themselves in these very works, so as cheerfully to give up the missionary meeting— the school superintendence-the prison or district rounds, when there is a prior claim to humbler work at home. Let not the stigma be cast upon the religious profession, of working everywhere save in its own sphere, but let it be shown to the world, that both may be accomplished by those who, weak and foolish and sinful in themselves, receive strength and wisdom and righteousness from Him in whom dwelleth all fulness; that, like the work of the Apostles, which began but tarried not at Jerusalem, the work begun at home may spread itself well and wisely in ever-widening circles.

XII.

PRAYING WORK.

"Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me."-ISAIAH XlV. 11.

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."-JOHN xv. 7.

"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 refresh us with a shower
We kneel, and all round 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 is prayer,

And joy, and strength, and courage are with Thee?"

PRAYER is the life of all work.

TRENCH.

Without

prayer, work would be as useless as the suit

of armor without the living man within it, -or as the richly-carved casket from whence the gems had been stolen,-or as the scabbard apart from the sharpened steel. Without prayer, "every-day work" would be but a dull round of uncongenial tasks. Without prayer, "social work" would degenerate into worldiness on the one hand, or weariness of the flesh and spirit upon the other. Without prayer, "home work" would be but another form of self-intrenchment.

Without prayer, "warfare" weapons would dim with rust, and there would be a turning back in the day of battle.-Ps. lxxviii. 9. Without prayer, "waiting work" would be come sloth and self-indulgence; “preparatory work" would turn into intellectual idolatry, and "desultory work" would be aimless and spasmodic. Without prayer, there could be no "praising work," or it Iwould be but the effusion of the natural heart, praising nature but not God, admiring beauty but not its Creator. Without prayer, "special work" would be nought but the splendid sins" of the self-righteous, and the self-justifying. Without prayer, the

missionary in his hut beneath the banyans would be weak as other men. Without prayer, the Jew of Tarsus would have been but a blind leader of the blind Gentiles. Without prayer, the strengthening angel would not have appeared to the Agonized of Gethsemane.

Nor is prayer the medium only throughwhich we receive spiritual blessings and consolations, an opening of the heavens, through which, like the Captives of Chebar, we may see visions of God;-nor is it only the salt which preserves from corruption,the throb of life in the living work; it is in itself work-the noblest, the highest, the most successful; for it moves God himself to work; it commands His hand! This wonderful work is not limited in its sphere; it is suited to all situations and all capacities. Many there are who cannot work what man calls work, but none there are who cannot pray. The lonely dweller among the mountains, with no neighbors. save the eagles of the corrie, with no listeners save the winds of the heavens, can pray; and the dry bones of the far-off world may

become a living army through his lonely prayers. The pale silent sufferer on the couch of pain can pray; and by her voiceCess petitions may be hastened the outpouring of the Spirit, the coming of the Kingdom. Far away may we be from those whom we love better than life; powerless may we be to guide them, to watch over them, to comfort them; but we can rouse up for them an untiring Watcher, an unchanging Lover, an unfailing Comforter-we can pray. Agonizing may be our fears for precious souls hurrying on the broad road to destruction-our words fall unheeded; our anxieties are laughed to scorn, our presence is avoided. Can we do nothing? We can pray! We can call down upon them the mighty Spirit, the resistless Pleader; we can bring the Saviour to them, though they will not go to the Saviour. An old author writing upon intercessory prayer, tells the following story:-"It was a law amongst the Romans, when in the field, that any person found near the emperor's tent at night should suffer death. One night a soldier was found holding in his hand a pe