EVERY question which involves the operation of Divine power is full of mystery. The Lord is "wonderful in working," and "his ways are past finding out." This is as true of the proceedings of God in creation and providence as it is in the kingdom of grace. Standing on the threshold of the temple of God, whether material or spiritual, it is incumbent on all finite intelligencies to be impressed with awe, and to look in as Moses at the bush, conscious of the presence of the Divine Majesty, and with humble reverence to listen to the voice which issues from "the holy oracle." Here facts and realities come before the soul, vast, sublime, awful and divine. Here truths accost our ears as mysterious as they are gracious and momentous.

One voice from that oracle, which is heard by all devout men, is that they should "worship God in the Spirit," "pray in the Holy Ghost," "be filled with the Spirit," so as to be excited, elevated, and influenced by his gracious power. In a duty like this there are mysteries and mercies. The duty of prayer and its privilege are obvious enough.

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For God, "the high and lofty one" to permit his creatures to have access to him, to pour out their hearts before him," to tell him their wants and their fears, to seek his mercy, his strength, his favour, and all the blessings of "the everlasting covenant," and this with the assurance of his regard and the hope of receiving the blessings they desire, is a privilege the value of which words cannot express.

As with the privilege so with the duty. God's repeated and strong injunctions to "pray always," and "without ceasing;" the conditions on which he engages to bestow his favours being that we "ask" in order to receive, and "seek" that we may find; the facilities he has given us for this exercise, as his word to instruct, his Son to intercede, and his promise to encourage; as well as the value of the blessings we need and our absolute dependance on him for them; all shew that the duty of frequent and fervent prayer is incumbent on his people. And, we may add, the fact that all his believing people have been "renewed in the spirit of their mind," have

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ASSISTANCE IN PRAYER DERIVED FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT.

"received the Holy Ghost," are brought near to God by Jesus Christ, and have received the "spirit of adoption," in order that they may be qualified, as it were, to have communion with God, gives intensity to the idea both of the privilege and the duty of prayer.

But to be directed and commanded to "pray in the Holy Ghost,” and "be filled with the Spirit," is an exhortation that seems to involve if not a power in the humble believer over the Holy Spirit of God, at least the fact that so gracious, present, and ready to be imparted are the influences and power of the Holy Spirit that it is the believer's privilege and duty to avail himself of them. This is a wonderful and mysterious truth, but it is so plainly implied in the Scriptures above referred to that we cannot call it in question.

The Holy Spirit, we may be reminded, is referred to as "the spirit of grace and supplication" which should be "poured out" on the Lord's people. It is also said to "help our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." When therefore there is in the soul the true spirit of earnest fervent prayer, it is from the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit is also represented as "dwelling in" the souls of the redeemed, and as consecrating their bodies as his temple, and working in them to will and to do the pleasure of the Most High. He is therefore, as to the humble believer "at hand," and "within him." Like the light that surrounds us, the christian has only to open his eyes to be filled with it; like the atmosphere that encircles us, he inhales it and is invigorated, or like the shekinah,—God's glory, in the most holy place of the temple, he has only to recognize the enthronement of the Spirit in his heart to feel and be filled by his cheering glory and divine influence and power. If these views are correct, how infinite and inconceivable is the grace that God has conferred on his children!

But how does the Spirit thus help believers in prayer, and in what way are they influenced by his power? Here is confessedly a great mystery, but happily we are not under the necessity of comprehending it, either in order to believe or to enjoy it. Our own spirits and powers are mysterious to us, all the operations of God are replete with mystery, and in this case the mystery is no bar to the devout recognition of a divine and glorious reality. That the almighty and gracious Spirit can and does touch the hearts and consciences of his people, enlighten their understandings, give direction to their thoughts, intensity to their desires, and consolation and strength to their souls, is the doctrine of inspiration and the fact of enlightened and happy experience. It is one which is realized in proportion as the soul is near to God.

The marks and characteristics of the soul which is prompted and influenced by the Holy Spirit in prayer, may be easily pointed out. Some of them obviously are such as these:-a deep aversion for all merely formal homage. The soul influenced by the spirit of God, seeks to lift itself up to him. The heart, the inmost desires tend toward God. Lip service and heathen repetitions are peculiarly revolting to a mind filled with the Spirit. As God seeketh those to worship him who do so "in spirit and in truth," so those who "pray in the Holy Ghost" especially "pour out their hearts before him." A deep sense of the evil of sin, and of our own insignificance and unworthiness before a holy and infinite God, which lays the soul in the dust at his feet, is another mark of prayer prompted by the spirit of God.

ASSISTANCE IN PRAYER DERIVED FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT.

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The Spirit helps in prayer by giving refreshing and enlarged conceptions of the power and grace of Christ, the excellency of his work, and the reality and prevalence of his intercession. When, also, the mind is enabled to realize the infinite and inexpressible importance of spiritual blessings, and is filled with ardent and inexpressible longings after the enjoyment of God, conformity to his image, consecration to his service, and usefulness in his cause, it is from the spirit of God. These, and kindred emotions and desires are powerful evidences and truthful characteristics of prayer dictated and prompted by the spirit of God. They do not arise from mere human wisdom. Their origin is from above. There is, in them, the beautiful spectacle, of the believer stirring up his soul to seek God, following "hard after him," and the spirit of God helping, inspiring, and sustaining him in the holy and devout exercise.

If these are correct thoughts on this mysterious but important subject, how appropriate an injunction to "pray in the Holy Ghost!" Let us ever keep in mind his gracious influences. Let us think of him as given to "abide with," and in his church for ever; as given to us for our instruction and sanctification. Let us rely on his gracious and promised aid, and seek his leading and sustaining power, remembering that we are intelligent and responsible beings, and that the high favours God confers on us by giving his spirit, and teaching us to depend on his influences, greatly increases our obligations; and calls for constant vigilance, and earnest care not to "grieve the Holy Spirit" by our forgetfulness of his presence, our want of faith in him, our worldliness, or our sin. Let us seek that our souls may be filled with his bright beams and that we may be purified by his holy power, being assured that the absence of the true spirit of prayer from our souls, is to be traced to ourselves and our own neglect and unbelief, and not to the unwillingness of the Spirit to help our infirmities.

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Alas! does not every believer's conscience accuse him of having restrained prayer" before God? When the Spirit has prompted he has not obeyed. When the Spirit has awakened within him the thought of prayer, and has opened the way to the throne of grace, he has not followed the heavenly influence. In that case can we wonder if our souls are barren and our hearts cold? Oh, while we regret not availing ourselves in time past of his gracious leadings, let us in future seek to be filled with the Spirit. His presence and power imbibed and entertained will exhilarate our souls, and fill us with joy and gladness.

As a help to true devotion let us never forget the word of inspiration given by the Holy Spirit as a guide to our feet. As we devoutly peruse it and meditate on it from day to day, we shall receive the truth which the Spirit has taught, and by seeking his aid, shall be enabled to "walk in the Spirit," and to glorify God. As an aid to devotion, what a collection of writings is the book of Psalms! and as incentives to prayer what exquisite materials are found in the writings of the apostles and prophets, in their experience, and in the recorded dispensations and promises of God. But after all, when we have diligently sought to prepare our own hearts for worship, by reading the Scriptures, meditation on their glorious revelations and promises, let us not forget that so free and gracious, so abundant, and ready to be communicated are the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, that they will enter into, and fill every heart that is open to receive them, so that it is as much our duty and privilege to " worship God in the spirit" as it is to worship him and seek him at all.

SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS AGO; OR, ENGLAND IN

FEUDAL TIMES.

CHAPTER II.

WHEREIN THE TALK IS OF CASTLES, MONASTERIES, AND CATHEDRALS.

James Wilson." But to 'return to our mutton,' as the French say, and leave the subject of ways, literal and figurative, let us glance at another feature in the landscape of Feudal England, namely, the numerous CASTLES with which the country was studded. Many of these were comparatively small buildings, grim-looking enough, often built in almost inaccessible positions, but still not large. Others again, as for instance, those at Rochester, Dover, Richmond, Norwich, Oxford, and Nottingham, were buildings of great extent and magnitude. These larger castles usually consisted of a Keep (which was in fact the Citadel); a Barrack for the soldiers, and stables for their horses; two large Courts (or Baileys, as they were termed); and a Chapel and fortified Gateway; the whole being enclosed by a lofty and solid embattled wall, strengthened at intervals by Towers, and surrounded by a Ditch or Moat."

Miss Mayfield." Not much like our present Nottingham Castle!" James W.- 66 'Your present Nottingham Castle! It does not deserve the name. It was a burlesque to call such a place as that, even in its best estate, a Castle. Never shall I forget the ludicrous feeling of disappointment which came over me the first time I visited Nottingham, when, entering by the train from Derby, and passing through those pretty meadows of yours, all covered with crocuses, a courteous fellow-traveller pointed out to me a square-looking building on the top of a rock, and said, "That is Nottingham Castle.' The rock, I grant you, is fine enough; but Castle!' thought I, where are the Towers? Where is the Keep?' I had heard indeed that at the Reform Riots in 1831, Nottingham Castle was burnt by the mob, but still, I somehow expected to see the remains of that same old fortress of which Mrs. Hutchinson speaks in her charming memoirs of her husband."

"Tit for tat, cousin

Miss M.-(putting in eagerly and laughingly). James! That only showed how superficially and carelessly you read books. Mrs Hutchinson herself tells how the old castle was destroyed by command of the Colonel, much to the displeasure of Cromwell."

James W.-(smiling). "Ah! you have caught me tripping there, I own. It was so; and the present building must, of course, be a modern erection. Well, we are even now, so we will say no more against Nottingham Castle,' but pass on. I spoke just now of the Keep.' This was the most remarkable feature in the old feudal castles. It often rose to a considerable height, and consisted of three or four stories. Of these, the lowest was a dark, vaulted basement, used sometimes as a storeroom, sometimes as a dungeon for prisoners. This story communicated from above with the second, on which was the Entrance, accessible only by a steep and narrow flight of steps."

George W.-"Not much prospect of escape for a poor fellow if once he got in there!"

James W.-"Indeed, there was not, George. I dare say, mother will remember Conisborough Castle, in Yorkshire, near where those Doncaster friends of her's live; at all events, Emily will recollect the description of it in Scott's Ivanhoe.' Well, the walls of Conisborough Keep, now standing, are no less than fifteen feet thick."

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6

'The number of castles in England varied very much at different periods of the feudal age. Many were erected immediately after the Conquest by the Norman followers of William. But the great castle-building period was during the stormy reign of Stephen. Then,' says the Saxon Chronicle, in the first extract I shall read to you to-night, then every rich man built his castles, and they filled the land full of castles. They greatly oppressed the wretched people by making them work at these castles, and when the castles were finished they filled them with devils and evil men. Then they took those whom they suspected to have any goods, by night and by day, seizing both men and women, and they put them in prison for their gold and silver, and tortured them with pains unspeakable; for never were any martyrs tormented as these were. They hung some up by their feet, and smoked them with foul smoke; some by their thumbs, or by the head, and they hung burning things on their feet. They put a knotted string about their heads, and twisted it till it went into the brain. They put them into dungeons wherein were adders, and snakes, and toads, and thus wore them out. Some they put into a crucet house, that is, into a chest that was short and narrow, and not deep, and they put sharp stones in it, and crushed the man therein, so that they broke all his limbs. There were hateful and grim things called Sachenteges in many of the castles, and which two or three men had enough to do to carry. The Sachentege was made thus: it was fastened to a beam, having a sharp iron to go round a man's throat and neck, so that he might no ways sit, nor lie, nor sleep, but that he must bear all the iron. Many thousands they exhausted with hunger. I cannot and I may not tell of all the wounds and all the tortures they inflicted upon the wretched men of this land; and this state of things lasted the nineteen years that Stephen was king, and ever grew worse and worse. They were continually levying an exaction from the towns, which they called Tenserie, and when the miserable inhabitants had no more to give, then plundered they, and burnt all the towns, so that well mightest thou walk a whole day's journey nor ever shouldest thou find a man seated in a town, or its lands tilled.

"Then was corn dear, and flesh, and cheese and butter, for there was none in the land-wretched men starved with hunger-some lived on alms who had been erewhile rich; some fled the country-never was there more misery, and never acted heathens worse than these. At length they spared neither church nor church-yard, but they took all that was valuable therein, and then burned the church and all together. If two or three men came riding to town, all the township fled before them, and thought that they were robbers. The bishops and clergy were ever cursing them, but this to them was nothing, for they were all accursed, and forsworn and reprobate. The earth bare no corn, you might as well have tilled the sea, for the land was all ruined by such deeds, and it was said openly that Christ and his saints slept.""

Mrs. Wilson." Oh dear, what a dreadful picture!"

James W.-" It is indeed dreadful. I should almost think, mother, that