real or imaginary distinction upon us; when it does not persecute us; does not even direct attention to us; but when it merely makes us feel that our aims and motives, our hopes and fears, our principles and feelings, do not meet with general sympathy; that they are "peculiar." The inward character ascribed by Scripture to the Christian is, that he "walks as seeing Him who is invisible." A sincere mind examining itself by this test, cannot fail to ascertain its own state; and if it bear this test, it may in humble thankfulness rejoice that the light in it is not darkness, and expect that it will shine more and more unto the perfect day.

MARY ALICE.

THE ANGEL OF THE ROSE.

(From the German.)

ADDRESSED TO A YOUNG LADY BY THE LATE HARTLEY COLERIDGE.

THOUGHTS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.

No. V.

"Give us this day our daily bread."

HE various relations in which God has placed Himself towards us, have been either expressed in the preceding clauses of this prayer, or by the tenour of those clauses distinctly implied; and we have seen how copious is the practical instruction which each petition separately conveys; while the whole collectively impress the great truth that, whether as adopted children we draw near to the throne of grace, where the merits of our Elder Brother have secured for us an audience; or are instigated as faithful subjects to a loyal zeal for the honour of our King, and to earnest prayer for the final establishment of his kingdom; or whether, as creatures of his hand, in the full persuasion that our Maker's will is our sole good, and that our happiness is bound up in its fulfilment, we learn to emulate the pure obedience of those bright, unfallen ones, in whom the will of God finds its active type; the honour and glory of God are the first and most worthy subjects of prayer. We have also seen the connection between the preceding clauses of this Divine prayer, and the blessings which we ought to seek; and are now led on to the consideration of those details in our personal life which form legitimate subjects for daily petition.

Although the words of the Lord's Prayer, in which our wants are expressed, be few, they present no inconsistency with the exhortation, "In every thing, by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God." For every form of request, however varied, may be comprehended in them, and classed under one of these three headsGifts to be asked for; Pardon to be sought; or Evil to be averted. Our topic this day comes under the first of these heads; nor do we doubt that Scripture sanctions the application of the words "Give us this day our daily bread," to our every requirement, both temporal and spiritual. This seems reasonable from the consideration of our position both morally and physically, as dependants on the mercy of our Father. It

is on this peculiar relation that the petition is framed. There is no independence in God's creation; no separate existence; no self-sustaining holiness. Though children of a King; heirs of an eternal realm; objects of angels' care; and incipient partakers of a Divine nature, we have as yet no resources of our own, but, in common with the fowls of the air and the " young lions," must "seek our meat from God;" and being gifted with higher faculties than they, we must also seek from day to day that spiritual nourishment without which we must wither and perish, as lifeless branches of the Living Vine. Scripture also supplies us with so many examples of prayer for both spiritual and temporal mercies; with so many declarations, that both are requisite for our welfare, the former being metaphorically expressed under the term "bread," that we can scarcely be permitted to apply the terms of this petition exclusively to either. That spiritual blessings are to be first sought, is plainly inculcated, Matt. vi. 33: that they are more highly esteemed by the children of God than temporal mercies, we have many proofs; Ps. iv. 7; xix. 10; Job xxiii. 12; Heb. xi.; Acts xx. 24; Prov. viii. 11; 1 Kings iii. 9; and, that they are justly so esteemed, is equally plain, Eccles. xii.; Deut. viii. 3; 1 John ii. 17; Matt. xvi. 26. Yet temporal blessings, both ordinary and extraordinary, being subjects of promise in Scripture, are therefore manifestly lawful matters of prayer. There is also rich encouragement to the heart oppressed with anxiety, with suffering, with danger, or with sorrow, in the examples there recorded, of successful petitions for spiritual relief or earthly good. Abraham, Hannah, Esther, Elijah, Hezekiah, and the church at Jerusalem, Acts xii., are cases in point; and when we read of those "wanderers out of the way," whom God in answer to their cry "led forth to the city where they dwelt ;" of those desolate and oppressed; of the storm-tossed mariners and the sufferers from famine, from any plague or sorrow, who when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble were delivered out of their distresses, how can we avoid pondering these things; understanding the loving-kindness of God, and being encouraged to lay our burden on the Lord, and to cast all our care upon Him who careth for us? There is no argument against the views here suggested, in the fact that the Almighty maketh his sun to shine on the evil and on the good. We all receive far more than we pray for; and some receive much who never pray at all. The Promise, however, is to prayer; the BLESSING, without which, wealth is poor, is the portion of prayer. By prayer, common mercies become covenant mercies, and the food of our bodies may serve to quicken our souls.

There is this further distinction between temporal and spiritual blessings, that the former are sometimes withheld in mercy. David's prayer for the life of his child; Paul's request concerning his infirmity, were not granted; though doubtless accepted. Wisdom and mercy guide the answers of God; therefore submissive faith should mark our request. It seems by no means essential, that we should limit our expectations respecting the answer to our prayers, to the meaning which we attach to them. When we say," Give us this day our daily bread;" we speak partly in an unknown tongue. It is, or ought to be, the language of confiding faith, such as was the prayer of Agur, Prov. xxx. 8; and this language God will interpret for us into a tongue which we all may understand; the gracious language of his gifts. Happy are we, if, as ready learners, we accept his interpretation of our prayer; and thankfully receive the portion which He sends as our "daily bread." The Israelites failing to do this, were visited by the "heavy wrath of God," in the fulfilment of their own hearts' desire. More wisely did the patriarch, after the vicissitudes of a painful life, acknowledge the God who had fed him all his life long; and in a similar spirit did the Psalmist, who had often tasted of the bread of affliction, and the water of affliction, exclaim, "Thou hast dealt well with thy servant." It is our happy privilege to expect from our Father more than we can ask or think; and to trust implicitly to His wisdom in the gift. Yet we are not relieved from the duty of ascertaining our wants; we are not at liberty to be ignorant of our circumstances, or the necessities arising out of them; but, according to the wisdom given to us, we must adapt to them this petition, both spiritually, and in the conditional spirit of submission, temporally also, and thus make our requests known to Him. who feedeth the young ravens that call upon Him, and has promised that "they who seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."

The practice of particularizing our petitions, each one for himself, or for others, according to his judgment of their wants, will greatly assist the important habit of expecting and waiting for answers to prayer, and will enable us to recognize them when granted. How much would faith be confirmed, gratitude and hope excited, and prayer stimulated, if, beyond the general conviction that God heareth prayer, we could record the instances in which we might truly say, "Verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my petition!" and is there any Christian whose sober judgment cannot recall some such occasion? When we meditate on the state of mankind, on their many require

ments, varied by the circumstances of race, climate, age, sex, position, health, and innumerable individual distinctions; and when we reflect, that the Prayer under our consideration, is intended for the use of all, and adapted to the necessities of each; that throughout the world, wherever the Gospel is preached, this prayer is taught, and is offered up alike by the savage and the civilized, by the bond and the free, by the rich and the poor, by those whose daily supplies are procured by daily labour, and by those whose wealth seems secured from generation to generation, and subject to few vicissitudes-by all, in short, of God's human creatures who have learned to know Him, wherever they are, or whatever their condition-how admirable appears the Divine simplicity which has gathered up into a few words the request which is equally comprehensive and suitable in every case! We see an illustration of this variety of result from one cause; variety of answer to one request, in the various effects which follow when the thirsty earth has received the refreshment for which it seemed to cry out in drought. Gently the rain descends. Here it unfolds the tender leaf or the opening flower; there it revives the fading plant, or raises the drooping stem. The fields glow with a fresher verdure, and the fruit becomes more rich and mellow. The quick-sighted bird finds new supplies when the newlywatered earth is teeming with life, while destructive swarms of insects are swept from herbs and trees by the same refreshing shower. Thus, from the same source, plenteous in mercy, and directed by infinite wisdom, proceed gifts, temporal and spiritual, as varied as our wants, and not less extensive than they.

"Give us this day our daily bread;"-There is much practical instruction, as well as a deep meaning, in these few words of brief request. First, as we pray, so ought we to live, as daily pensioners on our God. This is an easier lesson to the poor man than to the rich. The former may well rejoice to know, that as he feels his wants recurring daily, and often knows not whence his next meal may be provided, or where his night's rest is to be found; so his guardian is ever watching him, and has only taught him to ask day by day his daily bread; while to the rich man it is a painful lesson to learn to depend on the first Cause the Omnipotent himself; whatever may be the intermediate and apparent means of supply; or even to feel that there is a limit to his prospect of permanent possession of the means of enjoyment.

Secondly, This continual dependence is much insisted on in Scripture; and not less is enforced the duty of diligent exertion on our