Christ has produced; hope, which the patience of man waiteth for, charity, which patience accompanieth, God being its master..

IX. In this strength of patience Esaias is sawn asunder, and ceaseth not to speak concerning the Lord. Stephen is stoned, and asketh forgiveness for his enemies. Oh, how exceeding blessed is he also, who against the whole power of the devil, worked out in full every sort of patience! Whom neither the driving away of his herds, nor all that abundance of cattle, nor his sons taken away by a single blow of ruin; nor, finally, the torment of his body in its wounded state, deprived of his patience, the integrity which he devoted to the Lord: whom the devil smote with all his might in vain! For he was not moved away by so many afflictions from his reverence of God, but he was set as an example for us, and a testimony of the working out of patience, both in the spirit and in the flesh, both in the mind and in the body; so that we may neither sink under the damage of our worldly goods, nor the loss of those most dear to us, nor even the afflictions of our own bodies. How did God in this man build up a trophy over the devil! How did He set up His banner over the adversary of His glory! When this man, in reply to all the mass of tidings brought to him, uttered nothing from his mouth save thanks to God! When he denounced his wife, already wearied out with afflictions, and advising a wicked remedy! Well! God was rejoiced. Well! the evil one was cut asunder, while Job was wiping away, with great patience, the filthy discharge from his boils, which he was bringing back, in mockery the worms broke out from them, into the same holes and pastures in his perforated flesh. Wherefore this laborer for the victory of God, having beaten back all the darts of his temptations by the coat of mail and shield of patience, presently both recovered from God the soundness of his body, and had in possession twice as much as he had lost; and, if he had wished that his sons should be restored, he would have been again called their father. But he had rather that they should be given back to him at that day. Having full con fidence in the Lord, he deferred a joy so great to another season. He endured this voluntary bereavement that he might not live without some kind of patience.

X. Thus is God an abundantly sufficient depository of patience. If thou placest a wrong in His hands, He is an avenger; if a loss, He is a restorer; if pain, He is a physician; if death, He is the resurrection. What a license hath patience, in having God for her debtor And not without cause; for she observeth all His pleas

ure, she interposeth her aid in all His commands. She fortifieth faith, guileth peace, assisteth charity, instructeth humility, waiteth for penitence, setteth her mark upon confession, ruleth the flesh, preserveth the spirit, bridleth the tongue, restraineth the hand, treadeth temptations under foot, driveth away offenses, perfecteth martyrdom, consoleth the poor, ordereth the rich, straineth not the weak, wasteth not the strong, delighteth the believer, inviteth the heathen, commendeth the servant to his master, his master to God; adorneth the woman, approveth the man; is loved in the boy, praised in the young man, respected in the old; is beautiful in every sex, in every age. Come now, let us describe her form and her demeanor. She hath a countenance serene and placid, a forehead smooth, contracted with no wrinkle of grief or of anger, her brows evenly and cheerfully relaxed, her eyes cast down in humility, not in melancholy. Her mouth beareth the seal of honorable silence. Her color is such as those have who are free from care and crime. Her head is often shaken at the devil, with a smile of defiance. For the rest, her clothing about her bosom is white and closely fitted to the body, as being neither puffed out nor ruffled. For she sitteth on the throne of that most kind and gentle Spirit who is not in the gathering of the whirlwind, nor in the blackness of the cloud, but belongeth to the soft, calm, clear and simple, such as Elias saw Him at the third time. For where God is, there also is his foster-child, to wit, patience. When, therefore, the Spirit of God descendeth, patience never divideth from Him, accompanieth Him. If we receive her not together with the Spirit, will He abide with us always? Nay, I know not whether He would continue any longer. Without His companion and handmaid, He must needs be grieved at every place and time. Whatever His enemy inflicteth He can not endure alone, lacking the instrument of endurance. This is the way, this the rule, these the works of an heavenly and true, that is a Christian patience.

DISCOURSE SECOND.

CYPRIAN.

THE precise time of the birth of THACIUS CECILIUS CYPRIAN is not certainly known. It was about the year 200; and the place of his nativity was Carthage, where he enjoyed the instructions of Tertullian, whom he held in the highest estimation. He was a teacher of rhetoric, and passionately fond of oratory and eloquence. His conversion to Christianity took place at the age of forty-six, soon after which he was chosen presbyter, and subsequently bishop, by the church in Carthage. During the persecutions under Decius he fled; but, having returned, at length, to Carthage, in 257, he was banished to Churubis. The year following he was beheaded. Besides Augustine, Cyprian did more than any other early writer, to give form and character to the doctrine and practice of the Latin churches. But his character presents a strange compound of weakness and excellences. We read his writings with mingled feelings of pleasure, of pain, of admiration, and of contempt. Now we are charmed with his eloquence, his beautiful simplicity, and earnest defense of the truth; and anon we are amazed at his gross views of religion and of the Christian ordinances, his superstitions, puerile reasonings, and unsound principles. Many of his written productions remain, principally in the form of epistles and treatises. His exposition of the Lord's Prayer, which follows, presents the most favorable specimen of the man, and has always been greatly admired. It is often referred to by Augustine, in his treatise against the Pelagians. Rettberg, in his life of Cyprian, says, "In no work of Cyprian does the whole Christian character of the man speak out so distinctly as in this ;" and an able critic of his works says of this production, "We warmly recommend it to the pious reader" The preface, or introductory part, is here omitted.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth; give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen."-MATT. vi. 9.

I. First of all, the teacher of peace and master of unity would not have men pray singly and severally, since, when any prays, he

is not to pray for himself only. For we say not, My Father which art in Heaven; nor, Give me this day my bread; nor does each individual pray that his own debt only should be forgiven, or ask for himself alone, not to be led into temptation, or to be delivered from evil. Our prayer is general, and for all; and when we pray, we pray not for one person, but for us all, because we all are one. God, the Master of peace and concord, so willed that one should pray for all, according as Himself in one did bear us all. This rule of prayer the three children shut up in the fiery furnace kept, being in unison in prayer, and being concordant in an agreement of spirit. The authority of Divine Scripture declares this; and in teaching how such persons prayed, it gives an example which we ought to imitate in our prayers, in order that we may become like them. Then the three, it says, as out of one mouth, sang an hymn, and blessed the Lord. They spake as out of one mouth, though Christ had not yet taught them to pray. Hence, in prayer, their words were availing and effectual, because the Lord was gained by peaceable, and simple, and spiritual praying. It was thus, too, that we find the Apostles and disciples prayed, after the ascension of the Lord. They all, we are told, continued with one accord in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brethren. They continued with one accord in prayer, manifesting at the same time the instancy of their praying and the agreement. Because God, who maketh men to be of one mind in an house, admits into the house divine and eternal those only among whom is unanimous prayer.

II. What sacraments, dearest brethren, are those of the Lord's Prayer! How numerous! How weighty! Gathered up in few words, but with such wealth of spiritual virtue, that not any thing, for prayer and petition of ours, is left unincluded in this comprehension of heavenly doctrine. After this manner, He saith, pray ye: Our Father which art in Heaven. The new man, born again, and restored to his God by His grace, first of all says, "Father," because he has now become a son. He came, He tells us, to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name. He, then, who has believed in His name, and is become a son of God, ought hence to make beginning both of thanksgiving and of avowing himself God's son, when he speaks of God as his Father in Heaven; and of testifying his renunciation of an earthly and fleshly father, and his recognizing and beginning to have one Father only, which is in Heaven; according as it is written, They who say unto their father and to their mother, I have not known thee,

and who have not acknowledged their own children, these have observed Thy word, and kept Thy covenant. The Lord likewise, in the Gospel, commands us not to name us a father who is on earth, because to us is one Father, which is in Heaven. And to the disciple who made mention of his dead father, He gave answer, Let the dead bury their dead; for he had spoken of his father as being dead, while the Father of believers is living.

III. Neither, dearest brethren, have we only to consider and observe that we speak of one in Heaven as a father, but we go further, and say, Our Father-Father, that is, of those who believe, of those who being sanctified by Him, and made again by a nativity of spiritual grace, have begun to be the sons of God. This expression does also apply reproof and condemnation to the Jews, who not only unbelievingly despised Christ, foretold to them by the prophets, and first sent to themselves, but also cruelly slew Him. They can no more call God their Father, for the Lord confounds and convicts them, saying, Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. And by Isaiah the prophet, God speaks forth in His wrath: I have nourished and brought up children, but they have despised Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know: My people doth not consider. Ah! sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: ye have forsaken the Lord, ye have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. In condemnation of them, we, Christians, when we pray, say, Our Father, because He has begun to be ours, and no longer belongs to the Jews, who have forsaken Him. A sinful people can not be a son; but they to whom remission of sins is given, to them is given the name of sons, and to them eternity is promised in the words of the Lord Himself; Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son abideth forever. What indulgence is it of the Lord-what exuberance of condescension and goodness toward us, to permit us, when praying in God's presence, to address ourselves to God as a Father, and name ourselves sons of God, even as Christ is Son of God! A name which none of us in prayer would have dared to reach unto, had not He Himself allowed us thus to pray. We should, therefore, dearest brethren, recollect and feel, that when we call God a Father, we ought to act like sons of God, and if we have a comfort in regarding Him as our Father, let us cause that He may be comforted in us. Let us so walk as the temples of God, that it may be known that God dwelleth in us.