John's day', which is evidently the foundation of the beautiful Collect now used in the Anglican Church, "Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it being enlightened by the doctrine of thy Apostle and Evangelist St. John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life, through Jesus our Lord. Amen." Such too is the close of the Prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here on earth, offered in our Anglican service," We bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear, beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom. Grant this, O Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen."

II. The second stage supplies examples of a kind of rhetorical apostrophe; the speaker addressing one who was departed as though he had ears to hear. Were not this the foundation stone on which the rest of the edifice seems to have been built, we might have passed it by unnoticed. Of this we have an instance in the address to the Shepherds on Christmas-day. " Whom have ye seen, ye shepherds? Say ye, tell ye, who hath appeared on the earth? Say ye, what saw ye? Announce to us the nativity of Christ 2."

four volumes, corresponding with the four quarters of the ecclesiastical year-Winter, Hiem.; Spring, Vern.; Summer, Estiv.; Autumn, Aut.; and the volumes will be designated by the corresponding initials, H. V. Æ. A.

1 "Ecclesiam tuam Domine benignus illustra, ut beati Johannis Apostoli tui et evangelistæ illuminata doctrinis, ad dona perveniat sempiterna. Per Dominum."-Husen. H. p. 243.

2 Quem vidistis, Pastores? Dicite, Annunciate nobis. In terris

Another instance is seen in that beautiful song ascribed to Prudentius and used on the day of Holy Innocents:

"Hail! ye flowers of Martyrs1

It is of the same character with other songs, said to be from the same pen, in which the town of Bethlehem is addressed, and even the Cross.

"O Thou of mighty cities "."

"Bend thy boughs, thou lofty tree 3. . . .

Thus, on the feast of the exaltation of the Cross, this anthem is sung,-"O blessed Cross, who wast alone worthy to bear the King of the heavens and the Lord1." Though unhappily, in an anthem on St. Andrew's day, this apostrophe becomes painful and distressing, in which not only is the cross thus apostrophised, but it is prayed to, as though it had ears to hear, and a mind to understand, and power to act,-" Hail, precious Cross! do thou receive the disciple of Him who hung upon thee, my master, Christ"." The Church of Rome, in this instance, gives us a vivid example of the ease with which exclamations and apostrophes are made the ground work of invocations. In the legend of the day similar, though not the same, words form a part of the salutation, which St. Andrew is there said to have ad

quis apparuit? Dicite quidnam vidistis? Et annunciate Christi nativitatem.-H. 219.

2

1 Salvete flores martyrum. H. 249.

O sola magnarum urbium. H. 306.

3 Flecte ramos arbor alta, &c. Aut. 344.

* O crux benedicta, quæ sola fuisti digna portare Regem cœlorum et Dominum. Alleluia. A. 345.

5 Salve, crux pretiosa suscipe discipulum ejus, qui pependit in te, magister meus Christus. A. 547.

dressed to the cross of wood prepared for his own martyrdom, and then bodily before his eyes. There are many such addresses to the Cross, in various parts of the Roman ritual1.

In such apostrophes, the whole of the Song of the Three Children abounds; and we meet with many such in the early writers.

III. The third stage supplies instances of prayer to God, imploring him to allow the supplication of his saints to be offered for us. Of this we find examples in the Collects for St. Andrew's Eve and Anniversary, for the Feast of St. Anthony, and various others.

"We beseech thee, Almighty God, that he whose feast we are about to celebrate may implore thy aid for us2, &c."

"That he may be for us a perpetual intercessor3.

"We beseech thee, O Lord, let the intercession of the blessed Anthony the Abbot commend us, that what we cannot effect by our own merits, we may obtain by his patronage: through the Lord.”

These prayers I could not offer in faith. I am taught in the written word to look for no other intercessor in heaven, than one who is eternal and divine, therefore I can need no other. Had God, by his

revealed word, told me that the intercessions of his servants departed should prevail with Him, provided I sought that benefit by prayer, I should, without any misgiving, have implored Him to receive their

2

1 See A. 344.

Quæsumus omnipotens Deus, ut beatus Andreas Apostolus cujus prævenimus festivitatem, tuum pro nobis imploret auxilium. A. 545.

3 Ut apud te sit pro nobis perpetuus intercessor. A. 551.

prayers in my behalf; but I can find no such an intimation in the covenant. In that covenant the word of the God of truth and mercy is pledged to receive those, and to grant the prayers of those who come to him through his blessed Son. In that covenant, I am strictly commanded and most lovingly invited to approach boldly the Supreme Giver of all good things myself, and to ask in faith nothing wavering, with an assurance that He who spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will, with Him, also freely give us all things. In this assurance I place implicit trust; and as long as I have my being in this earthly tabernacle, I will, by his gracious permission and help, pray for whatever is needful for the soul and the body; I will pray not for myself only, but for all, individually and collectively, who are near and dear to me, and all who are far from me; for my friends, and for those who wish me ill; for my fellow-Christians, and for those who are walking still in darkness and sin;--I will pray for mercy on all mankind. And I will, as occasion offers, desire others among the faithful on earth to pray for me; and will take comfort and encouragement and holy hope from the reflection that their prayers are presented to God in my behalf, and that they will continue to pray for me when my own strength shall fail and the hour of my departure shall draw nigh. But for the acceptance of my own prayers and of theirs I can depend on no other Mediator in the world of spirits than on HIM, whom his own Word declares to be the one Mediator between God and men, who prayed for me when He was on earth, who is ever making intercession for me in heaven. I know of no other in the unseen world, by whom I can have access to the Father; I find no other offered to me, I seek no

other, I want no other. I trust my cause,—the cause of my present life, the cause of my soul's eternal happiness,-to HIM and to his intercession. I thank God for the blessing. I am satisfied; and in the assurance of the omnipotence of his intercession, and the perfect fulness of his mediation, I am happy.

On this point it were well to compare two prayers both offered to God; the one pleading with Him the intercession of the passion of his only Son, the other pleading the prayers of a mortal man. The first prayer is a collect in Holy Week, the second is a collect on St. Gregory's Day.

We beseech thee, Almighty God, that we who among so many adversities from our own infirmity fail, the passion of thy only begotten Son interceding for us, may revive. V. 243.

O God, who hast granted the rewards of eternal blessedness' to the soul of thy servant Gregory, mercifully grant that we who are pressed down by the weight of our sins, may, by his prayers with Thee, be raised up. V. 480.

IV. The next form of prayer to which I would invite your serious attention, is one from which my judgment and my feelings revolt far more decidedly even than from the last-mentioned; and I have the most clear denouncement of my conscience, that by offering it I should do a wrong to my Saviour, and ungratefully disparage his inestimable merits, and the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction of his omni

1

I can never read this, and such passages as this, without asking myself, can such an assertion be in accordance with the inspired teaching?" Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." 1 Cor. iv. 5.