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Prayer Before and After Meals.

The following is a prayer said every day in the presence of the students of an University when they sit down to table,Almighty God, heavenly Father, we give thee humble thanks for the food which thou deignest to give our bodies, beseeching thee at the same time to give us the food of angels-the true bread from heaven--the eternal word of Jesus Christ our God and Saviour, that our souls may be quickened and strengthened.' The Romish Church has preserved this castom, but she has often permitted the place of prayer to be supplied by a simple sign of the cross, which was nothing more than an empty sign, the meaning of which the mass of the people have ceased to understand. When a poor peasant made the sign of the cross with his knife before he cut his bread, did he really call to mind the providing care of God? In many protestant families the custom of praying before meals is maintained, or reestablished. We recommend it to all as a commendable and wholesome practise. The good things that we get every day, and by the ordinary ways of providence, are those for which we are least grateful. Long habit of enjoying them makes us thoughtless about them. It is in order to awaken the feeling of thankfulness, and to remind us feelingly of our dependance upon God for every thing, that it is incumbent on us to pray before we sit down to the family table.

But there are certain rules important to be observed in this religious duty. We ought, before opening our mouths to pray, to recollect ourselves, otherwise the mind has no time to think of what it is going to engage in, nor of the words which the mouth utters. And does a pause of some seconds appear too bur

densome a duty? In the next place we ought to pray in a distinct and solemu manner, so as to shew that we address the Lord with the respect due to him. Hastily to mutter out some half-articulated words, is this a prayer? Is it not rather a profanation? To sum up all, we are far from advocating long prayers on this occasion; this would be another evil almost as great as the former; for long prayers at such a moment produce a state of uneasiness or impatience little favourable to the spirit of piety. We should bring with us there at once much modesty and. much seriousness; nor should we fear to maintain this custom before those whom we invite to our table, be they who they may. Prayer before meals is moreover a confessing of our Lord, and woe be to us if we are ashamed of him.--L'Esperance.

ON THE TERM 'PAPIST.'

WHY should the terms Popery,'' Papal,'' Papist,' be offensive to those who are in communion with Rome? If they are not ashamed of a belief in Papal Supremacy-if they are not ashamed of the Infallibility of the Church of Rome-why be so very tender upon these terms of Romanist and Papist? But the word 'Catholic' is an imposing term: it enlists the most ancient prejudices on its side: they know the value of making the world believe that their Church alone possesses the qualifications of truth and Apostolical antiquity: and, however, in the courtesy of

common conversation, even great points like this may be conceded, we are not justified, when coming to the solemn tribunal of the public Press, to forfeit the just claims of the Protestant Churches to be esteemed legitimate members of the true Catholic Church of Christ.

It is the same religious feeling, the same uncharitable spirit of exclusion, which has put into the hearts of the modern disbelievers in the Divinity of Christ to claim to themselves the title of Unitarians, and unblushingly to assert that the great doctrine of the Divine Unity is maintained by themselves alone. And here we would demand of the Church of Rome, whether-believing as they must that this great foundation of every religious sentiment is maintained by themselves in as much primitive and Catholic simplicity as by any other sect of Christians, they would submit to the degradation of conceding a title stamping upon their own Church the character of Polytheism? And why, then, should we be called upon to compromise our principles at the expense of our faith? To let our politeness go beyond our belief! To give up our title to the most important privileges, merely because weak men pretend to be offended at a term, in which, if they are true to their opinions, they ought to glory; and crafty men wish to shelter their corruptions and designs beneath the exclusive claim of the venerable name of Catholicism ! -Rev. S. Isaacson's Preliminary Discourse to Bishop Jewel's Apology for the Church of England, page 54.

SHORT SERMON. No. II.

"As they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed,

and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Mark xiv 22—25.

In treating on this subject again, I propose to consider some further ends of the Lord's Supper, which were omitted in our last Number.

1. It is a sign, means, and pledge of our communion with Christ. -"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" &c. 1 Cor. x. 16. God hath given us this bread and this wine to be broken and shed as a sign of our union with Christ; or, in the language of our Church, that he is one with us, and we with him.' Even as the bread and wine by being received becomes part of our natural substance, so by faith is the believer united to Christ as the branch to the vine; so as to be spoken of as one spirit, and one body;" so that we have communion with, or are made partakers of, Christ, as made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." And often as we repeat this act of communion, the closer is this bond of union drawn. He then that feels the pressing need, the essential importance of strengthening that union, will as easily answer to himself the question how often? as he would the question concerning the times of taking his bodily food; that is, as often as his necessities demand, and his oppor