as Thou hast designed, therefore, in the plenitude of Thy wisdom and love, so let it come to pass. Thou fillest all space, and art necessarily with us now. O! make us sensible of Thy presence; and teach us to feel and return Thy love.

All time is present with Thee; Thou art from everlasting to everlasting; yea, Thou inhabitest eternity! Thou seest the shades of evil that streak Thy purposes; and Thou seest, also, in the consummation of Thy overruling goodness, the floods of everlasting light and glory that rise in the unbounded distance beyond. Give us a clear view of Thy character, and a correct understanding of Thy truth, that, in the exercise of faith, we may enjoy that hope and that inheritance, which Thou hast given to the world, through Thy Son, our Lord. O! Father, may we look to Thee, through Him, and be saved; for we feel that we have often turned aside. from wisdom's ways, and pierced ourselves through with sorrows; surely, we have constant need of Thy cleansing, healing, and sustaining grace. Remember Thy great mercy towards sinners; Thou seest their state, as they oppose Thy wise government; strive with their Maker, and, in the mad

ness and phrenzy of their own vain imaginations, tear the fibres of their souls; cherishing within them those evil spirits, which, like vultures of darkness, pray upon their vitals. O! God, in the midst of wrath, remember mercy; breathe forth Thy quickening spirit; make Thy forgiveness known; and grant repentance unto life, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Sprinkle, we pray Thee, the nations, as with the dews of heaven; cleanse Thy heritage, that Thy people, everywhere, may cast their idols to the bats and to the moles, and, by the angel of Thy presence, enjoy Thy excellent loving-kindness.

In the depths of Thy compassion, Lord, do Thou remember the sons and daughters of affliction, and comfort all that mourn; give unto them beauty for ashes, and the oil of heavenly joy, for all their sorrows. Bless, we pray Thee, every measure and movement that shall be laudably directed to the promotion of Thy truth; revive Thy work in the midst of these years; and cause that the efforts of Thy people, may be the means, in Thy hands, through which Thou shalt fill the earth with Thy glory, according to Thy will.

Prepare us all to confess and reverence Thy name; lead us in green pastures, and

by still waters; give us, day by day, our daily bread, and an unction from the Holy One, that we may do Thy will; grant us that charity which thinketh no evil, that we all may be one in Christ Jesus, and that the world may believe that thou hast sent him. Fill our days with usefulness and peace. And when time, in its winged flight, shall have sped, O! then, may we lean our weary heads on Thee, our Father and our God, who shall receive our spirits unto Thyself, and clothe them with immortality, in those realms where we shall mingle with the departed, and join with every creature in heaven, earth and sea, in rendering unto Thee homage, praise, and power, amid those brilliant constellations, which glow forever throughout Thine own ineffable immensity! And unto Thee, through Jesus Christ, would we render ascriptions of everlasting praise, world without end! AMEN.

MAN HATH FOUND, HE HIDETH, AND, FOR JOY THEREOF, GOETH AND SELLETH ALL THAT HE HATH, AND BUYETH THAT FIELD."

BY THE phrase, "kingdom of heaven," in this passage, we are undoubtedly to understand the Gospel dispensation; a kingdom, the establishment of which, was one principal object of the mission of the Son of God. It evidently signifies the religion of Jesus Christ the " glorious Gospel of the blessed God," which was communicated to the world by a Messenger from heaven; and is

fitly called a kingdom, over which Christ is appointed to rule, till all the kingdoms of this world, shall be destroyed, and all enemies subdued under his feet.

The introduction, progress, and ultimate triumph of this kingdom, was a subject of prophecy from the time God communicated himself to Abraham, to the time when Christ came to actualise the prophetic vision; and to usher in the long looked for day which should give birth to a new kingdom.

The

Isaiah, speaking prophetically of the extent of this kingdom, declared that it should "have no end." Daniel compared it to a "stone cut out of the mountain, without hands," which, by its increasing power, should "break in pieces all other kingdoms," and ultimately fill the whole earth. Savior, speaking of its commencement, and the manner of its increase, illustrates it by the mustard seed, which is one of the smallest of seeds; but, when deposited in the ground, its germ is unfolded, and the little blade shoots forth, which, by the continual action of the sun and the earth, sends out its branches, and becomes, by a slow and gradual growth, a great plant, which casts its shade far and near. In speaking of its value to