Sanctify, we beseech Thee, this Thy fatherly correction

to him.

A PRAYER.

NICHOLAS BRETON.

PLANT, Lorde, in me the tree of godly lyfe,
Hedge me about with Thy strong fence of faith;
If Thee it please, use eke Thy pruning-knife,
Lest that, O Lord! as a good gardiner saith-
If suckers draw the sappe from bowes on hie,
Perhaps in tyme the top of tree may die.

Let, Lord! this tree be set within Thy garden-wall
Of Paradise, where growes no one ill sprig at all.

Sanctify, we beseech Thee, this Thy fatherly correction to him.

JOB X. 2.

O THOU! whose gently chastening hand
In mercy deals the blow,
Make but Thy servant understand
Wherefore Thou lay'st me low!

I ask Thee not the rod to spare,
While thus Thy love I see;
But O let every suffering bear

Some message, Lord, from Thee!

E. M.

Perhaps an erring wish I knew
To read my future fate,

And Thou would'st say-" Thy days are few,

And vain thy best estate!"

Perhaps Thy glory seemed my choice,
Whilst I secured my own,

And thus my kind Reprover's voice

Tells me He works alone!

O silence Thou this murmuring will,
Nor bid thy rough wind stay,
Till with a furnace hotter still
My dross is purged away!

Sanctify, we beseech Thee, this Thy fatherly correction to him.

FRANCIS QUARLES.

My soul, thy gold is true, but full of dross ;
Thy Saviour's breath refines thee with some loss;
His gentle furnace makes thee pure as true;
Thou must be melted ere thou'rt cast anew.

J. S.

GOD only smites, that through the wounds of woe The healing balm He gives may inlier flow!

That the sense of his weakness may add strength to his

faith,

FROM THE ITALIAN.

WORDSWORTH.

THE prayers I make will then be sweet indeed,
If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray :
My unassisted heart is barren clay,

That of its native self can nothing feed:
Of good and pious works Thou art the seed,
That quickens only where thou sayest it may :
Unless Thou show to us thine own true way,
No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead.
Do Thou then breathe those thoughts into my
mind,

By which such virtue may in me be bred,
That in thy holy footsteps I may tread;
The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind,
That I may have the power to sing of Thee,
And sound Thy praises everlastingly.

That the sense of his weakness may add strength to his

faith,

SPENSER.

WHAT man is he that boasts of fleshly might,
And vaine assurance of mortality,

Which all so soone as it doth come to fight

Against spirituall foes, yields by and by,

Or from the fielde most cowardly doth flie?
Ne let the man ascribe it to his skill,

That thorough grace hath gained victory :
If any strength we have, it is to ill,

But all the good is God's, both powre and eke
the will.

BISHOP KEN.

SUBMIT yourself to God, and you shall find,
God fights the battles of a will resigned.

Chat the sense of his weakness may add strength to his faith, and seriousness to his repentance.

HYMNS OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.'

O God of our salvation, Lord

Of wond'rous power and love!
May faith, salvation's holy seed,
Be sent us from above.

'Tis faith that gives us strength to fight,
That we our foes may quell;

And with the shield of faith we quench
The fiery darts of hell.

By faith we make our prayers to Thee,

In that most holy Name,

On which, for

mercy

and for peace,

Hope rests her stedfast claim.

For that Name's sake, assist us, Lord,

To run our heavenward race;
And O may no unholy life
Our holy faith disgrace.

To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Be praise and glory given;
Who pour into the hearts of men
True light and heat from heaven.

That, after this painful life ended, he may dwell with Thee. in life everlasting.

II COR. V. 4.

IN health, O Lord! and prosperous days,
When worldly wealth or worldly praise,
When worldly thoughts have filled our heart,
We would not from the body part ;-
And then the very thought is loathed,
That we must be by death unclothed.

In sickness, sorrow, or in shame,
We fain would quit this mortal frame ;-