Prayers are heard in heaven very much in proportion to our faith. Little faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater. SPURGEON—Gleanings Among the Sheaves. Believing Prayer. 15 The first petition that we are to make to Almighty God is for a good conscience, the next for health of mind, and then of body. SENECA-Epistles. XIV. 2 Bow, stubborn knees; and, heart, with strings of steel, Be soft as sinews of the new-born babe. Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 70. 3 All his mind is bent to holiness, To number Ave-Maries on his beads. Henry VI. Pt. II. Act I. Sc. 3. L. 58. To pray together, in whatever tongue or ritual, is the most tender brotherhood of hope and sympathy that men can contract in this life. MADAME DE STAËL-Corinne. Bk. X. Ch. V. 16 Holy Father, in thy mercy, Hear our anxious prayer. Neath Thy care. universally among the British troops in the 17 5 Go with me, like good angels, to my end; And, as the long divorce of steel falls on me, Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice, And lift my soul to heaven. Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 75. Lord, thy most pointed pleasure take, STEVENSON—Celestial Surgeon. My prayers Are not words duly hallow'd nor my wishes More worth than empty vanities; yet prayers and wishes Are all I can return. Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 3. L. 67. My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy; yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted. RABINDRANATH TAGORE-Gitanjali. 28. 19 20 Speak to Him thou for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meetCloser is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet. TENNYSON—Higher Pantheism. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? TENNYSON–Morte d'Arthur. L. 247. 21 11 Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer. TENNYSON-St. Simeon Stylites. L. 7. If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit for it straight. Othello. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 26. 22 12 Earth bears no balsams for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool That did his will: but thou, O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool. “'Twas then belike,” Honorious cried, "When you the public fast defied, Refused to heav'n to raise a prayer, Because you'd no connections there." JOHN TRUMBULL-McFingal. Canto I. L. 541. 23 13 Four things which are not in thy treasury, My nothingness, my wants, from the Persian. Although we grope with little faith, Give me the heart to fight-and lose. HENRY VAUGHAN—The Morning Watch. 2 Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando. Cease to think that the decrees of the gods can be changed by prayers. VERGN-Æneid. VI. 376. 3 Audiit, et voti Phæbus succedere partem Mente didit, partem volucres dispersit in auras. Ae half the prayer wi' Phæbus grace did find The t'other half he whistled down the wind. VERGIL-Æneid. XI. 794. Trans. by Scott -Waverley. Ch. XLIII. Same idea in Ho MER-Iliad. XVI. 250. Prayer moves the Hand which moves the world. JOHN AIKMAN WALLACE—There is an Eye that Never Sleeps. L. 19. (See also W. R. WALLACE under MOTHERHOOD) 5 Who is this before whose presence idols tumble to the sod? While he cries out—"Allah Akbar! and there is no god but God!” Wm. Ross WALLACE—El Amin. The Faith ful. Making their lives a prayer. WHITTIER-T0 A. K. on Receiving a Basket of Sea Mosses. 7 Though smooth be the heartless prayer, no ear in heaven will mind it; And the finest phrase falls dead, if there is no feeling behind it. ELLA WHEELER WILCOX-Art and Heart. St. 2. I preached as never sure to preach again, and Praise. Pt. 2. St. 29. 16 Faites ce que nous disons, et ne faites pas ce que nous faisons. Do as we say, and not as we do. SABATIER DE CASTRES—Troisième Journée. (See also VILLIERS) 17 For the preacher's merit or demerit, It were to be wished that the flaws were fewer In the earthen vessel, holding treasure, ure? (See also HERBERT) 18 8 Hear how he clears the points o' Faith Wi' rattlin' an' thumpin'! He's stampin', an' he's jumpin'! The imperfect offices of prayer and praise. WORDSWORTH-Excursion. Bk. I. 1 There goes the parson, oh illustrious spark! Note. 11 Alas for the unhappy man that is called to stand in the pulpit, and not give the bread of life EMERSON--An Address to the Senior Class in Divinity College, Cambridge. July 15, 1838. 2 12 I venerate the man whose heart is warm, life, COWPER—Task. Bk. II. L. 372. But in his duty prompt at every call, GOLDSMITH-Deserted Village. L. 165. 13 They shall knaw a file, and flee unto the mountains of Hepsidam whar the lion roareth and the Wang Doodle mourneth for its first born-ah! Burlesque Sermon in Cole's Fun Doctor. At tributed to ANDREW HARPER as a travesty on sermons preached by itinerant preachers on the Mississippi. Found in Speaker's Garland. Vol. VIII. Also claimed for Dow Patent Sermons. 14 Judge not the preacher; for he is thy judge: If thou mislike him, thou conceiv'st him not. God calleth preaching folly. Do not grudge To pick out treasures from an earthen pot. The worst speak something good. If all want sense, God takes a text, and preaches patience. HERBERT—T'he Temple. The Church Porch. St. 72. Quoting, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels." II Corinthians. IV. 7. (See also BROWNING) The things that mount the rostrum with a skip, COWPER—Task. Bk. II. L. 408. 5 15 He that negotiates between God and man, As God's ambassador, the grand concerns Of judgment and of mercy, should beware Of lightness in his speech. COWPER—Task. Bk. II. L. 463. Even ministers of good things are like torches, a light to others, waste and destruction to themselves. HOOKER. Quoted by GLADSTONE, 1880. See MORLEY'S “Life of Gladstone." Bk. VIII. 6 16 The priest he merry is, and blithe Three-quarters of a year, When tithing time draws near. 7 A kick that scarce would move a horse, May kill a sound divine. COWPER—Yearly Distress. St. 16. Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well: but you are surprised to find it done at all. SAMUEL JOHNSON—Boswell's Life of Johnson. (1763) 17 And he played on a harp of a thousand strings, Spirits of just men made perfect. Burlesque Sermon, ascribed to Rev. HENRY TALIAFERRO LEWIS, in the Brandon (Miss.) 8 Go forth and preach impostures to the world, L. 116. 9 |