thine. If I am disquieted enable me by Thy grace quickly to turn to Thee. that with every breath I could tell Thee how I would love Thee ; that I could win others to Thy love ; that I could be perfected in Thy love; that all my acts and words were penetrated, ensouled, transfigured with Thy love. May nothing this day come between Thee and me. May nothing for one moment separate me from Thee, or hide Thee from me. May I will, do, say just what Thou, my loving and tender Father, wiliest me to will, do, say ; and may I not will, say, or do, whatever Thou, who so wisely and tenderly wiliest all things for my well-being and my salvation, wiliest me not to will, say, or do. ... Work Thy will in me and through me this day ; protect me, guide me, bless me, within and without, that I may do something this day for love of Thee, though I see it not nor know it. Lead me, good Lord, in a straight way unto Thyself, and guide me 158 by Thy grace unto the end through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Amen. LXXXVIII. & $ribate ^ragcr, bg SJo^n &f)epparti, of Jprome. Jpor agguratuc ag to not being fofjollg Destitute of .!>. 1 88 1. 189 final reckoning. Impress us deeply, Lord, with the solemnity of living, the certainty of dying, and the nearness of judgment, and grant that we may so number our days, and ponder our latter end that we may all of us apply our hearts to heavenly wisdom. Most gracious Saviour, we pray Thee earnestly to take each one of our family into Thy favour, and knit our souls to Thee by living faith and lowly love. Forbid it, Lord, that so much as a single member of this household should close this year a stranger to Thy grace. Extend Thy mercy, we beseech Thee, to all we love. Have in Thy holy keeping throughout this night our kindred and our friends ; and grant that, dwelling safely beneath Thy wing, they may enjoy, in the new year about to dawn, every earthly with every spiritual blessing. Let the troubles of each past season be forgotten in the joys that are yet to come, and let the years of time be for them, and for all of us, a fitting preparation for that everlasting day which hath no night. Be pleased, Father of Mercies, to relieve every one who closes the year in penury or danger, in dis- tress of mind, or anguish of body. Upon all the chil- dren of affliction let the new day dawn with hope and healing in its wings. Through the unknown i go changes of our future, cause us to abide under the defence of the Most High, so shall no evil happen unto us. With long life do Thou satisfy us and show us Thy salvation, so shall we dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Amen. From "Daily Prayers for the Household." By J. Oswald Dykes, D.D. Nisbet & Co., Limited. XCVTL $tag*r$ of tj)e &ebentf) isarl of D. 1885. [Lord Shaf tesbury, the great philanthropist, was a " man of prayer.' ' Throughout his exhaustive diaries there are hundreds of brief, compre- hensive, prayers bearing upon the subjects recorded for the day. He had learned to "pray without ceasing" ; prayer had become to him a natural habit of the mind ; every task he undertook was begun, con- tinued, and ended in prayer. A few specimens the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear, the upward glancing of the eye when none but God was near will indicate the nature of his inner life and the terms in which he spoke with God.] Jpor Jpactorg labourers in tfjetr struggle (1841) for 3}ugt ^Legislation. God, the God of all righteousness, mercy, and love, give us all grace and strength to conceive and execute whatever may be for Thine honour and their welfare, that we may become at last, through the merits and intercession of our common Eedeemer, a great and a happy, because a wise and understand- ing people. (Sari of &f)aftesburg, It.. 1885. 191 ikfotc an important -Spcccl) on tl;c itlincs anD Collieries fttll. 1842. [" As I stood at the table," wrote Lord Shaftesbury, " and just before I opened my mouth, the words of God came forcibly to my mind, ' Only be strong and of a good courage.' Praised be His Holy Name, I was as easy from that moment as though I had been sitting in an arm- chair."] Grant, oh blessed God, that I may not be exalted above measure, but that I may ever creep close by the ground, knowing and joy fully confessing that I am Thy servant, that without Thee I am nothing worth, and that from Thee alone cometh all counsel, wisdom, and understanding, for the sake of our most dear and only Saviour, God manifest in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ ! . . . God prosper the issue ! before a ^lotion on tlje Upturn Question. 1843. Alas what a weak faith I have ! I have never yet failed of God's aid and favour, and yet I am ever in doubt and difficulty. Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief . . . Oh, God, be Thou with me in the hour of trial ; speak to me the words that Thou spakest to Thy servant Joshua, and touch my lips, like Isaiah's, with fire of the altar but take to Thyself all the glory, blessed Lord in Jesus Christ our Eedeemer. 1 92 n fritting Jparefodl to &aggct) j&cfrool ISogs (Emigrating to 1848. [" . . . Gave a tea party to take leave of our 'ragged ' emigrants to Australia, ragged no longer, thank God ! ... It was a deeply religious meeting, and a feeling of piety and gratitude pervaded us all."] And now, here as then, I commit them, oh Lord ! to the word of Thy grace prosper the work ! bear them safely, happily, joyously, to their journey's end ! Watch over them in body and in soul : make them Thy servants in this life and Thy saints in the next, in the mediation and everlasting love of Christ, our only Saviour and Eedeemer ! Jfor Abolition of UK laf>* Crate. 1852. [November 18th, 1852. "An anti-abolition party has triumphed, and has elected a kindred President in the United States . . . May not the extremity of the bondage be, as in the case of the Israelites, the moment of deliverance?"] Oh, Lord, hear our prayer ; Christ Jesus hear our prayer, and maintain thine own word of mercy, truth and peace ! Have pity on our ignorance and infirmity, and make us to understand why it is that such special and singular horrors, in every form of physical and moral sin, are thus long permitted. at tj) utfcreafe of tje InDian fitting. 1857. August 29, 1857. Number and variety of things to be prayed for : That He will quell the mutiny . 1885. i 93 and give us a speedy victory ; that He will make this outbreak the commencement of a new order of things; of a wiser and more vigorous govern- ment ; of justice and judgment ; of greater know- ledge and greater zeal for man's real good ; of fresh openings for the advance of the gospel ; of enlarged missionary operations ; of increased opportunity to promote and invite the Second Advent. That He will protect, shelter, and deliver from their unspeakably ferocious enemies, the helpless women and children outraged, tortured, murdered, by the incarnate fiends of Hindostan. That He will abate the sufferings of our troops already in the field, supply their wants, give them repose, sustain their courage; that He will hide, in the hollow of His hand, those now going out to India, and console the wives, the mothers, the children that are left behind in sorrow and anxiety. XCVIIL General $ragcr for public mot&iy. Eg $o&n B.B., #*tnteter of ^gnDlanU lEstafclte&cli ), lasgoto. 1885. [It was the custom of Dr. Service to write his prayers with great care and thought, endeavouring to express the spiritual aspirations of the whole congregation. In their delivery he did not confine himself to any one of his written prayers, but selected portions from various prayers according to the necessities and requirements of the occasion.] 1 94 Drapers. Almighty God, whom no man hath seen, but who art everywhere present, and, in this sinful world, present always, to bless and save; to Thee shall all flesh come. Thou givest us rest this day from common work and toil ; from our ordinary occupa- tions and week-day cares, and we desire to come unto Thee as children unto a father, that we may enjoy here, in Thy house, a higher and fuller sense of Thy presence and grace than is common in our common lives. The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth ; He will also hear their cry and will save them. We are sure that Thou wilt hear us ; sure, also, that what is best for us Thou wilt freely give us. Grant, Lord, that we may desire, above all, not Thy gifts, but Thyself, and may seek Thy face, with all our hearts. Father, who hast made the world beautiful, and hast given us faculties and powers to enjoy its beauty, we know that Thou art Thyself more to be desired than all Thy works. None of them, nor all of them, satisfy us or fill up the measure of our desires and hopes. In the enjoyment of them, and much more in the midst of changes which affect them, we are filled with a sense of vanity, and disappoint- ment, and unrest. Thou alone, infinite and eternal Eighteousness and Love, art our portion and in- J&. 1885. 195 heritance. To Thee shall all flesh come. Thou that hast breathed a spirit into man, and hast given us understanding and knowledge, in Thee, and in Thee alone, can we find rest for our souls. O satisfy us early with Thy mercy, and show us Thy salvation. There is forgiveness with Thee, Lord, that Thou mayest be feared, and plenteousness of mercy that Thou mayest be sought unto. We come to Thee and seek Thy face that our sins, which are many, may be forgiven us, and that even as sin hath abounded in us, grace may much more abound. O Thou who preventeth us with the blessings of goodness, and extendest Thy mercy when it is not welcomed or desired, who art kind even to the evil and unthankful, we do not need to entreat Thee to pardon us, but, we beseech Thee, enable us by Thy grace truly to repent of our sins, so that Thy pardon may cleanse, and Thy redemption save us. We remember before Thee this day, when we seek Thy presence, our past lives, how full they have been of mercies and benefits, and how empty of gratitude and of good deeds ; how much we have received and how little we have given ; in how many ways we have been taught of Thee and how little we have learned except folly; how many opportunities we have had to become purer and 196 better, and wiser and happier, and how little we have profited by them, how many of them we have not used at all. We recall to mind how much our religion has been a name, our worship a form, our duty a hard task, our life a vain show ; we remem- ber how fondly we have clung to earthly pleasures and satisfactions, and how dull has been our sense of the beauty of holiness and the divinity of good- ness. "We remember, and we confess, how like our lives have been to those of the vain multitude, without God and without hope in the world, and how unlike the life of Him who, to save us by His example, was holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners. We remember these our sins ; we desire to remember them with a godly sorrow. Lord be merciful to us, and from all our hardness of heart and from all our unbe- lief and vanity and earthliness, be pleased to deliver us. We thank Thee for Thy unending benefits and Thy boundless pity. Day and night alike declare Thy glory and, in our lives, the light and the darkness, prosperity and adversity, joy and sorrow, are witnesses of Thy love. We bless Thee that while sin and folly and ignorance and superstition, and all the evils of which men are guilty, and by which they are oppressed, are temporary in their 3fo|w Sberbtce, B.B. 1885. 197 nature, Thou Thyself, infinite in goodness, bound- less in mercy and truth, art for ever light in the midst of darkness, order and beauty in the midst of all trouble and confusion. We thank Thee that out of seeming evil Thou still bringest forth good, and that as the rains from heaven water the earth, and return not whence they came without effect, so all Thy dealings with our race tend to the coming of Thy kingdom and the prevalence of righteousness and truth. We thank Thee for the good which befell men in past times, and which we inherit from them. We bless Thee that in our days we see how evils of past times have, by Thy care and providence, been turned to good. Our fathers suffered not in vain for themselves or us, but what they sowed in tears we reap in joy. Great and good men lived and toiled in past ages, and we have entered into their labours. For the best who live now, for Thy chosen servants in this generation, and in all gene- rations to come, the common work and toil and suffering of common men have stored the world with good. We bless Thee, Lord of all, that Thy glory and our good are still the same, and that Thou art great and that Thy kingdom and glory shall have no end. We bless Thee, Lord, for health ; for the comforts of home ; for the joys of kindred and acquaintance ; for all the unnumbered mercies with which our lot is enriched and blessed. We thank Thee for ability to work and earn our daily bread by daily toil ; for toil which makes rest sweet, and rest which refreshes us for toil ; for the varied experience of human life and its progress from youth to age. We thank Thee for the rain and the sunshine which, in their season, cause the earth to bring forth, and for the constant influences of goodness by which summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, keep their un- failing order and yield us their unfailing treasures. We bless Thee and praise Thee, above all, for what Thou hast done for us, and in us, in giving us reasonable souls and revealing to them, through Jesus Christ, Thine own eternal grace and glory. We know in part and prophesy in part, and see through a glass darkly, but we bless Thee that we know that Thou art, and that Thou art the Ee- warder of them that diligently seek Thee, rich in mercy to all that call upon Thee. Blessed be Thy name we are not left alone in this world of mys- tery, but have Thee beside us, a light to lighten our darkness, an almighty arm on which to lean in weakness, a very present help in trouble. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ, for the nearness with which we have been brought to Thee in Him, for the new and living way into Thy presence which 3o!m &etiwe, B.B. 1885. 199 He has opened for us, for that newness of life which comes to us through Him, and that eternal life which is by Him to as many as believe in His name. Grant, blessed Lord, that, having these gifts and benefits, we may live to show forth Thy praise, living not unto ourselves but unto Thee. It is Thy world in which we live, may we work Thy work while we are in it. It is Thy bounty that nourishes our life, may we dedicate our life wholly to Thee. May we so live that every day, according to Thy will, we may grow wiser and better and nobler, more full of the spirit of charity and brotherliness, and more free from envy and guile and greed. Every day may we seek to learn some new truth, to gain some new view of Thy glory and Thy grace, and to attain some new virtue and nobleness. While all things in heaven, and in earth, and in our mortal bodies, change from day to day, may there be increased in our souls the righteousness of Christ, so that when the earthly house of our taber- nacle is dissolved we may have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. Amen. From " Prayers for Public Worship." By the late John Service, D.D. Macmillan. 1885. 200 Drapers. XCIX. ^rager at if)* Burial of tjjc Beat), $3 3Jofw ^etbtw, S.D., of (Slasgofo. The Lord is merciful and gracious. Thou, who art the Beginning and the End of all lives, in whom the living live and the dead sleep, grant that we, in the presence of death, may feel that our true life is in Thee. Thou hast made us as we are made, to love life, and to grieve and suffer in the presence of death ; be near to us when we call upon Thy name, feeling in that presence we have no help save in Thee alone. It is our comfort and consolation in turning our hearts to Thee, when they are made heavy by sorrow, that Thou art greater than our hearts and knowest all things ; that our grief, when it is too great to be uttered, and our need, when it is more and deeper than we know or can express, is what Thou knowest altogether. If, Lord, it seems to us when we need Thee most, and Thy help is most to be desired for our relief, that Thou art farthest away from us, and we are most left to ourselves; if the burden of life has thus, through our weakness, to be borne by us often without that help which it is Thine to give, do Thou, most Merciful, have com- passion upon us, be near to us to keep us, even when we have not strength to call upon Thy name. ). 1885. 201 It is Thy hand, Father Almighty, which has fashioned the ties that bind us one to another in love and friendship, and when these ties are broken by death, that which we have to suffer is known to Thee and Thee alone. May we come to Thee as children unto a father, asking from Thee for a childlike confidence to make our requests known unto Thee, remembering that like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. "We desire to feel, though we cannot know, that Thy will in trouble and affliction, even the greatest of all, is not to punish us but to bless us ; that alike in all that we are born to suffer in our affections, and in all the happiness and enjoyment that we derive from them, the pity and goodness of the Highest are mani- fested and expressed. When we shrink, as we do now, from the painful part of the discipline of this life, when our grief is heavier than we can bear, when all that is best and sweetest in the gift of life is withdrawn from it by Him who gave it, when our strength is proved to us to be weakness, in our weakness be Thy strength perfected, and may we lean upon it and feel that Thou art a very present help in trouble. We desire in our darkest hours to trust Thee, and against doubts and fears that test us and perplex us, to cling to the belief that all is for the best, not meant to crush us or to extin- 202 . guish our hopes and desires for those we love and for ourselves, but to work out, for them and for us, good beyond our belief and hope. When our faith is weak, and heart and flesh faint and fail, good Lord have mercy upon us ; in Thy mercy remember us, inclining us to remember Thy mercy ; in Thy pity visit us, that in the thought of Thy pity we may be saved from despair of ourselves. Most Merciful Father, seen of no creature Thou hast made, but near to all that live, and in all that lives, we, who see Thee not, and dimly reason of Thy existence and Thy ways, are made subject to doubt and fear in being made subject to death and the sorrow which is by death. Thou knowest how hard it is for us to assure ourselves, when those we love better than life are taken from us, that we are not forgotten or disowned by Him that made us ; that our loss is not all loss, and our suffering and anguish not all vain and fruitless. Our affections cling to that which is earthly and familiar to us, so that it is hard for us to think and feel that our beloved dead, whose faces we shall no more behold, are still with Thee, and that for Thee, and in Thy presence and Thy dominion, death hath no more dominion over them. Lord have mercy upon us, and when our faith is thus weak and faltering, increase our faith. When the witness of Thyself which Thou hast given to Br. 3Josepf) ^arfetr. 1889. 203 men is most precious and most needful^ may we seek it and find it not only in the experience of Thy saints and servants in past ages, but in our own hearts, fashioned by Thee, and in our own lives, ordered by Thee. Like as a father pitieth his children, even so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Even as we are moved by pity for the weak and downcast and sor- rowful so our hearts assure us it must be that He, who is the Highest of all, must be the best of all, pitiful and compassionate beyond our belief and hope to all that lives and breathes. Grant, our Father, that we may in all trouble that is darkest and deepest, find, in this revelation of Thyself within us, Thy consolation ministered to us, and Thy light lightening our darkness From " Prayers for Public Worship." By the late John Service, D.D., Glasgow. Macmillan. 1885. C. Draper tig Dr. $o