ousness, pride, luxury, intemperance, impurity, unbelief, misbelief, secularism, dishonour done to God's holy Name, and Word, and day, and house, and Sacraments. Intercession, that noble exercise of our royal priesthood, spreading in ever wider circles from our own hearths and homes to the flock of which we are members, the community in which we, dwell, the Church whose children we are, the country we love, the many lands of Christendom, the regions of missionary toil, the whole world for which Christ died. And lastly, giving of thanks for God's distinguishing mercies to us as a Church and nation; for the light of His Gospel planted on our shores from the earliest Christian ages; for our national growth and for our signal deliverances; for the blessed Reformation, not running into excess as in some lands, but casting off the evil which had gathered round the truth, and retaining and cherishing the good; for the wonderful revival of evangelical life and Church order during the last hundred years; for the effusion of the Holy Spirit, the ingathering of souls, and the many times of refreshing which have been granted us from the Presence of the Lord. And the issue of our prayer to usward is that we may lead "a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and gravity" (Revised Version), a quiet and tranquil life, and this in the sphere of godliness (or reverence) and gravity, that calm dignity which beseems a child of God and an heir of glory. To rise in the morning and hold communion with God in the study of His Word and at the footstool of His Throne; to serve Him without fear all the day; to eat our bread with gladness and singleness of heart; to enjoy the communion of saints, none making us afraid; to recruit our strength, wearied with weekday toil, in the happy services of the Lord's day and at the Holy Table of His love; to lay us down every night in peace, a day's march nearer home, attended by the ministry of angels, and at rest under the unsleeping Eye of our Father in heaven: these, which are such common and everyday mercies, are yet so closely interwoven with our life to Godward that whoso ponders them will not think these prayers for our Church unbecoming a place in our highest and holiest acts of worship. Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear, tili eve, Abide with me from morn Thou Framer of the light and dark, We are in port if we have Thee. The rulers of this Christian land, 'Twixt Thee and us ordained to stand, Guide Thou their course, O Lord aright; Come near and bless us when we wake, We lose ourselves in heaven above. The Christian Year. THE COLLECTS FOR THE DAY. Then shall be said the Collect of the Day. " a THE royal Preacher says, "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." The collects of our Prayer-Book seem especially to fulfil these requirements. They are brief: they are reverent they are full of meaning; and their meaning is expressed in the choicest words. In these words our fathers and our fathers' fathers, from generation to generation, have poured out their hearts to God. And they are as fresh to-day as when first written. Nor is the reason hard to discover. They are steeped in the needs of the Church militant, they are cast in the mould of Holy Scripture, they lead us through Jesus Christ to the footstool of infinite everlasting Love. It would be obviously quite beyond the limit of this treatise to enter upon any detailed examination of these matchless forms of prayer. But I may remind the reader of those great groups of subjects into which they most readily fall. I do not profess a Eccles. v. 2. most thankfully receive the inestimable benefit of Christ's sacrifice for sin, but also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of His most holy life. (5) On "The Word of God," see collects 2nd in Advent, St. John the Evangelist, St. Mark, St. Bartholomew, St. Luke, SS. Simon and Jude, St. Paul. On " Prayer," 2nd after Epiphany, 10th, 12th, 23rd after Trinity, Quinquagesima, 1st and 3rd Good Friday. No words could express more simply and strongly the Church's unwavering trust in the power of the Word of God and prayer. (6) On "The Imitation of Saints," see collects for St. Stephen, the Innocents, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, SS. Philip and James, St. Barnabas, St John the Baptist, St. Peter, St. James, St. Matthew, All Saints' Day, all which breathe the spirit of the apostle's charge, that ye be not slothful, but imitators of those who by faith and patience inherit the promises. And (7) on "The Coming and Kingdom of Christ," see collects for 1st in Advent, the Epiphany and 6th after Epiphany, Easter Even and 4th after Easter, Sunday after Ascension, 6th, 11th, 13th, 14th after Trinity. There is a peculiar solemnity about these collects which speak of things to come, a chastened and |