THE PRAYER ECHOED.

Ir any be distressed, and fain would gather
Some comfort, let him haste unto

Our Father.

For we of hope and help are quite bereaven
Except Thou succor us

Who art in heaven.

Thou showest mercy, therefore for the same
We praise Thee, singing,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Of all our miseries cast up the sum;

Show us thy joys, and let

Thy kingdom come.

We mortal are, and alter from our birth;

Thou constant art;

Thy will be done on earth.

Thou madest the earth, as well as planets seven, Thy name be blessed here

If we repent our faults, Thou ne'er disdain'st us; We pardon them

That trespass against us;

Forgive us that is past, a new path tread us;
Direct us always in Thy faith,

And lead us

THE PRAYER IN AN ACROSTIC.

In the following curious composition the initial capitals spell, "My boast is in the glorious Cross of Christ." The words in italics, when read from top to bottom and bottom to top, form the Lord's Prayer complete:

Make known the Gospel truths, Our Father King;

Yield up thy grace, dear Father from above;

Bless us with hearts which feelingly can sing,
"Our life thou art for ever, God of Love!"
Assuage our grief in love for Christ, we pray,
Since the bright prince of Heaven and glory died,
Took all our sins and hallowed the display,

Infinite be-ing--first man, and then the crucified.
Stupendous God! thy grace and power make known;
In Jesus' name let all the world rejoice.
Now all the world thy heavenly kingdom own,
The blessed kingdom for thy saints the choice.
How vile to come to thee is all our cry,

Enemies to thy self and all that's thine,
Graceless our will, we live for vanity,

Lending to sin our be-ing, evil in our design.
O God, thy will be done from earth to Heaven;
Reclining on the Gospel let us live,

In earth from sin deliver-ed and forgiven,
Oh! as thyself but teach us to forgive.
Unless it's power temptation doth destroy,
Sure is our fall into the depths of woe,
Carnal in mind, we've not a glimpse of joy
Raised against Heaven; in us no hope can flow.

O give us grace and lead us on thy way;

Shine on us with thy love and give us peace;
Self and this sin that rise against us slay;

Oh! grant each day our trespass-es may cease.
Forgive our evil deeds that oft we do;

Convince us daily of them to our shame;
Help us with heavenly bread, forgive us, too,
Recurrent lusts, and we'll adore thy name.
In thy forgive-ness we as saints can die,
Since for us and our trespasses so high,
Thy son, our Saviour, bled on Calvary.

Ecclesiasticæ.

EXCESSIVE CIVILITY.

TOM BROWN, in his Laconics, says that in the reign of Charles II. a certain worthy divine at Whitehall thus addressed himself to the auditory at the conclusion of his sermon: "In short, if you don't live up to the precepts of the gospel, but abandon yourselves to your irregular appetites, you must expect to receive your reward in a certain place, which 'tis not good manners to mention here." This suggested to Pope the couplet,

"To rest, the cushion and soft dean invite,
Who never mentions hell to ears polite."

SHORT SERMONS.

DEAN SWIFT, having been solicited to preach a charity sermon, mounted the pulpit, and after announcing his text, "He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord," simply said, "Now, my brethren, if you are satisfied with the security, down with the dust." He then took his seat, and there was an unusually large collection.

The following abridgment contains the pith and marrow, sum and substance, of a sermon which occupied an hour in delivery :

"Man is born to trouble."

This subject, my hearers, is naturally divisible into four heads:

1. Man's entrance into the world;

2. His progress through the world;

3. His exit from the world; and

4. Practical reflections from what may be said.

First, then :

1. Man's ingress in life is naked and bare,

2. His progress through life is trouble and care,

3. His egress from it, none can tell where,

4. But doing well here, he will be well there.

Now, on this subject, my brethren dear,
I could not tell more by preaching a year.

A SERMON ON MALT.

The Rev. Dr. Dodd lived within a few miles of Cambridge, (England,) and had offended several students by preaching a on temperance. One day some of them met him. They said one to another,

sermon

"Here's Father Dodd: he shall preach us a sermon." Accosting him with,

"Your servants."

"Sirs! yours, gentlemen!" replied the Doctor.

They said, "We have a favor to ask of you, which must be granted." The divine asked what it was.

"To preach a sermon," was the reply.

"Well," said he, "appoint the time and place, and I will." "The time, the present; the place, that hollow tree," (pointing to it,) said the students.

"'Tis an imposition!" said the Doctor: "there ought to be consideration before preaching."

"If you refuse," responded they, "we will put you into the tree!" Whereupon the Doctor acquiesced, and asked them for

a text.

"Malt!" said they.

The reverend gentleman commenced :

"Let me crave your attention, my beloved!

"I am a little man, come at a short warning, to preach a short sermon, upon a short subject, to a thin congregation, in an unworthy pulpit. Beloved! my text is 'MALT.' I cannot divide it into syllables, it being but a monosyllable: therefore I must divide it into letters, which I find in my text to be four-M-A-L-T. M, my beloved, is moral-A, is allegorical -L, is literal-T, is theological.

"1st. The moral teaches such as you drunkards good manners; therefore M, my masters-A, all of you-L, leave offT, tippling.

"2d. The allegorical is, when one thing is spoken and another meant; the thing here spoken is Malt, the thing meant

the oil of malt, which you rustics make M, your masters-A, your apparel-L, your liberty-T, your trusts.

"3d. The theological is according to the effects it works, which are of two kinds-the first in this world, the second in the world to come. The effects it works in this world are, in some, M, murder-in others, A, adultery-in all, L, looseness of life -and particularly in some, T, treason. In the world to come, the effects of it are, M, misery-A, anguish-L, lamentation -T, torment-and thus much for my text, Malt.'

"Infer 1st: As words of exhortation: M, my masters--A, all of you-L, leave off-T, tippling.

"2d. A word for conviction: M, my masters-A, all of you -L, look for-T, torment.

"3d. A word for caution, take this: A drunkard is the annoyance of modesty-the spoiler of civility-the destroyer of reason the brewer's agent-the alewife's benefactor-his wife's sorrow-his children's trouble-his neighbor's scoff-a walking swill-tub-a picture of a beast-a monster of a man.' The youngsters found the truth so unpalatable, that they soon deserted their preacher, glad to get beyond the 'reach of his voice.

ELOQUENCE OF BASCOM.

The following passages will serve to illustrate the peculiar oratorical style of Rev. Henry B. Bascom, the distinguished Kentucky preacher :

"Chemistry, with its fire-tongs of the galvanic battery, teaches that the starry diamond in the crown of kings, and the black carbon which the peasant treads beneath his feet, are both composed of the same identical elements; analysis also proves that a chief ingredient in limestone is carbon. Then let the burning breath of God pass over all the limestone of the earth, and bid its old mossy layers crystalize into new beauty; and lo! at the Almighty fiat the mountain ranges flash into living gems with a lustre that renders midnight noon, and eclipses all the stars!"