And those her children, who have grown beneath
Her sheltering tree,

Heed not her ruin, but in pomp and mirth,
All wastefully,

To their own glory sacrifice them all ;

And few, indeed, the crumbs that on Thy Zion fall.

Yet once more rouse them from their selfish dream, Most gracious Lord,

Teach them to love Thy Church, the plenteous stream
Of Thy pure word,

And casting sloth aside to walk each day,
Obedient to her call, to watch, to fast, to pray ;

That, as the prophet saw Thy house of yore,
From dust arise,

So, clothed in beauty, might Thy Church once more
Gladden our eyes.

And though its all of glory should not be restored, Yet would we bless Thee still, for boundless mercies, Lord.

DETACHED THOUGHTS.

LET us praise the Lord for all the wonders of His power, wisdom, and love, displayed in a system which is to wax old and perish: we may therein contemplate, as in a glass, those new heavens, and that new earth, of whose duration there shall be no end; the sun, that fountain of life and heart of the world, that bright leader of the armies of heaven, enthroned in glorious majesty; the moon shining with a lustre borrowed from his beams; the stars glittering by night in the clear firmament; the air giving breath to all things that live and move; the interchanges of light and darkness; the course of the year, and the sweet vicissitudes of seasons; the rain and the dew

descending from above, and the fruitfulness of the earth caused by them; the bow bent by the hands of the Most High, which compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle; the awful voice of thunder, and the piercing power of lightning; the instincts of animals, and the qualities of vegetables and minerals; the great and wide sea with its unnumbered inhabitants; all these are ready to instruct us in the mysteries of faith and the duties of morality.

They speak their Maker as they can,
But want and ask the tongue of man.

Bishop Horne.

THE great object of education is not so much to impart knowledge, as to create an eager desire for its attainment; and little can the most indefatigable instructor do for the child, if the man will not afterwards continue to educate himself.

THE effects of Christianity have been important; it has mitigated the conduct of war, and the treatment of captives; it has softened the administration of despotic governments; it has abolished polygamy; it has restrained the licentiousness of divorces; it has put an end to the exposure of children, and the immolation of slaves; it has suppressed the combats of gladiators, and the impurities of religious rites; it has greatly meliorated the condition of the laborious part, that is to say, the mass of every community, by procuring for them a day of weekly rest; in all countries in which it is professed, it has produced numerous establishments for the relief of sickness and poverty, and in some a regular and general provision by law.-Dr. Paley.

THE works of God in nature are constantly symbolical of the works of God in grace, and they who are acute to discern, and diligent to explore the correspondence, may read sermons in stones, and find good in every thing; and this holds equally true concerning the established ordinances of the universe, which shall abide unto all generations, and concerning the occasional and special interruptions of the laws of nature, which we term miracles; for whatever is now a law, was a miracle when first ordained. Light, subject now to rules of stated and perpetual succession, brightening with every dawn, and fading into duskiness with the recurrence of every night, was a miracle when it rushed in new-born brilliancy across the waste of waters, as the Creative voice uttered, "Let there be light." Not only the vast globe itself emerging from the void, but the hills and valleys by which it is diversified; the streams which irrigate those valleys, and the springs which rise among those hills, the verdure which clothes the meadows, and the corn which smiles upon the plains, each part, however minute of the great universal whole; each tree, and herb, and plant, and flower, was a miracle when first the foundations of the earth were fastened, and its corner-stone was laid, on the day when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”—Rev. T. Dale.

GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London

NO, 249.]

[VOL. X.

THE PENNY

SUNDAY READER.

ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, CANTERBURY,

IN WHICH CHRISTIANITY WAS FIRST EMBRACED BY A

KINGS SHALL BE THY NURSING FATHERS, AND THEIR QUEENS THY NURSING MOTHERS.-Isaiah, ch. xlix. 23.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON,

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL; AND SOLD BY ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS.

BOOKS JUST PUBLISHED.

I.

PRAYERS for PRIVATE & FAMILY WORSHIP, founded upon the PRIMITIVE LITURGIES. By the Rev. HENRY ALLEN, B.A.

Vicar of St. Mary-le-Wigford, Lincoln, and Chaplain to the Sussex County Gaol.

In a Pocket Volume. 2s. 6d.

II.

The HISTORY of the PRAYER BOOK

of the CHURCH of ENGLAND.

In 12mo. 5s.

RIVINGTONS,

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD, & WATERLOO PLACE, PALL-MALL.