vealed to him by an angel, that his " prayers and his alms were gone up as a memorial before God," to be a standing and blessed assurance for ever of the pleasure which God takes in such service of prayer in every house where two or three only are gathered together in the name of Christ; whereas, on the other hand, awful is the curse pronounced by the prophet on them that neglect this domestic duty (and surely his language must touch all who live as heathens that know not God in a Christian land), "Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not upon thy name" (Jer. x. 25). Archbishop Tillotson says of this duty, that " where it is neglected, I do not see how any family can be esteemed a family of Christians, or, indeed, to have any religion at all.” And Bishop Wilson observes, that "ignorance, profaneness, and a curse, must of necessity be upon that family, where not a creature but is taken care of and served twice every day, and God only is forgotten;" God the giver of all; whose gracious will it is that men every where should pray," who has made prayer the main channel of grace to the soul, and has given the merciful pledge of his everlasting promise to them that fear him; Ask and ye shall have, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you."

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Such being the motives to family prayer, we look now to the benefits arising from it.

The first effect of the regular observance of this duty

is to impart a feeling of holy comfort to every heart that engages in it, and to promote that conscientious fidelity. among the members of a household in their respective occupations, which is the best security for the welfare and happiness of the whole. And how can any man expect honesty and fidelity from those about him, if he refuses to lead them to God, the author and source from whence all good principles flow? As reasonably may he expect to see them healthy and strong, without bodily food, as that they should be well conducted and walk uprightly amidst the snares and temptations of life, if he furnish no spiritual food for the "strengthening and refreshing of their souls." The more regularly the members of a family are brought together to look up in prayer to their common Saviour, whose example they have engaged to follow, so as "to be made like unto him," the more kind and forbearing, and the less selfish, will they be towards each other; for the spirit which is imbibed in family prayer, is the evangelical spirit of gentleness, and charity, and good will. The harshness of the parent towards an erring child, the jarring temper of brother against brother, or the sullenness of the servant, will often stand self-convicted and self-rebuked, when all meet to begin and end the day with confessing their lost and sinful state before God, and pleading, as the condition of pardon through the merits of Christ, their own pardon of the trespasses of others; and their desire to serve God by acts of for

bearance and forgiveness "if any man have aught against any." So does family prayer become a bond of peace, and an aid to being "in charity with all men;"→ aye, and in such services as these, "what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?" (1 Cor. vii. 16.)

To all who have been brought up in their baptismal vow, this habit affords, next to public worship, that most delightful fellowship in devotion, to which welldisposed minds naturally look as a daily means of advancing in holiness. But all, perhaps, may not have had the advantage of being so brought up. Some may not have had a religious education; there may be one in the family whose principles have never been firmly settled; he may have fallen in the way of bad companions; he may have been abroad, and exposed to temptation amidst the degrading and debasing vices of the profanest of mankind. Nay, he may have gone so far in sin, that like the sons of Job, "he has even cursed God in his heart." How important is it, then, for such a man to be brought, by the example of others, to conform to family prayer at home, that he may be compelled to hear of God, if haply the seeds of religion may

so spring up in his heart, that if God give the increase, they may be like "bread cast upon the waters, which shall be found after many days."

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Though I trust there is no house where the greater part of the inmates do not pray in the privacy of their chambers, when they "commune with their own hearts and are still," yet every such person will surely feel that it is the habit of household worship that is most pleasing to God, as a daily remembrancer for him, which stamps a Christian character upon all, and leads them that labour and are heavy laden to come unto the Saviour, that they may find rest unto their souls. to those who object that their thoughts are not always framed for devotion, the answer is, let them only begin with reading a few verses of Scripture, selected from the Psalms, or some part of the New Testament, before prayer, and the preparation will be precisely that which God himself has provided, and pious men of all ages have found effectual to its end. And as to the difficulty which some pretend, of assembling the whole family at an appointed hour, let them ask their own hearts whether it would not be soon overcome if wealth, or worldly advantage, were to be gained by it; and then let them ask of the Word of God, "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Where this habit prevails among the poor (as in many instances I know it does in this parish), the comfort derived from it is not to be told. It naturally leads to industry and cleanliness, economy, order, and content

ment; for "godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that

And where it has been entirely neglected, and nothing heard of God either in domestic or in public worship, can we wonder if, in the strifes and miseries which torment such unhappy families, we see the dreadful signs of that impenitent hardness of heart, which is usually the last judgment God inflicts in this world on those who have shut their ears against his calls, and despised the means of grace he set before them. It is too plain that as such persons have forsaken God, so (awful to think!) GOD HAS FORSAKEN THEM; according to the everlasting truth of his holy word,-"The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you" (2 Chron. xv. 2). And again: "The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him" (Ezra viii. 22).

I beseech you all to think upon these things, which have not been written without much earnest prayer for your eternal good,-my highest aim is that I may be found hereafter to have been

Your faithful Pastor and Servant in Christ,

Alton Vicarage, Hants,

April 7, 1851.

EDWARD JAMES.