is within you;"—and how ought we to endeavour that Christian instruction may spread, and subjects daily be added to the Lord's kingdom! And then, how watchful we ought to be that our example may be such as shall encourage others to godliness! And how fearful we ought to be of doing such things as may tempt any one to sin!-for this is furnishing subjects for Satan's kingdom instead of God's.

T. Yes; and thus, we see, in this petition too, how plainly duty goes along with prayer. And now, William, what do you think is the meaning of " Thy will be done?" It seems to me, that in heaven, where there is no sin, the angels and saints are all trying how much they can do the Will of God; and here we seem to that it pray be so with us upon may earth; that none of us may try to set up our own Will against God's; but that we may strive in all things to do His Will.

W. Yes: and what a duty it is for us to try after this! and what a happiness it would be if we were all aiming at it! And, moreover, when affliction or distress comes upon us, what a blessed thing it would be if we could all say, " Thy Will be done!" To say it, indeed, is easy enough, but it is not quite so easy to feel it. I am sure, then, we have every one of us need to pray for this spirit of Christian resignation, that we may be enabled, from our hearts, to say, " Thy Will be done."

T. And I think, too, that the next petition teaches us a good deal; " Give us this day our daily bread." Now, here, we seem to acknowledge that every blessing we enjoy comes from the Lord. We can have no food to supply our bodily wants but by his gift. We may labour, and plough, and sow, but it is God that "giveth the increase:" and therefore, though we are called upon to labour and toil, yet it will all turn to nothing without the Lord's blessing. We cannot make a blade of corn to spring; it groweth "we know not how." We are therefore taught

to ask of God to "give us our daily bread!" And when we say bread, I consider that this means such food as the Lord knows to be needful; and that we are not to be discontented with such things as he sees fit to provide for us, that we are not to be hankering and repining after dainties and delicacies, as if the feeding of the body were all in all.

W. No; and when we say, "Give us this day, our daily bread," this shews us that we are to pray every day, that our daily wants may be supplied; and here we pray, likewise, for that "bread of life" which cometh from above; that meat and drink which consists in doing the Will of our heavenly Father.

T. Now let us look at the next petition: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us." How do you understand this?

W. Why I consider that we have all trespassed against God (that is, we have all offended him :) and our sins are, as we may say, set down in his book, as debts against us. We pray, then, that he would forgive us these debts.

T. Yes, and I think it is, above all things, needful that we should pray for this; because, unless our sins are forgiven, unless they are blotted out of the book of God's remembrance, they must stand against us at the last day. But the Scripture tells us that Christ has paid the ransom for our sins, and we have, therefore, great encouragement to pray, that, for his sake, our trespasses may be forgiven.

W. Yes; and for fear we should think that his atonement should justify us if we continue wilfully to sin, he himself commands us to ask that our trespasses may be forgiven, as we forgive them that trespass against us. This plainly shows, that if we are unkind and unforgiving to our fellow-creatures, if we bear malice or hatred against them, we cannot expect that God should forgive us our trespasses. Indeed, we rather pray that he should not forgive us; we turn our prayers against ourselves.

T. Why that is certainly true. But now, tell me what you think is meant by "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

W. Why, you know, this world is a state of trial. Whatever be our condition, it has its temptations. Some situations, to be sure, expose us to more temptations than others. We therefore pray that the Almighty would keep us out of such situations as may tempt us to fall from him; for such is the weakness of our nature, that we have, daily and hourly, need of his strength to keep us from falling.

T. Yes, indeed; and when such is our danger, how strange it is that any persons should put themselves into the midst of temptations! I mean by going amongst wicked company, where the temptation to sin is so great.

W. It is indeed a strange thing, and a very sad thing to think of. If we lead ourselves into temptation, we have no promise of help from above: we cannot expect to be delivered from evil. But, whilst we are aiming to do well-striving to be followers of Christ and praying that we may be kept in the right path, there is every encouragement for us,there is every promise on our side. And as our heavenly Father is all-merciful in his willingness to help us, so we may be sure that he is fully able to do it,for his "is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever.

Amen."

CHAPTER V.

The next Conversation between these two Labourers was to the following effect.

Thomas.

WHEN you and I were last together, William, we were talking about the Lord's Prayer. Now, when we have finished that prayer, or indeed any other of the church prayers, I think it sounds wonderfully solemn to hear all the people joining together, and saying, as if with one voice," AMEN."

William. Yes, indeed it does. And, as Amen means So be it, when the people all join in saying this, it shows so much of union, such a hearty joining in the prayers, something so truly like public and social worship, that it is quite joyful to hear it. It is miserable work to hear nobody say Amen but the clerk; just as if the people thought that they had nothing to do with the prayers, but that it was only an affair between the minister and the clerk. How different this is from the way that the Christians of old went on! I have been told, that in their churches, the people answered AMEN so loud, that it was like a peal of thunder.

T. But do you think there is any occasion for us to make so much noise as that?

W. I do not say there is; but we should do it with a solemn and distinct voice, to show that we are not ashamed of what we are about, but that we really do all desire to offer up our prayers to God. The Rubric tells us, that at the end of all the prayers, the people shall answer " AMEN." Mind; not the clerk only, but the people too. Indeed, through all the Prayer-Book, care is taken to remind us that prayer is a work in which we are every one of us concerned, and that we are not to be content

with bringing our bodies to the house of prayer, but that we are to bring our minds, and thoughts, and affections, there too. Thus, when we say, "Let us pray," this shows that prayer is not the business of the Minister only, but of us-of every one of us.

T. Yes, and the church, to be sure, does furnish us with prayers wonderfully suited to the wants and desires of Christians of all sorts and conditions.

W. Yes: if we attend well to the whole of the service we shall find it so.-But now let us look a little farther into the Prayer-Book; and let us begin where we left off last. I think, after the Lord's Prayer, these words come :

Priest. O Lord, open thou our lips.

Answer. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.

Priest. O God, make speed to save us.

99

Answer. O Lord, make haste to help us. Yes, these little verses come next. We pray that the Lord would "open our lips." The gift of speech comes from him: we cannot open our lips unless he gives us the power. It is but right, then, that if he gives us the gift of speech, we should employ it to his glory, and that "our mouths should show forth his praise." And then, as our help and salvation can only come from the Lord, we pray that he would "make speed to save us, and that he would "make haste to help us.' Then we are all to rise from our knees, and stand up: and, as soon as we are in that posture of praise, we all join in giving "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost." And, as the faithful have, at all times, lifted up their praises to this ever-blessed Godhead, so they ever shall; and the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost shall never fail; "as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." I remember a story of one of the godly men of old; an aged, venerable man he was; and he was called to shed his blood in the