That Eye is fixed on seraph throngs; That Ear is filled with angels' songs; That Arm upholds the worlds on high;

That Love is throned beyond the sky.

But there's a power which man can wield, When mortal aid is vain,

That Eye, that Arm, that Love to reach, That listening Ear to gain.

That power is Prayer-the noblest boon
To feeble mortals given;
It moves the hand omnipotent

That rules o'er earth and heaven.'

'Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.'-Ps. XXVI. 8.

W

HILE he was earnest in secret prayer, he had also a great liking for the courts of the Lord's house. In a pocket memorandumbook for 1805, containing a list of places of worship in London where the gospel was reputed to be purely preached, he has a pencil mark attached to a good many of them; such as, St. Mary's Woolnoth, J. Newton and J. Pratt; Londonwall, Dr. Young; Swallow Street, Dr. Trotter and Mr. Nichol; Wells Street, Mr. Waugh; Finsbury Square Meeting, C. Buck; the Independent Church, Rotherhithe; the City Road Chapel; and the Tabernacle. And though at that time he was much occupied with secular duties, so that with regard to particular ser

Could not

vices there are such entries as these: attend,' or 'Business prevented;' yet, taking the period of six consecutive months, I notice the instructive fact, that he was never absent on one solitary occasion from any Sabbath service in connection with the place of worship in Swallow Street, which he usually attended; while during the same period he was present at eighty week-day services, such as sermons, missionary associations, and teachers' prayer meetings, which gives on an average more than three for every week.

It is impossible to glance at such records without perceiving that every leisure hour he could spare was consecrated to the service of God; and his freedom in early life from the vanities and pollutions of such a city as London may be traced, under the blessing of the Divine Spirit, to the fact of his resorting so frequently to the places where prayer is wont to be made, and having his religious impressions, which the details of a lawful occupation are apt to wear out, deepened and reiterated and matured by means of the devotional exercises, and the heart-searching addresses of so many of the most godly and experienced ministers of Christ.

How pleasant, how divinely fair,
O Lord of hosts, Thy dwellings are!
With long desire my spirit faints
To meet the assemblies of Thy saints.

D

Might I enjoy the meanest place
Within Thy house, O God of grace!
Not tents of ease, nor thrones of power,
Should tempt my feet to leave Thy door.

Blest are the men whose hearts are set
To find the way to Zion's gate;

God is their strength, and through the road,
They lean upon their helper, God.

Cheerful they walk with growing strength, Till all shall meet in heaven at length,— Till all before Thy face appear,

And join in nobler worship there.'

'Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.'-PROV. XXIII. 23.

OME influence for good is also to be ascribed to the fact, that instead of expending his spare time in the reading of the light kind of literature which possesses so many attractions for the youthful mind, he purchased, and, as opportunity occurred, he consulted such works as the following: Henry's 'Commentary;' Hall's Contemplations; Missionary Transactions; Cruden's Concordance;' Missionary Sermons; Mason's "History of Jesus;' Buck's 'Religious Experience;' Whitfield's Sermons; and Baxter's 'Saints' Rest.'

Keeping these facts in view, and looking at the experience of James Nisbet, let me say to young men