perfluous language to God. Long prayers are apt to weary, (young people in particular) and the moment the mind becomes wearied, the heart ceases to be concerned, vitally, in the prayer, and the prayer ceases to be useful. I am not arguing against the use but the abuse of long prayers, by a tenacious adherence to them, and making them imperative upon Christians, which is one mode of making the yoke of Christ an hard one. Our duties, and civil occupations, must not so engross our time as to prevent us exercising a certain, i. e. reasonable portion of private, practical, prayer; nor must this practical prayer encroach upon the time which we are bound to devote to our civil occupations and social duties: for to leave undone that which is necessary for us to do in our social and civil capacities, to retire to pray, is to prefer lip service to active service; and to suffer our occupations and duties to preclude all opportunities of public and private prayer, is to serve ourselves in stead of God. When we are disposed to pray, if we cannot consistently use practical prayer, we can use mental, and then we are equally praying to God and "instant in prayer." In this article of the doctrines of Christianity, as well as in all others, every one must be left to his own conscience, our religion being a religion of freedom; and as every one must be answerable for himself, God has given him free will, or the privilege of choosing for, and acting for himself. He has " Moses and the Prophets," let him read them: but of this all may be assured, the more or less they pray, the more or less they have to expect from God. Let every man be convinced of the necessity of prayer, and his own mind, if he be seriously, seeking salvation, will direct him when, and how to pray. An earnest enquiry after our duty has in it something of the character of prayer; and the performance of a good action from the reflection that it will please God, is a sacrifice of praise to him; for we cannot praise and glorify him so effectually by any means as by doing his will. If mankind, in their afflictions or necessities, flew to God, and implored deliverance, instead of flying to dissipation or crime, to rid themselves of melancholy thought and imperious pressure, (which only adds stings to the existing torture), they would find relief: for, if God saw it not for their benefit to remove the temptation from them immediately, he would palliate it, and prepare for them " to escape. a way If we wish for any temporal advantage which man can bestow, what pains do we not take to obtain it! we canvass friends to intercede for us, if we have not personal recommendation to the patron; we are diligent in attendance till our patience is wearied, and submit to mortification upon mortification, after all, probably, to ruminate upon disappointment, and smart with bitter regret for the loss of time which industry might have made peace profitable, and the enjoyment of its earnings sweet. We incur such perplexities, destroying our time and compromising our happiness, for things that are perishable, (as thousands perpetually do ;) yet, when we may obtain all that is essential for us-and, having obtained, may enjoy without a regret to raise one sigh for time mispent; or a fear to check our joy with. the frown of reflection-by devoting a small portion of time to prayer, with a true Christian spirit, to him who can and will give us all things that are good for us, with the gifts that never perish: the earnests of the Almighty's approbation to sincerity, and the incitements to hope of an eternal life: yet, I say, we neglect such an obvious, easy, delightful, and imperative mean, and with it all that is most worthy our serious care. For a selection of prayers for private use, I should advise recourse to the excellent Liturgy of our Church, as found in the Book of Common Prayer: a collec tion of pious offerings, which reflect the greatest credit and honour upon the memories of those who composed them; for the truly devotional spirit in which they are written; the spirit of piety, ardent from zeal, and reverent from humility; their model has been that all-excellent prayer given us by our Saviour; they are succinct yet comprehensive, and composed in the precise style in which an humble, yet ardent creature ought to address his Creator; they contain neither the flights of enthusiasm, nor the frigidity of superstition; no expression of presuming confidence, nor trait of desponding fear; they are the chaste and judicious petitions of rational piety and animated hope, depending upon the promises of a merciful God for acceptance, and offering, in the ingenuous language of sincerity, the grateful homage of the heart. I question if any Liturgy or precatory compilation in the world can match this invaluable digest of Christian, supplication, either for internal |