THE PRAYER OF FAITH!

O FATHER of the fatherless, to Thee

We turn, sole Comforter, and seek release;
When shall Thy better kingdom come, and we
Be gather'd 'neath Thy feet, and be at peace!

Thou givest and takest away,-Thy name be blest!
Fain would we have that cup to pass away;
But may Thy will be done!-our only rest
To know that Thou art good,—and to obey.

Thy will be done on earth, as 'tis in heaven;
Give us enough each day to bear us on;
'Tis not our home; and as we have forgiven,
Forgive us ere we die, for Thy dear Son.

Look on us, for, like leaves we haste away

And are not; to Thy mercy let us cling:
Till we have pass'd this world of evil sway,
Hide us beneath the shadow of Thy wing.
The Cathedral.

No man must go to heaven when he dies, who has not sent his heart thither while he lives. Our greatest hopes should lie beyond the grave.-Wilson.

THOSE are seldom the most thriving people who drive at none but vast projects, and will needs grow rich at once; nor is he likely to make the best proficiency in holiness, who expects to become a saint by one eager resolution to practise uncommon virtues, and never do a wrong thing again. But treasures in heaven, as well as upon earth, are raised by continually accumulating to the stock in hand, and more is to be done by vigilance and industry than by strength and impetuosity.-Tucker,

ST. CLEMENT OF ROME.

ST. CLEMENT was born at Rome, and his fathers name was Faustinianus, said to have been near a-kin to Tiberius, and educated with him. His mother was remarkable for her beauty; and went to reside at Athens, in consequence of some illicit advances offered her, which she resisted, and proved herself to have been a woman of great virtue. St. Clement was the youngest of three sons; the two eldest accompanied their mother to Athens, and the father following soon afterwards, left Clement at Rome under the care of proper tutors.

As he grew up he became fond of learning and philosophy. The immortality of the soul and the future state, were subjects which chiefly occupied and perplexed his mind. Determined to acquire as, much information as he could, he had recourse to the schools of philosophy, but, instead of being satisfied, he was more perplexed than ever with the endless disputes and sophistical reasonings with which the subject was entangled.

Despairing of having the mystery cleared, he applied as a last resource, to the Egyptian Hierophanto, to see if by magic art, some one could be re-called from the invisible world, and give the information he so ardently sought for. While waiting in suspence, he heard of the Son of God, His Ministry and Death in Judea, and this happily gave his mind a new direction. St. Barnabas who had come to reside in Rome, became his instructor in the elements of the Gospel, and Clement afterwards following St. Barnabas into

Judea met with St. Peter at Cæsarea, by whom he was baptized and became his constant companion and friend.

He became eventually Bishop of Rome, and the third from St. Peter and St. Paul who had episcopally presided over that city and Church. Not long after he had been appointed to the see, the Corinthians sent to him, respecting a violent schism that had broken out among them. They seem to have been on peculiar friendly terms with him, and, Clement anxious to assist them sent a letter, which is still extant, to quell "that impious and abominable sedition."

Trajan being emperor, was a source of great harassment to the Christians. Naturally of a wise and peaceable disposition, he was nevertheless so deeply attached to the Heathen worship, that he never refused any pretences for subverting the new, the Christian religion. He caused their societies to be proceeded against as illegal assemblies, falsely supposing that they were for overturning the imperial government. St. Clement, the head, and Bishop of them, was sure to be a principal object on whom the civil power might be exercised.

Simeon, the metapbist, gives the following account of the way in which St. Clement was drawn into this persecution. He had succeeded in converting one Theodora, a lady of noble rank, as well as her bushand Sisimaius, who happened to be a kinsman of Nerva, the late emperor. These persons occupying a high station in soeiety, led the public authorities to eye them with suspicion, as it was feared their influence might induce many others to embrace the Christian faith. From Theodora and Sisimuius, national excitement settled upon St. Clement, who had persuaded them to forsake the

worship of idols, wood and stone. One Torcatianus, a man holding a public station in Rome, was the first to raise the hand of persecution against the saintly Bishop. He charged him with practising magic and sorcery, and with being a blasphemer of the Roman Gods. The Prefect of the city, to avoid a tumult, would persuade St. Clement to make a compromise, and pacify his assailants; but the Bishop was resolute, and spurned the proposal. The consequence was, that he was banished to a desolate place called Cherson; where he was subject to great cruelty and indignity. He was forced to labour in the mines, a sentence which at that time was next in severity to death itself. Probable it resembled in some degree, the punishment now awarded to the convicts in Norfolk Island. In Cherson they were frequently whipped and chained together, their heads were half shaved, and their right eye bored out. Caligula introduced besides the branding of an infamous mark on the forehead, a cruel custom which was abolished by Constantine, A.D. 315.

It appears that on his arrival at his place of exile, he found many Christians there, who like himself, were confessors of the true faith. These he established and encouraged by his preaching. Many of his enemies were brought over by his means to the side of Christ. But when this came to the ears of the emperor, he was exceedingly irritated at the opposition he thus met with. He dispatched one of his officers to punish the Christian Apostle; and such was his hatred of them, that he put many to death. Among his victims, St. Clement was fixed upon, and after tempting him in various ways to renounce God and religion, but in vain, he was ordered to be taken on board a ship, and thrown into the sea, where

the Christiaus might be unable to find him. This event took place, two years after his banishment to Cherson, and after he had filled the office of Bishop for nine years. His name is declared, on the highest authority, to be written "in the book of Life,” (Phil. iv. 3.); and in St. Jerome's time, thre was a church in Rome standing to his memory. His Epistle to the Corinthians was held in great esteem and veneration by the Primitive Church, and was considered second in importance to the Scriptures themselves. It was read in the Christian Churches for many ages; and its absence from the list of the canonical books of the New Testament, materially proves the anxious care that was taken to admit those only about which no doubt could possibly exist. R. E. B.

Notices of Books.

Ritual Worship. A Sermon recently preached at the Consecration of St. Thomas's, in Leeds, By the Rev. CHARLES DODGSON, M.A., Examining Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Ripon. Rivingtons, London; Parker, Oxford.

It was with no common feelings of satisfaction that we read the above mentioned Sermon. Like all that proceeds from its talented and much respected author, it is singularly marked both by power of thought and happiness of illustration, and calls for the attention and sympathy of all Church people. With the exception of those never to be forgotten sermons of Dr. Hook's on this subject, published in his Volume of Sermons on Various Subjects some years ago, we know of none which bring more forcibly, than does this present one