is the madness of impiety. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?' Often hath the ocean brought to us, on its tides and breezes, the wealth, the luxuries, and the wisdom, of other countries; and shall we murmur that it hath brought to us the plague, by which they have been chastened? 'Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil also?" "Let God find in us that contrition which so well becomes a guilty, and a suffering people. To us the compassionate Redeemer saith, 'Suppose ye that these victims of the pestilence were sinners above all others, because they suffered such things, I tell you nay, but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.' It is said that the only possible means of escape from the fatal effects of the pestilential wind of the desert is to fall flat on the ground, and thereby prevent the drawing it in; and to humble ourselves at the cross of his Son, and to repent in dust and in ashes, is the appointed means of peace and salvation, in the heat of God's fierce anger.

"Let God find in us the spirit of earnest prayer, that prayer at whose suit judgments have been suspended, or lightened, or removed. In his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Solomon says, "If there be pestilence in the land, whatsoever - sore or sickness there be, then what prayer or supplication shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief, hear thou from heaven, thy dwelling-place, and forgive.' And most consoling is it to think that a higher Intercessor pleads with God for a gracious answer to the prayer of contrition, and that him the Father heareth always.

"The spirit and the ministrations of sympathy we should likewise manifest, especially at such a crisis. At such a sea

son selfish caution and terror often harden the heart; but we should remember those who are in bonds as bound with them, and those that suffer adversity, as being ourselves also in the body. Exposure to infection from thoughtlessness or curiosity, is a sin against ourselves, and others whom we may thus bring into danger; but at the call of duty, attention must be paid, and in every form in our power relief must be attempted.Charity, in such circumstances appears in its noblest and most generous form; and while the most solemn memorial of the heart belongs to the martyrs of truth, the tenderest has been felt due to the martyrs of mercy.

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“And let us maintain a confidence in God equally removed from fool-hardiness on the one hand, and from slavish dread

on the other. By the one we tempt providence, and by the other we question its power, or its goodness. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.' Let us employ, as an antidote to such terrors, the influence of prayer and of humble hope. Hope, like an angel of mercy, comes to us with promises in its mouth, help in its hand, and light in its smile. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Happy is he who hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.'

"In concluding this Essay, I may remark that we ought to trace God's agency in every other calamity, whether public or private. 'Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?' In this text in Amos, the proper rendering of which is, 'Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not inflicted it?' God claims it as his prerogative to bring on nations, and on individuals, the calamities which they deserve. 'The word done,' says Archbishop Newcome, 'seems to represent God as the author of moral evil, instead of judicial calamities.' How awful is their infatuation, of whom it must be said, Lord, when thy hand is lifted up they will not see; and who, in wars and revolutions, talk only of the intrigues of statesmen, and the ambition of princes, the power of discipline, or the frenzy of popular excitement, and never think of him who says, 'I form the light and I create darkness, I make peace, and I create evil, I the Lord, do all these things.' "Let us apply this lesson especially to what concerns us as individuals. Amidst the vexing cares of life, let us consider the Almighty as calling to us, Arise, depart ye, this is not your rest, and commanding us to learn that spirituality of mind which is life and peace. In worldly hardships let us behold Him trying our integrity, stimulating our diligence, and exercising our contentment. In the loss of friends let us view him requiring resignation, and claiming our hearts; and in sickness, let us feel the chastening of his hand, and the value of his mercy. And when we come to die, let us then regard him as terminating our connexion with the world, and with time, and calling us to our final doom. It is often a very painful attendant on death, that a helpless family must be left to the care of those who will treat them with neglect, or who may be unable to aid them. The heart's last grasp is theirs, and death must unloose it; but Jesus stands by the couch to receive in his arms what the good commit to his care. But the most solemn thought of a deathbed is the idea of judg

ment. "When God rises up what shall I do? when he calls me to account what shall I answer?' May we then see Jesus shewing us in his blood a plea, which the Judge of all the earth will sustain, and in reliance on which we shall have confidence before him at his coming."

PUBLIC PRAYER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN. SIR,

IN your last number I made some observations on the singing of the praises of God in public worship. I proceed now to make a few remarks on public prayer. It will be borne in mind that my object, in these and the following papers, is not to enter into a regular and formal discussion on the nature and importance of the several parts of divine worship, but rather to suggest some practical hints for the more solemn and effective discharge of the services of the sanctuary, and to point out some errors in the mode of their administration, by which, as it appears to me, their influence is often in a great measure counteracted, if not altogether destroyed. In reference to the subject of the present article, I would ob

serve

1. Public prayers are frequently too long. This mistake in general arises from want of preparation for that part of the divine service. It is deeply to be lamented that many ministers confine their premeditations almost exclusively to their sermons, and seem to think, that while their addresses to men require an accurate arrangement of thought and a wellconsidered form of phraseology, it matters not how disjointed, rambling, and slovenly are their addresses to God. Hence we hear some prayers which touch upon an endless variety of subjects, and carry the mind in one continued whirl from the beginning to the end of the exercise, without affording it leisure to fasten on a single point, or to gather up its strength for a single expression of desire or thanksgiving during the long succession of sentences which disturb and weary, instead of edifying and refreshing the hearer. For want of due preparation some persons enter into delineations of the divine attributes, or into disquisitions on the divine government; and thence diverge into observations on the character and duties of various classes of their fellow-creatures, making sermons of their prayers, and introducing their individual or

sectarian peculiarities of sentiment, instead of lifting up the heart, with the voice, for the conversion of sinners unto God. Others, of this class, who confine themselves more strictly to the language of prayer, are in the habit of stringing together a long list of scriptural forms of confession and supplication, without any obvious connexion or tendency; and from the rapid facility with which they hurry over the words inspired by the Holy Ghost, lead their hearers to conclude that they themselves are uninfluenced by the solemn and awful sentences which they utter. If such an impression be indeed produced, then the consequence is, either that the prayer is heard with impatience and contempt, or that it encourages the fatal delusion, to which the human heart is so prone, that the mere formal declaration of sorrow for sin, and of desire for forgiveness, is all that God requires from his worshippers.

Others there are again, who, deeply grieved on account of their spiritual barrenness, as well as their want of freedom in expression, and sincerely desirous to shake off these galling fetters, utter loud and long complaints, as representative of the state of the congregation, when, in truth, they are representative of their own. They pray for the spirit of prayer that themselves and their hearers may be quickened and made meet for this solemn exercise, and that the whole assembly may be animated with the feelings of lively and joyful devotion. Not experiencing any change of frame, they continue to urge the same requests in diversified modes of expression, or they break forth into bitter lamentations concerning the deep-rooted and irreclaimable depravity of the human heart, and signify their astonishment that they have not long since been swept off to perdition. During the whole of this time these persons are endeavouring to attain a spiritual frame. They are doing in the sanctuary what they should have done in the closetand for want of requisite preparation, they themselves obtain no comfort from this delightful privilege, sinners are disgusted, and saints are wearied and discouraged.

Those who pray in public should come forward with hearts, if possible, already awakened-their thoughts and affections should have some one direction, to which all the topics introduced should be made subservient—and while they are not to resist the Spirit gently constraining them in another direction, they should remember that for a mixed congregation, prayers should be specific, pointed, brief--and thus, when presented in the spirit of faith and love, are they fitted to arouse the attention and regard of the audience, and to draw down an an

swer of grace, mercy, and peace from Him who is near to all that call upon Him-to all that call upon Him in truth.

2. A second error in our public prayers is, that they are too general. Some prayers contain a whole system of Theology, embracing almost every doctrine and duty set forth in the Word of God. Others are occupied for several minutes with the attributes of God, or with his works of creation and providence and then descend to some broad statements of human character and of the scheme of redemption. The disadvantages attendant on such a mode of prayer, are, that it is less calculated to excite attention, to stir up to self-examination, to call to remembrance the promises, to strengthen faith to give fervency to the spirit, and variety to the expression of prayer, than a more specific and pointed style of petition. By adhering to these general statements, we unconsciously slide into the use of the same words and phrases repeated without effect, and almost without attention; and hence it is customary with the opponents of extemporaneous prayers to assert, that they exhibit the same unpleasant and fatiguing uniformity, without the accompanying dignity and solemnity of the Liturgy. It is, however, our own indolence and unfaithfulness that expose us to this reproach. In order to attain an inexhaustible and endless variety in prayer, we have only to study two books, which are always within reach, and open for our perusal--the book of revelation and the book of the human heart. The heart tells us what we want the Bible how that want is to be supplied. No one need ever be at a loss in prayer who is diligent in the work of self-examination. If he search and know his easily besetting sin-the temptation to which he is most readily exposed the spiritual blessing of which he feels most bitterly the want and the answers which he has already obtained to his prayers-if he consider the posture of his outward circumstances, and look back upon the way which the Lord his God has led him during the past years of bis pilgrimage-the distinguishing mercies he has enjoyed, and his deep ingratitude and insensibility amidst them all; he will surely have a sufficiently ample field for confession, petition, and thanksgiving. Much less need a Minister, who is faithful to his charge, complain of the want of suitable and interesting materials for this important part of public worship. If, in the course of the previous week, he has been engaged in visiting his congregation-if he has had occasion to counsel his people in their ignorance, or to comfort them in their sorrows, or to rouse them