observed when a sufficient nubmer of persons can be had to communicate. Cases may and do occur when a sufficient number cannot be had, and then we find a direction at the end of the Communion Service which says, 'Upon the Sundays and other Holy Days (if there be no Communion) shall be said all that is appointed at the Communion until the end of the General Prayer, (For the whole state of CHRIST's Church militant here in earth,)— together with one or more of these Collects last before rehearsed, concluding with the Blessing.' In our case we have a convenient number to communicate with the priest according to his discretion,' never less, I think, than twelve, sometimes as many as one hundred; we have, therefore, a weekly communion, and as, on these occasions, we have no directions to bless the people until the Communion Service is entirely finished, so those persons who leave the church without partaking of the sacrament of the LORD's Supper leave without the Blessing. As to the weekly collection, you will see that the Offertory is a part of the Communion Service, even when the sacrament of the LORD's Supper is not administered; of course, therefore, I am obliged to observe that, as much as any other portion of the service."

"I am quite satisfied with your explanation," answered George, "and am willing to admit that I have acted very wrong. I am of a proud and hasty disposition, or should not have thoughtlessly left God's Church, nor have set up my own opinion against, and spoken slightingly of, one of His priests. I shall endeavour to act more religiously for the future, and, in these my endeavours, I hope that I shall have, sir, your prayers." That you may depend upon," replied the rector; "and I only wish, Mr. Kelly, that I had to deal generally with persons as candid and open hearted as yourself. We should then have a better prospect of holding the Faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life,' than we have now. Good morning, Kelly, and may God be with you, and lead you into all truth."

66

ST. LUKE, xi. I

TEACH us to pray!"—but can the heart be taught The deep devotion and the raptur'd thought? "Teach us to pray !"-'tis not as he of old We ask, the perfect manner to be told. Words are not prayer, no language can express The silent transports of the soul's recess. Nor can the knee, in prostrate reverence bent, The adoring image of the heart present.

"Teach us to pray!"—the gesture and the word; Not these alone, but grace and strength, O LORD! The humble spirit and the contrite heart, The truth, the fervour, and the faith impart : Crown our due vows with Thine acceptance free, Thou Source and Stream of prayer, eternal, boundless Sea!

WHERE shall I seek a guide? where shall I meet
Some trusty hand to lead my trembling paces?
What trusty lanthorn will direct my feet

To 'scape the danger of these dang'rous places ?
What hopes have I to pass without a guide?
Where one gets safely through, a thousand fall beside.

An unrequested star did gently slide
Before the wise men to a greater light;
Backsliding Israel found a double guide,
A pillar and a cloud, by day, by night:
Yet in my desp'rate dangers, which be far

More great than theirs, I have no pillar, cloud nor star.

Great GOD! Thou art the flowing spring of light,
Enrich mine eyes with Thy refulgent ray;
Thou art my path, direct my steps aright;
I have no other light, no other way;
I'll trust my GOD, and Him alone pursue;

His law shall be my path; His heavenly light my due.

Quarles.

THE RECTOR OF STILLBY.

(Continued from page 111.)

CHAPTER V.

THE Oyster women lock'd their fish up,
And trudg'd away to cry "No Bishop:"
The mouse-trap men laid save alls by,
And 'gainst evil counsellors did cry.
Botchers left old clothes in the lurch,
And fell to turn and patch the Church.
Some cry'd "the Covenant," instead
Of puddings, pies, and gingerbread;
And some for brooms, old boots, and shoes,
Bawi'd out to purge the Commons House;
Instead of kitchen stuff, some cry

"A Gospel preaching ministry;"

And some for old suits, coats, or cloak,
"No surplices, nor service book."
A strange harmonious inclination
Of all degrees to reformation.

BUTLER.

We must now return to Mr. Peters, whom we left in evil case, under a sentence of sequestration and imprisonment. The man to whose custody he had been consigned, was one of a class very common at the period of which we write. His father, John Holdfast, had been a tradesman in the town of Nottingham, where in his early years he enjoyed a fair character, and managed, upon the profits of his trade, to support very comfortably, a wife and six children. At this time he was what was called a staunch Church and King man, but, having unfortunately become acquainted with some of the revolutionary parties, he imbibed their so termed liberal opinions, and, under their tuition, became in a short period as revolutionary as the worst among them. A circumstance

which just then occurred tended, in no slight degree, to remove what little affection was left in him towards the established institutions of the country. Mr. Holdfast had been spending an evening with some of his liberal friends, and, as was often the case on these occasions, had been indulging too freely in the use of the bottle. The consequence was, that Mr. Holdfast, being of a somewhat excitable temperament, and, having arrived at that state commonly known as pot-valiant, thought fit, upon a fancied provocation from one of his companions, to knock him down, and, on another of his companions remonstrating with him, to knock him down too. The peace officers were called in, which was the signal for a general row, in which Mr. Holdfast made himself very conspicious, by thrashing, as he called it, one of his majesty's officers within a very few inches of his life. The upshot was, that he was brought before the constituted authorities, and, after a very severe reprimand, was confined for a period to durance vile. In addition to this, his parish priest had called upon him during his imprisonment, and represented to him, very strongly, the sin of which he had been guilty. These things had aroused the wrath of Mr. Holdfast against both Church and State, which he denounced as being, the one bigoted, the other tyrannical, both illiberal, and not fit to be tolerated by free born Englishmen. Upon these grounds, he set himself earnestly to work, to destroy, if possible, the institutions of the country, and was well known in the neighbourhood where he lived as a thorough going revolutionist. His son, George, had grown up, holding the same opinions with his father, and, when twenty-five years old, was so notorious for his hatred of the Church and King, that he was taken into favour by the parliament leaders. At the time of which we speak, he was a corporal in their army, as well as secretary, so he was termed, to Mr. Greipher, the chief commissioner for sequestrations in the county of Derby. There were other points of resemblance between Mr. Holdfast, senior, and Mr. Holdfast, junior, which, albeit contradictory in their

nature, were, at this period, very frequently to be discovered in the same persons. They were both of them attached to the presbyterian form of worship, both of them deeply tinctured with the doctrines of Geneva, and both of them addicted to the bottle. In fact, as the neighbours playfully expressed it, George was in all respects, a chip of the old block.”

To this person's custody Mr. Peters was consigned, and my readers will readily imagine that it was with no pleasurable feelings that our worthy rector understood that he was for the future to be George Holdfast's prisoner, until some arrangements could be effected so as to transport him to London, where many of the most considerable of the so called malignant clergy, were at that time imprisoned. He was sitting in the room which had been assigned for his present abode, musing over the uncertainty of all things of earth, and fortifying his mind, by meditating upon a future and better state, when the above-mentioned personage, Mr. Secretary, Corporal, Holdfast, made his appearance, and interrupted the train of his thoughts by the following address :

“Well, old gentleman,"-here stopping to take a critical survey of his prisoner, and at the same time throwing off a greasy cap from his head, and seating his short thick-built form upon one of the two chairs, which, with a small table, composed the whole of the furniture of the room in which they were,—" well, old gentleman, how d'ye feel yourself this evening? This turning out from your snug and comfortable parsonage house must be rather a change for you, and one which, on the whole, I should not imagine so pleasant as some others might be. However, you are a bit of a philosopher I suppose, and will therefore know that it is best to take these things quietly, and make yourself as comfortable as you can. What say you to a pipe and a glass or two of ale, which I can assure you, from a tolerably intimate acquaintance, is very good here? I should like to have a talk with you upon some of these matters which are now so much discussed, especially as I consider myself a bit of a divine;