Book. And what are the Psalms but compositions of the most elaborate kind, as every one who has studied them in the original knows,-almost made, one might say, by rule and square; some of them acrostics, like the sections. of the hundred and nineteenth Psalm; and in all of them stanza corresponding to stanza, antistrophe to strophe; and parallelism, the great principle of Hebrew poetry, running through them all?

But important as the outward part of prayer is, it is not so important as the sentiment of which it is the vehicle. After all, the "golden vial" is but a vehicle of the sweet odours or "incense." Now the sentiment expressed in a prayer, viewed as entertained by ourselves may be of two kinds; it may be a sentiment grasped merely by the understanding, or a sentiment echoed by the heart; we may nakedly perceive such and such an object to be desirable, or we may feel it to be desirable. Now, as to the first of these, how do we know a certain prayer to be legitimate, a certain object to be desirable? St. Paul says that " we know not what we should pray for as we ought." But by His Spirit in the Holy Scriptures God hath revealed to us what are just objects of desire, and what not. And thus the first recommendation of the sentiment of a prayer is that it should be Scriptural-in conformity, that is, with the mind of God, as revealed to us in His written word. This is the fragrant odour, the sweet incense, with which we should perfume our prayers; and this is just the secret of the generally acknowledged power and unction of Bishop Andrewes's Prayers, that they live and move and have their being in the element of Holy Scripture. And thoroughly Scriptural are these Collects of ours also; the translated ones profoundly Scriptural, for in them the reference to Scripture is more

1 Rom. viii. 26.

recondite, more in the sentiment and less in the phraseology, but yet leaps to light after a very little study, and surprises us by its beauty and significance; the new ones patently Scriptural, and for the most part citing the actual words of Inspiration, so as to draw attention to a particular passage.

But we may perceive the sentiment of a prayer to be just, beautiful, Scriptural, and in conformity with God's mind, and yet feel unable to throw into it our desires, affections, longings, which are the true "odours" of which the "golden vial" is the vehicle. To see that we ought fervently to desire such and such an object is one thing; fervently to desire it is another. What shall we do

when our hearts are dry in prayer, when, if there be incense in them, it is incense unkindled, which emits no fragrance? There was in the Jewish ritual an offering of unkindled incense, from which perhaps we may gather a useful lesson. The lower sort of incense, consisting of a single gum (lebonah) was placed in golden saucers or vials on the shewbread, and this, unlike the higher incense, a compound of several sweet spices, which was offered every morning and evening upon the altar of incense, was never burned. There it lay before God in the stillness of His sanctuary, shone down upon by the quiet, solemn light of the seven-branched candlestick, but never touching the live coals on the incense altar, nor ascending in a fragrant cloud towards heaven. What an admirable emblem of a prayer without unction or fervour,when we sincerely wish and mean to pray, but our minds are dry and hard, when even to collect the attention is a painful effort, and the whole service throughout is one long struggle to retain it. We know that if the feelings and affections were enlisted, prayer would seem to soar on the wings of a favourable wind from our hearts to

heaven; but at present there seems to be no heart in the exercise. Well, if we have done our best by honest effort, if our mind and will is to pray, the best method of attaining the object is not to fret and chafe ourselves in fruitless endeavours, but simply to fall back on the thought of the presence of Christ, and to wait upon Him in silence and patience till the light of His countenance stream in upon the soul, even as the unkindled incense was simply set out before God in the light of the candlestick. Let us dwell upon the thought that He, the great Angel of the covenant, is in the midst of us, adding the sweet incense of his intercession to the prayers of His people, that they may be purged of the sin that is in them, and graciously accepted. We shall not wait long upon Him duly and duteously, before He will turn the dry incense of the shewbread-table into the kindled fragrant incense of the altar. He will send down His Holy Spirit, the true fire from heaven, upon the affections of the heart, and kindle them and make them aspire towards Himself. Prayer needs, to make it effectual-indeed to make it prayer at all—the work both of the Son and of the Spirit of God; of the one to intercede without, of the other to stir the cold and dead affections within. Thus aided, thus stirred, it rises far above clouds and skies and stars into God's presence-chamber, as naturally as kindled incense streams upwards, and becomes infinitely acceptable to Him through the merits of His Son-"an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God."1 "Let my prayer"—whether only a simple waiting upon God by consciousness of His presence, or the speaking to Him out of a full heart when, in the midst of our "musings," "the fire kindles" "be set forth before thee as incense." 8 Psalm cxli. 2.

1 Philip. iv. 18.

"2

2 Psalm xxxix. 3.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD COLLECT.

If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.-S. MATT. xviii. 19, 20.

THE word Collect seems to be used in the Book of Common Prayer in a stricter and in a laxer sense. In the strictest sense of the word, those prayers only are Collects, which are used as the characteristic prayer of the week at the Holy Communion, and which have an Epistle and Gospel associated with them. These are called, in the heading of that section of the Prayer Book in which they are contained, "The Collects

to

be used throughout the year," and, at the first mention of Collects in the Morning Prayer, "Collects of the Day." The Collect in this, the strictest sense, is, as Archdeacon Freeman has shown, a Eucharistic prayer, condensing the devotional thought which is suggested by the Epistle and Gospel, and keeping it before the mind during the week. Under this first head will fall the last prayer in "the Order for the Burial of the Dead," which is in the strictest and highest sense a Collect, as having formerly had an Epistle and Gospel associated with it. This is shown more at large in the next Chapter, " On the structure of a Collect."-Next to " "the Collect of the Day," the opening Collect at the Communion lays

claim to the name. It does not, indeed, summarise the teaching of the Epistle and Gospel; but it may be justly said to summarise our preparation for the Eucharist, which must consist in the "cleansing of the thoughts of the heart by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit."-The next step of descent in the meaning of the word is its application to those prayers in "the Ministration of Publick Baptism," which precede the administration of the Sacrament. These are called "Collects" in the following rubric of "the Ministration of Private Baptism of Children in Houses;" "First, let the Minister of the Parish (or, in his absence, any other lawful Minister that can be procured) with them that are present call upon God, and say the Lord's Prayer, and so many of the Collects appointed to be said before in the Form of Publick Baptism, as the time and present exigence will suffer." And be it remarked that the Collects here, as well as those of the Eucharistic Service, are associated with, and summarise the teaching of, a Gospel, either that of the Infant Office, which tells how little children were brought unto Christ, or that of the Adult Office, which sets forth the necessity of the birth of water and the Spirit.-Next in order come Collects which are not associated with, and do not (at least designedly) embody the teaching of any particular passages of Holy Scripture. Thus two Collects, besides that of the Day, are appointed to be said at Morning, and two at Evening Prayer, and in the Rubric regulating the use of those Collects which are "to be said after the Offertory, when there is no Communion," mention is made also of Collects of the Litany;-" the same may be said also . . after the Collects either of Morning or Evening Prayer, Communion, or Litany, by the discretion of the Minister." The Collects of the Litany must, we suppose,