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Prayer not only in the morning watch, but prayer sent voiceless from the heart from hour to hour. Then life is wakeful, hallowed, calm. It becomes beautiful with that beauty of God, which eye hath not seen. And day being hallowed thus, do not omit to make holy the night. Take by the power of prayer, through the wild land of dreams, the sanctifying presence of one who loves

us.

Claim it every night, and it will attend to hallow the fancies of sleep, to save us from the baseness of dreamfear, to call back the wandering fancy from impurity. For prayer, continually lived in, makes the presence of a holy and loving God the air which life breathes, and by which it lives, so that, as it mingles consciously with the work of the day, it becomes also a part of every dream. To us, then, it will be no strange thing to enter heaven, for we have been living in the things of heaven.-[Brooke.]

All times and seasons are moral; the serene and bright morning; that wakening of all nature to life; that silence of the early dawn, as it were the silence of expectation! that freshening glow, that new inspiration of life, as if it came from the breath of heaven; but the holy eventide also, its cooling breeze, its falling shade, its hushed and sober hour; the sultry noontide, too, and the solemn midnight; and springtime and chastening autumn; and summer that unbars our gates and carries us forth amidst the ever-renewed wonders of the world; and winter that gathers us around the evening hearth: all these, as they pass, touch by turns the springs of the spiritual life in us, and are conducting that life to good or evil.-[Dewey.]

EVENING PRAYER.

I come to Thee to-night,

In my lone closet where no eye can see,
And dare to crave an interview with Thee,
Father of love and light.

Thou gav'st the calm repose

That rests on all; the air, the birds, the flower,
The human spirit in its weary hour,

Now at the bright day's close.

'Tis nature's time for prayer;

The silent praises of the glorious sky,
And the earth's orisons, profound and high,
To heaven their breathings bear.

If I this day have striven

With thy blest Spirit, or have bowed the knee
To aught of earth in weak idolatry,

I pray to be forgiven.

If in my heart has been

An unforgiving thought, or word, or look,
Though deep the malice which I scarce could brook,
Wash me from the dark sin.

If I have turned away

From grief or suffering which I might relieve,
Careless the cup of water e'en to give,
Forgive me, Lord, I pray.

And teach me how to feel

My sinful wanderings with a deeper smart,
And more of mercy and of grace impart,

My sinfulness to heal.-[Hymns of the Ages.]

"What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" is to us the most undeniable of all arguments; "What shall I do to be saved?" the most reasonable and momentous of all questions; "God be merciful to me a sinner!" the most affecting of all prayers. The soul's concern is the great concern. The interests of experimental, vital, practical religion are the great interests of our being. No language can be too strong, no language can be strong enough, to give them due expression. No anxiety is too deep, no care too heedful, no effort too earnest, no prayer too importunate, to be bestowed upon this almost infinite concern of the soul's purification, piety, virtue and welfare. No labor of life should be undertaken, no journey pursued, no business transacted, no pleasure enjoyed, no activity employed, no rest indulged in, without ultimate reference to that great end of our being. Without it, life has no sufficient object, and death has no hope, and eternity no promise.

[Dewey.]

Practice to make God thy last thought at night when thou sleepest, and thy first thought in the morning when thou awakest: so shall thy fancy be sanctified in the night, and thy understanding be rectified in the day; so shall thy rest be peaceful and thy labors prosperous.-[Quarles.]

Oh, help us, Father! from on high,

We know no help but thee;
Oh, help us so to live and die

As thine in heaven to be!

[Russian.]

"Enter into

Men never take so firm a hold of God as in secret. Thou shouldst pray alone, for thou hast sinned alone, and thou art to die alone, and to be judged alone. Why not get alone to the mercy seat? In the great transaction between thee and God, thou canst have no human helper. You are not going to tell him any secret. You may be sure he will not betray your confidence. thy closet," says Christ. He says not a closet, nor the closet, but thy closet. The habit of secret communion is supposed to be formed. The man is supposed to have a closet-some place in which he is accustomed to retire for prayer-some spot consecrated by many a meeting there with God-some place that has often been to him a Bethel. The Saviour uses the word to mean any place where, with no embarrassment either from the fear or pride of observation, we can freely pour out our hearts in prayer to God. Christ's closet was a mountain, Isaac's a field, Peter's the house-top. [Nevins.]

Plato declared that the best and noblest action which a virtuous man can perform is to live by vows and prayers, in continual intercourse with Deity; nay, all who would act with due consideration ought, before beginning any undertaking, whether great or small, to invoke God.

Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of mine hands as the evening sacrifice. Incline not my heart to any evil thing.

"Lord, when I quit this earthly stage, Where shall I fly but to thy breast? For I have sought no other home,

For I have learned no other rest.

"I cannot live contented here

Without some glimpses of thy face;
And heaven without thy presence there,
Would be a dark and lonesome place.

"When earthly cares engross the day,
And hold my thoughts aside from thee,
The shining hours of cheerful light
Are long and tedious years to me.

"And if no evening visit 's paid

Between my Maker and my soul,
How dull the night! how sad the shade!
How mournfully the minutes roll!"

Sum up at night what thou hast done by day; And in the morning what thou hast to do; Dress and undress thy soul; mark the decay And growth of it.

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In brief, acquit thee bravely; play the man;
Look not on pleasures as they come, but go;
Defer not the least virtue; life's poor span

Make not an ell by trifling in thy woe.
If thou do ill, the joy fades, not the pains;
If well, the pain doth fade, the joy remains.

[Herbert.]