of having Christ in us and for us. The effect of this discourse, which was delivered with prodigious energy, was so great, that "forty persons were so filled with the unction of the Spirit, and with the love of Christ, that their vessels could not contain or bear it, so that they fainted away, and were obliged to be carried out." While many sympathised with the opinions of Boos, a large party was so exasperated by the spiritstirring appeals of the sermon, that they represented the matter to the vicar of the parish, and vehemently urged him to dismiss his curate. The vicar, who was alternately besieged by the two parties, had been at school with Boos, and for a long time did not know how to act, but at last he became so alarmed at the violence of the party opposed to Boos, that he hastily dismissed him. The spark which was kindled in Wiggensbach soon spread itself, and the materials of persecution had been accumulating so long and so rapidly, that they took fire as soon as it fell upon them, and blazed with intolerable fierceness, until Kempten, a province at some distance, was involved in the general conflagration. Those who were converted under the ministry of Boos, could not help relating to all whom they saw, the wonderful change which had passed upon them; and thus the intelligence was propagated from one to another, until it reached the clergy, who soon instigated the populace to extinguish opinions so destructive of their power, and so opposed to their prejudices. The tempest which was in this way raised, became so violent, that Boos was obliged abruptly to leave Wiggensbach by night on an old grey horse, and for a long time he did not know where to go. He was, however, directed providentially to Seeg, where Feneberg was vicar, and was welcomed with the invitation, "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, why standest thou without? Salvation will come to my house and my heart if thou wilt enter beneath my roof." It was not long before the persecuted wanderer was compelled to leave this quiet retreat; for one day, while the worthy vicar was from home, an emissary from the Inquisition at Augsburg suddenly appeared, and seized all the documents which were contained in Boos' writing-desk, his confessions, letters, and memoranda of different kinds. He appeared on the 10th of February 1797 before the Inquisition, and after vindicating himself and the doctrines he had taught, in a masterly manner, he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment. The keeper of the clerical house of correction, with his family, like the Philippian jailer, was converted by Boos during his residence in the prison; and though at first he treated his prisoner with severity, he soon washed his wounds, and ministered to him with the greatest kindness. Though the heart of Boos was greatly refreshed by the conversion of the keeper, and the irksomeness of imprisonment alleviated by his attention, yet he was sorely tried, and at one time his "feet had well-nigh slipped." He was on the very eve of recanting, when a letter, written to him by a friend at the distance of thirty leagues, and under a strong impulse, revived his drooping spirits. THE TRIAL OF ATHANASIUS. BY THE REV. ROBERT JAMIESON, THE extraordinary power and popularity of the Arian faction in the middle of the fourth century produced the most disastrous effects on the character and condition of the Church. According to the natural course of things, this great corruption in doctrine led to a corresponding declension in manners, and while, through the whole of the Christian world, the baneful effects of this primitive heresy were more or less apparent, it was particularly in the East, the cradle and stronghold of the opinions of Arius, that the evil manifested itself by the prevalence of a low and worldly spirit of religion among all classes, the clerical as well as the lay members of the Church. The ecclesiastical leaders of this heretical party were universally men of a secular and ambitious character, whose predominant aim, instead of being to teach and extend the pure religion of Christ, was to assimilate their principles and habits to the reigning tastes and opinions of the age. As the reward of their supple and accommodating doctrines, they enjoyed the smiles of the court and the exercise of an extensive patronage; and, as might naturally have been expected from their character, and in their circumstances, they employed their power not only to fill with their own creatures the best and most important benefices of the Church, but to discourage and root out all who remained true to the orthodox faith. At the head of the band of faithful men, which, notwithstanding the torrent of opposition that was directed against them, was still most respectable in numbers, as well as in character, the universal consent of antiquity has placed Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, which was then regarded as the chief and most flourishing Church in the world. This intrepid defender of the faith had long been a thorn in the flesh of the Arians; and while they shrunk from meeting him in argument, from which he had often compelled them to retreat in disgrace, they had tried every art, and resorted to the most unworthy expedients, to crush him in the estimation of his countrymen, and thus to rid themselves of the unwelcome presence of so unsparing an observer. By their machinations, the life of Athanasius became one continued series of persecutions, banishments, and assaults, from all of which, however, this indomitable man returned to lift up his testimony against their unscriptural errors, and to lash the ill-disguised vices by which they were almost universally blackened. At length, resolved, at all hazards, to silence an opponent with whom they felt themselves unable to contend, and convinced that his entire removal by death or otherwise was essential to the triumph and domination of their sect, they became little scrupulous about the means, provided they could accomplish the wishedfor end, and determined on availing themselves of some passing events to ruin his character for ever, by preferring against him a series of crimes, particularly a charge of murder, the details of which discover one of the most revolting plots of villainy that ever was heard of. The circumstances were as follows:-One Arsenius, the pastor of a small country parish in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, having been guilty of some gross irregularities, had suddenly withdrawn himself to escape the immediate consequences of his crime. In his dif ficulties, this unworthy minister implored the protection of John, the Arian leader, who, instead of uniting with Athanasius to support the honour of religion, and maintain the purity of the Church, by subjecting the delinquent to the discipline he merited, thought of nothing but how he might turn the disappearance of Arsenius to the disadvantage of his own and his party's irreconcileable enemy; and as a person of his dignity and influence had no difficulty in getting a needy and desperate man, who was at his mercy, to enter into any views he proposed, he enlisted him as the chief actor in a conspiracy against the bishop of Alexandria, which, with keen-eyed malice, he saw might be easily formed by means of this unexpected case. Accordingly, he prevailed on him, by an enormous bribe, to retire to a monastery, which was under the superintendence of one of his confidants, and situated in a remote part of Egypt, promising that, in a few years, when his failings should be forgotten, he would be brought back again, and advanced to honour and preferment. Allured by these splendid promises, Arsenius absconded; and no sooner was it ascertained that the unprincipled wretch was in safe custody in his place of exile, than John and his accomplices gave out that he had been murdered by Athanasius, who, by infernal arts, had decoyed him into a subterranean cell, where he had boiled his remains in a huge caldron, dedicated to the most horrid rites of sorcery and magic, in which the champion of orthodoxy secretly spent his leisure hours. The awful fact, they said, had been brought to light by the accidental discovery of a hand, dried and salted, certain marks on which proved it, beyond all doubt, to be a relic of the unfortunate Arsenius; and they insinuated that, from the care with which this hand had been preserved, (it had been found locked up in a magical box belonging to the professor of sorcery,) there was every reason to believe that, were a warrant procured to search the house of Athanasius, other parts of the mangled body would be got concealed in his repositories. The extravagance of this tale of horror would have been sufficient to lead to its rejection by every thinking mind; but by the indefatigable industry with which the enemies of Athanasius circulated it, and by the artful addition of new and minute circumstances, which they invented to give their story an air of credibility, they succeeded in imposing on the least credulous, the most sober and unsuspecting part of the public. The report flew with the rapidity of lightning through all quarters of the East. The Christian world were electrified by the imputation of so enormous a crime to a man whom they had long looked up to as the best and the holiest of his age; and although numbers, who were well acquainted with the unscrupulous character of his accusers, gave no credit to the allegation, yet, from the extraordinary publicity given to the story, and the chain of circumstantial evidence that apparently confirmed it, all classes, the friends as well as the foes of Athanasius, insisted on a full inquiry, into the conduct of a man who had long been revered as the brightest living ornament of the Church, but who was solemnly charged with a crime that violated equally the laws of God and of man. On the first rumour of this extraordinary accusation, Athanasius treated it with indifference and silent contempt, supported by the consciousness of his own innocence, and by the strong conviction, that a story which wore such an air of improbability, would be entertained only by a few, whose character and influence in society, were too insignificant to give him any annoyance by their slanderous report. But when he found that, contrary to all reasonable expectation, it had gained a wide and general credit-had reached the ears of the Court and Emperor, and threatened the most serious consequences both to his character and life, a regard to his personal safety, as well as to his good name, and usefulness in the Church, had led him, previously to all idea of a trial before a public tribunal, to search after the means of disproving so weighty a charge. As might have been expected, in a case of that nature, his efforts to procure exculpatory proof were attended with no small difficulty, and, for a long time, he found himself completely baffled in his endeavours to ascertain the actual existence of Arsenius, no less than the place of his concealment. clue to discovery, however, was at length obtained; and two of the deacons of the Alexandrian Church, pious men, and strongly attached to their excellent pastor, voluntarily, and at their own expense, undertook a journey into Upper Egypt, in order to trace out Arsenius, and, by the Emperor's warrant, summon him to Alexandria. Intelligence of their expedition, and the object of it, had reached the monastery before themselves, and, on their arrival, they found that the superintendents of that establishment, true to their unprincipled employers, had privately put Arsenius on board a vessel, which was to carry him down the Nile, and conceal him in another and distant convent, likewise in the service of the Arian party. Disappointed in obtaining the object of their search, the two deacons seized on the master of the monastery, and the person A who had acted as sentinel on Arsenius-brought these to Alexandria, and gave their venerable friend and pastor the satisfaction and benefit of the evidence of these two witnesses, that the person he was charged with murdering was still alive. The testimony of those two persons, however, although their own creatures, was not sufficient to silence the implacable enemies of Athanasius. The evidence, they maintained, was extorted by compulsion, and, therefore, could not be relied upon as impartial and true. The appearance of Arsenius, in person, was the only way, they contended, of absolving the bishop from the imputation of his blood; and thus, by the pertinacity of artful and wicked men, the horrid charge, though it had been satisfactorily disproved by the testimony of two competent witnesses, and would have speedily fallen into oblivion, was continued and circulated with more malignant zeal than ever, until it was found absolutely necessary to summon a council at Tyre for the investigation of this mysterious affair. Seldom has the meeting of any ecclesiastical court been looked forward to with more intense interest. The anxiety of the Christian world was wound up to the highest pitch, and long before the time of meeting, the assembly was crowded by people from all quarters, and of the most opposite parties, some confounded by the circumstances, but anticipating and praying for an ac quittal of the accused, others manifesting their open exultation at the prospect of for ever ruining their formidable enemy. Appearances, indeed, were strongly against Athanasius. The train of circumstances which the Arians had invented, and on which the prosecution was maintained, was of a nature too startling and con clusive for any court easily to set aside; and a verdict of guilty would undoubtedly have been brought in against Athanasius, had not Divine Providence ordered events by which, contrary to all human foresight, a scheme of such consummate villainy was overturned, the infamous contrivers of the plot were put to confusion, and the innocence of the pious bishop of Alexandria established in the face of the world. In the distant monastery of Lower Egypt, to which Arsenius had been suddenly conveyed, he was strictly watched, and the most elaborate means were taken to prevent the least hint, as to his new place of concealment, from being given to the public. Arsenius himself, however, tired of his idle and unvaried mode of life, resolved on taking the first convenient opportunity of escaping; and, learning the extraordinary preparations that were making at Tyre for the prosecution of Athanasius, his curiosity became ungovernable to witness the proceedings, and he accordingly set out, in the foreign dress, for the distant scene of the trial, flattering himself that, in the disguise he assumed, and in a city where he was a total stranger, he would easily maintain his incognito. All houses of public entertainment were, as might have been expected on such an occasion, crowded with strangers, and he was obliged, therefore, to put up at an inn, the smallness and obscurity of which farther recommended it to his notice, from his being less likely there to incur the risk of detection. It so happened that, for want of better accommodation, some foreign dignitary of the Church was glad to content himself with the same lodging-house, and the chief magistrate of the town having occasion to exchange civilities with that illustrious Ecclesiastic, the message was sent by an Alexandrian who had but lately come into the service, of the governor, and who, to his surprise, seeing Arsenius, with whose features he was well acquainted, in the same inn, lost no time in giving information of the discovery to his master. The governor sent private intelligence of what had transpired to Athanasius and his friends, who privately, and at night, to prevent any tumult, repaired to the inn, got admittance into the room of Arsenius, and having satisfied themselves as to his identity with the pretended de- than described. III. The conditions on which the fulfilment of the promise turns. "Ask of me, and I shall give thee." The grant itself formed part of the decree of the Eternal, and was absolute; but the fulfilment was to take place in time, and was At the appointed hour next day the court assembled, to depend on the condition here specified. Now and Athanasius was, after the usual preliminaries, placed it will at once be perceived, that this condition as a common criminal at their bar. The counsel for the was, at least in the first instance, put into the prosecution opened their case, and having enumerated a hands of the Redeemer: "Thou art my Son; this chain of circumstances to prove that Arsenius was last seen going into the house of the Bishop of Alexan- day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall dria, from which he was never known to return, and give thee." And from this we would naturally be having gravely produced the box in which a human led to expect, that notices of our Lord's interceshand, salted and dried, was found, which they adduced sion upon this point should occur: and facts do so witnesses to prove was that of the deceased, they tri- far accord with this expectation, that we find our umphantly dwelt on the clear and conclusive character Saviour intimating to his disciples, that he would of the evidence, and on the necessity of bringing to condign punishment, a man who, under the garb of pray the Father to send them another Comforter, superior sanctity, had so long imposed upon the world, under whose ministrations we know that this pro-was addicted, in secret, to the most unhallowed pur- mise was to be fulfilled. But it is remarkable suits, and bad now been detected as the perpetrator of that we have so little to this effect, that what we an atrocious murder. A profound sensation pervaded have rather points to the edification of the Church the court. The most solemn silence reigned, and all than to the conversion of the world. Thus, in the eyes were turned towards Athanasius, who, on being interrogated what he had to say, why sentence of death very passage alluded to, "I will pray the Father, should not be passed on him, rose and bowed to the and he shall give you another Comforter, that he court, commenced by admitting the grave nature of the may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of accusation, and his being deserving of death if it could Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it be substantiated. He said that he had only one wit-seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know ness to call in his defence, and although this was below him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” the legal number, yet he hoped that the character and importance of his single witness would be found suffi- John xiv. 16, 17. cient to prove his entire innocence of the crime laid to his charge. But, first of all, he wished to know whether any were present in the court who knew Arsenius, and on the judges and prosecutors unanimously exclaiming that the features of that person were familiar to them, he gave the concerted signal, on which his two friends, the deacons of Alexandria, led into the court a man in mask; the hood was removed, and Arsenius stood before them. Before they had time to recover from their surprise and confusion, Athanasius stepped up to him, and drawing aside the cloak, See," said he, "here is the right hand of Arsenius;" in like manner, holding up the other, he exclaimed, "here also is the left; and where the third has been found that lies in that box, I leave my accusers to declare." The whole court was electrified; John, the prime mover in this infamous plot, slunk unnoticed away. Some of the more violent and unprincipled maintained that it was by magical deception Athanasius had imposed on the court a man in the likeness of Arsenius, and others were so transported by rage and disappointment, that they would have rushed on the venerable man and torn him to pieces, if they had not been restrained. Thus ended this tragi-comic scene, which stands, perhaps, unparalleled in the annals of justiciary trials; and Athanasius was, by a signal inter position of Providence, preserved to render many im portant services to the Church of Christ. PRAYER ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS IN MISSIONS: A DISCOURSE. BY THE REV. DUNCAN MACFARLAN, (Continued from page 315.) Our Lord's intercessory prayer also, which may, as we conceive, be considered no unfair specimen of his intercessory work within the vail, indicates the same tendency, if not also the same limits. This will appear, if we very briefly recur to the chapter in which it is recorded. In the first five verses of that chapter, (John xvii..) our Lord prays chiefly, and virtually altogether, in behalf of his own mediatorial glory. In the next fourteen verses he intercedes, but it is in behalf of such only as had already received the truth: "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me; for they are thine." And in the seven remaining verses, although he prays for such as did not then believe, yet he prays only for such as should afterwards believe: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." It will, perhaps, be thought that, in praying for these, he is praying for the accomplishment of the promise. And there is no doubt that their conversion, which forms an essential part of the promise, is implied. But we doubt whether this can with fairness be said to be the object of this prayer. We rather think that our Lord is to be understood as looking forward to the time when these also should be in the condition of believers, and that it is in reference to them, when brought into this state, that he intercedes. And even if this should be doubted; suppose it to be admitted that our Lord includes in substance, the very prayer of our text, it will still be found that the leading object of this prayer is the welfare of such as are supposed to be already in Christ. And it comes now to be a remarkable corroboration of this, that in so far as the intercessory work of Christ in the heavens is | sation. And they are, in many instances, so described, it is evidently confined to believers. quoted in the New Testament. But the New Thus, when arguing for the doctrine of justifica- Testament itself affords separate and independent tion, an apostle says, "Who shall lay anything to evidence. Our Lord taught his disciples, and, the charge of God's elect? It is God that justi- through them, he taught us to pray. And out of fieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ the six petitions which he instructed them to prethat died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is sent in prayer, three, and these the first three, are even at the right hand of God, who also maketh on this very point: "Hallowed be thy name. intercession for us." Rom. viii. 33, 34. Again, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth when speaking of the priesthood of Christ, as it is in heaven." The hallowing of God's "Therefore he is able also to save them to the name is the manifestation of his glory in every uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he possible way. The coming of his kingdom is the ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. very subject of prayer in our text. And the doing vii. 25. And again, proceeding upon the office of of his will on earth, as it is in heaven, is just the the high priest under the law, which was strictly perfecting of the other. And yet these petitions confined to Israel, he says, "For Christ is not en- are to be presented daily, and by the whole Church. tered into the holy places made with hands, which And before concluding this argument, it is necesare the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, sary only to add, that the Book of Acts and the now to appear in the presence of God for us." Epistles abundantly show that the Church acted Heb. ix. 24. And in the only other passage of upon this principle. All their energies were dithe New Testament directly bearing on this point, rected to the conversion of the world, and even "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with more than an equal proportion of their prayers the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John seem to have been devoted to the same object. ii. 1. From such limitations as these, in passages descriptive of the intercessory work of Christ, and from the want of any pointed or repeated reference to the subject of the promise, we are led to doubt whether the condition, though addressed to Christ, was not so addressed mainly in behalf of his Church and people; that is, whether, when it was said in the decree, "Ask," this was not said to him representatively, and for the purpose of allowing his people to have a restingplace for their prayer. And on looking at the subject in this light, we are reminded that all the promises of the covenant came to us through Christ, and are ours only because they were first his. And if we now return to Scripture, and instead of inquiring after the fulfilment of this condition by Christ in person, we inquire as to the duty of fulfilling it, on the part of the Church, evidence will not be wanting: "I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord." Ezek. xxxvi. 37, 38. "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence; and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." Isaiah Ixii. 6, 7. Then take in connection with such passages as these, that the writings of the prophets are thickly studded with promises, affording grounds for such prayers; the very revelation of which proves the duty of praying for their accomplishment. This department of evidence applies fully as much to New Testament believers, as to those of the Old; for these very promises were revealed by the prophets, that they might guide such as lived under an after dispen These references are perhaps sufficient, in so far as the facts of the question are concerned; that is, they show that the mere exercise of pleading the promise has been, in a great measure, devolved on the Church. But it will still remain that we should inquire into the grounds of this apparent transference, that we should ascertain whether it be owing to any special arrangement in the economy of grace, and which may still farther open up to us the nature and extent of our duty. Now, there is another class of facts bearing on this subject, worthy at least of our attention. It does not appear that, up to the ascension, there was any offering up of prayer formally in the name of Christ. We use the word for mally, to provide for what we know to have been common to all ages, namely, the offering of prayer virtually through the mediation of a redeemer, and merely to affirm that, so far as appears, the Church was not in the habit of praying formally in the name of Christ till he rose from the dead. And of this we have, at least, one remarkable example in that very prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord's Prayer. For in it there is no special reference to Christ, as the medium of acceptance. But when our Lord was about to leave his disciples, he seems to have intimated a remarkable change in this respect: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do ; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." John xiv. 12–14. There the Son promises himself to do the thing asked for of the Father, although it is asked in his own name; and this is probably said in reference to the power which he was about to inherit. But, in other passages, care is taken to represent the Father as the object of ad▾ dress, and the Son as the medium: "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; for the Fa-viour, requiring that such prayers should be prether himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God." John xvi. 23–27. It will scarcely be denied that these passages refer to a certain great change as affecting prayer. While Christ was with his people on earth, he himself prayed much with them and for them. But now they were to be left alone, and yet still prayer was to be offered. He therefore gave them, it would appear, the power of using his name, assuring them that whatever the Father would do for him, that would he also do for them, only it was necessary that the channel of their acceptance should be distinctly recognised. And when we now look at this, in the broad light of the economy of grace, we see, or may see, that the medium of all our privileges came now to be more fully revealed; and through the gift of the Spirit bestowed upon the Church, she was now enabled, not only to labour more, but even, in a higher proportion, to pray more,to pray more spiritually and in faith. Now, it ought to be specially observed that the work of evangelizing the world was committed to the Church, and this in virtue of the power which had been given to Christ as a risen Saviour: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." But this was not enough; for while it gave full authority, it left those to whom it was intrusted to seek power. And hence it is added, "and lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." Matt. xxviii. 18-20. In virtue of this promise alone, the Church would have been warranted to ask and expect divine aid, up to the full measure of the accomplishment of the grant contained in our text. But when, with this, we have the farther instructions respecting prayer, already referred to, no room is left even for doubt. It may be affirmed, generally, that all laws and grants are best explained by the practical proceedings which followed upon them. And, in this respect, the duty of prayer, as devolved upon the Church, is sufficiently explicit. Our Lord particularly instructed his disciples that they should wait at Jerusalem for the descent of the Spirit, And, in obedience to this command, "these all continued," it is said, "with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." Acts i. 14. And in this exercise they seem to have mainly continued from the time of the ascension till the morning of the Pentecost, when, we are told, "they were all with one accord in one place." | | It would be tedious to enumerate instances, which occur in almost every page of the Book of Acts, and which generally pervade the Epistles, proving how largely the spirit of prayer was now bestowed on the Church, how fully and steadily it was directed to the subject of our text, and how much it was according to the instructions of our Sasented in his name. On this last point only it may he necessary to quote a single passage, and which will, we doubt not, suffice: "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Col. iii. 17. There is only one other point connected with the illustration of this subject which we think it necessary to notice. We mean the connection between the fulfilment of this condition on the part of the Church, and the fulfilment of the promise as made to the Redeemer. This is a subject full of interest, and capable of important practical results. Only look, for example, at our Lord's apostles, when, at the sight of the band who came to take our Lord, they all forsook him and fled, except John and Peter, one of whom also failed through fear, and denied his Lord; and then ask yourselves the question, how shall these conquer the world? But now look forward and witness the same men and their associates, full of the Holy Ghost, daring the powers of the Council, and even of mighty Rome, and thousands of converts hastening to their ranks; and then ask yourselves,— and by what means was the power of heaven thus brought into alliance with the feebleness of earth? and there is no other answer can be given, than that already assigned. They waited with one accord in prayer and supplication, till they received the promise of the Father. They asked, and the Father gave, according to the terms of his own decree. On the same principle we find the twelve apostles objecting to the occupation of their time with the affairs of the poor; thus affirming concerning themselves, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word." Acts vi. 4. Prayer, then, occupied with them even a prior place to that of the ministry of the Word. They asked, and so fulfilled the condition, and God gave, and so fulfilled the promise. And hence, the conversion of souls, as well as the instruction of the people. And in the same manner the whole Church was active, not only in the use of means, but in the use of prayer, as is manifest from the whole of the apostolical writings. And in answer to these prayers, as well as in connection with the means employed, God gave to the Church the conquest of a large part of the world. And this was particularly the case in the sending forth of Missionaries to convert the heathen. The very first mission which was ever sent forth, professedly with this view, was sent from Antioch, and strictly on these principles. "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and |