things may often, and justly, supersede it; and there is little room to doubt, that it will be superseded altogether.

Nor is it possible to say how much we lose, by not availing ourselves of those little seasons, which the busiest day of life affords, to offer ejaculatory supplication and thanksgiving. Amid the tumult raised by his murderers, Stephen could utter his brief and memorable petition-Lord, lay not this sin to their charge-Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! Thus Hannah sent her entreaties to heaven, with the silence and rapidity of thought, speaking in her heart though her voice was not heard.

And in effecting a transition from our employments to our devotions, it may be well to remember that the scriptures supply many themes of meditation, strictly suited to persons thus occupied. If we are busied in the paths of public usefulness, how natural should be the extending of our thoughts to Him, who went about doing good; who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich; who gave himself for us, that he might purify us, and present us as a sweetsmelling savour unto God! Surely we could not pass thus, from our own humble efforts, to his great example, and not find ourselves at once in that presence which calls forth every devotional feeling. If pressed by labour, and care, and sorrow, how great were the toil, the anxiety, the grief of Him who has called us to tread in his steps! and how appropriate those words, Your heavenly

Father knoweth you have need of such things! If employed in more elevated pursuits, such as task the memory, the reason, the imagination, and the feelings to the utmost; what should be more easy, than to rise still upwards, to the contemplation of that Mind by which all things are known and nothing forgotten; before which the perceptions and the feelings of taste, are as the inexperience of infancy; and the achievements of art, in their most amazing combinations of sublimity or beauty, are as the structures of humblest childhood? Should the benevolent find it difficult to converse with Him who was benevolence in its perfectness? Should the occupied doubt of sympathy in His nature, the labours of whose ministry were, in their weight, and their multitude, almost incredible? Should the intellectual regard devotion as a hard and unreasonable service, while it simply leads them to a nearer view of the loftiest intelligence, to a contemplation of the marvellous exhibition of it in the vastness and loveliness of the universe, and of its more wonderful disclosures in the worlds of grace and glory? Is it not rather apparent, that private devotion is the link, especially formed to connect the poor charities of earth, with the unsullied benevolence of heaven; the wearisome labours of time, with the blissful activities of eternity; and the noblest culture of the human faculties below, with their happier development, and their still nobler achievements, in the world above?

Every close observer of his own spirit must

perceive, that aids of this nature are of great importance toward the maintenance of that habit of mind, which has its treasure in heaven.

'Tis a thing impossible to frame

Conceptions equal to the Soul's desires;
And the most difficult of tasks to keep
Heights which the soul is competent to gain.
Man is of dust ethereal hopes are his,

Which, when they should sustain themselves aloft,
Want due consistence: like a pillar of smoke,

That with majestic energy from earth
Rises; but having reached the thinner air,
Melts, and dissolves, and is no longer seen.
WORDSWORTH.

It is by means, and by reflections, of the nature now adverted to, that Christians are preserved, under the blessing of their Lord, from being perpetually ensnared to a low state of spiritual perception and feeling.

But all that we have hitherto said, refers to such a state, as being the result of excessive occupation, in reference to things not in themselves unlawful. When the state described is occasioned by any thing positively sinful, the malady assumes a different character, and should be subject to a different treatment. With respect to such cases, thus much at least is plain,-instead of restraining prayer, we should study to abound in it the more. If we have fallen more into the power of the enemy, and have more sins needing to be forgiven, assuredly we should increase in supplication before the divine throne, and especially in the humility and fervour of secret entreaty. We are in greater danger of

being lost, and should look with greater earnestness and vigilance to Him who is able to save, and who can alone save. Ere long, the offending Christian is made sensible of these things. His apathy gives place, perhaps, to deep spiritual suffering; and, in the language of the prophet, he returns with weeping and supplication to the paths he had forsaken. With a memorable backslider, he prays, Restore unto me the joys of thy salvation; take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Another source of trial connected with private devotion is THE WANT OF faith. This principle, if such it may be called, varies both in its quality and degree. There is a faith that hates the truth which it cannot resist. Such is the faith of fallen angels, and such is that of a large portion of mankind. But this cannot be saving faith. Even the faith of those who are strictly believers, is liable to great variousness as to its amount, and its admixtures.

We have seen, in a preceding chapter, that, in every mind, there are evils alien from faith, and at war with it; and that, from these causes, it is ever liable to serious modifications. We read, accordingly, of little faith, and great faith, of weak faith, and strong faith, and of a full assurance of faith. There may be faith enough in regard to the obligation of secret prayer, to prevent a man from wholly neglecting it; and, at the same time, not enough to lead him to pray acceptably. His conscience may tell him, that without secret prayer, it is in vain to suppose that he is a Christian; and

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it may tell him what the things are which he should ask in secret. But these may, after all, be things which he does not expect, which he does not really wish, to obtain. He is not willing to meet the conflict necessary to his becoming, what he would seem to have prayed that he may become; and it is not always easy to distinguish between this predominance of faithlessness in an unconverted mind, and its occasional influence over the regenerate. There have been men, whose piety has risen above all suspicion, in whom a spirit of doubting, with respect to the most vital truths, has acquired an alarming power, and continued through a considerable space of time. When, from causes of this kind, the mind is conscious of asking for what it can hardly be said to expect will be conferred, it is impossible that it should long be satisfied with itself; and there is danger lest it should neglect an exercise altogether, to which it finds itself so generally unequal.

But supposing such a man to be indeed without faith, his obligation to seek it by prayer, as the promised gift of God, remains unaltered. If we possess but a little faith, it is His power only that can make it great. And if disturbed by speculative difficulties, and suggestions, our prayers are addressed to the God of truth, mightier than the father of lies:-and to whom should we go but unto him? If our hearts testify the word of the Almighty to be a good word, all that is doing, may be meant to show, whether we are prepared to