MATINS.

I cannot ope mine eyes,

But thou art ready there to catch

My morning-soul and sacrifice.

My God, what is a heart,

That thou shouldst it so eye and woo,
Pouring upon it all thy art,

As if that thou hadst nothing else to do?

Teach me thy love to know,

That this new light, which now I see,
May both the work and workman show,—

Then by a sunbeam I will climb to thee.
[Herbert.]

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. It ought to bind itself up with the rising of the sun, the opening of the flowers, the divine service of the birds, the glow of cloudy bars on which the rays of light strike, a musician's fingers, and whose notes are chords and color. The voice of the world is prayer, and our morning worship should be in tune with its ordered hymn of praise. But in joy we should recall our weakness and ask his presence who is strength and redemption, so that joy may be married to watchfulness by humility. Such a prayer is the guard of life.-[Brooke.]

PRAYER.

O thou Infinite One, who dwellest not only in temples made with hands, but art a perpetual presence, we flee unto thee, who art always with us, and pray that we may commune with thy spirit face to face for a moment, feeling thy presence with us, and pouring out our gratitude unto thee; and amid all the noises of earth may the still, small voice of thy spirit come into our soul, wakening our noblest faculties to new life. O thou Infinite One, we lift our thoughts unto thee, our dependent souls constraining us unto thee, that we may rest us under the shadow of thy wings, and be warmed by thy love, and sheltered and blessed by the tender mercy wherewith thou regardest all of thy children. We adore and worship thee, calling thee by every name of power, of wisdom, of beauty and of love; but we know that none of these can fully describe thee to ourselves, for thou transcendest our utmost thought of thee.

We remember our own daily lives before thee, and we mourn that, gifted with a nature so large, and surrounded with opportunities so admirable, we have yet often stained our bodies with our souls' transgression, and that unclean and unholy sentiments have lodged within us, yea, nestled there and been cherished and brooded over by our consciousness. We lament that we have had within us feelings which we would not that others should bear towards us, and have done unrighteous deeds. We take shame to ourselves for these things, and we pray thee that we may gather suffering thence and sorrow of heart, till we learn to cast these evils behind us, and live nobler and more

B2

natural lives, inward of piety, and outward of goodness towards all.

We remember the temptations that are before us, when passion from within is allied with opportunity from without, and that we have so often therein gone astray; and we pray thee that the spirit of religion may be so strong within us that it shall enable us to overcome evil, and prove ourselves stronger from every trial. Amen.

[Parker.]

Ask yourself the simple question, whether in a confused. mass of events such as make up our lives, some regulating thought is not necessary; amidst superficial forms and overspreading disguises, some deeper searchings; amidst the swaying and misleading senses, some penetrating meditation. Ask whether, when everything is carrying the mind out of itself, some daily self-communion, sinking to the depths within, and whether, amidst the loud bustle of hurrying life, some daily and solemn pause, some deeper silence in the soul, be not good and wise. One such quiet and silent hour, some solemn moments even, would at times strip off many of the illusions of sense, and of the world, that slowly wind themselves about us, and would unveil to us the great and eternal realities of our being. One gaze at the stars, in the solemn silence of night, is often enough to break up some spell of worldly vanity or trouble. But from deeper meditation, how often would a man come forth with a freer step and a more fearless spirit-a being loftier and more independent, stronger to meet temptation and to bear calamity !—[Dewey.]

"My voice shalt Thou hear this morning,
For the shades have passed away,

And out from the dark like a joyous lark
My heart soars up with the day;
And its burden all is blessing,

And its accents all are song;

For Thou hast refreshed its slumbers,
And thy strength hath made it strong.

"My voice shalt Thou hear this morning,
For the day is all unknown;
And I am afraid without thine aid

To travel its hours alone.

Give me thy light to lead me,

Give me thy hand to guide,

Give me thy living presence,
To journey side by side."

Morning and evening in prayer I will strive to feel God, and the whole day through I will be glad in him; and every pleasure I will say to myself is from him. So through faith I will see the hand of God above me, and I will see it often, and get used to the sight; so that when it shuts upon my soul to withdraw it from the world I shall not be afraid, but glad.—[Euthanasy.]

To meditate daily, to pray daily, seems a means indispensable for breaking this surface crust of formality, habit, routine, which hides the living springs of wisdom.

[Dewey.]

ABOUT PRAYER:

Go not, my friend, into the danger-
You kneel down at night to pray,

ous world without it.
and drowsiness weighs down your eyelids; a hard day's
work is a kind of excuse, and you shorten your prayer
and resign yourself softly to repose. The morning breaks,
and it may be you rise late, and so your early devotions
are not done, or are done with irregular haste. Νο
watching unto prayer! wakefulness once more omitted;
and now is that reparable? We solemnly believe not.
There has been that done which cannot be undone. You
have given up your prayer, and you will suffer for it.
Temptation is before you, and you are not ready to meet
There is a guilty feeling on the soul, and you linger
at a distance from God. It is no marvel if that day in
which you suffer drowsiness to interfere with prayer, be a
day in which you shrink from duty. Moments of prayer
intruded on by sloth cannot be made up.
We may get
experience, but we cannot get back the rich freshness and
strength which were wrapped up in those moments.
[Robertson.]

it.

To enjoy God and heaven it does not require that we wait till the last touch of death reveals all things in the light of eternity. We may take God and heaven along with us every day, and carry their peace and glory into all the dull and prosaic scenes of earth. If our hearts are expanding in tireless and limitless affections, if we are wedded to a beneficent and holy work, we have already entered the eternal life, and our death will be but a step on and up.-[Rev. Thomas Lathrop.]