AUGUSTINE.

doing wrong.

We worship God when we repent of

JOSIAH. I was most interested in this verse, Sincerity. “God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." It means that to feel our prayers is more important than to say the words.

LEMUEL. And when we pray and pray sincerely.
MR. ALCOTT What is praying sincerely?.

LEMUEL. Praying the truth.

MR. ALCOTT. What is to be done in praying the truth? When you think of prayer, do you think of a position of the body - of words?

LEMUEL. (Earnestly.) I think of something else, but I cannot express it.

MR. ALCOTT. Josiah is holding up his hand; can he express it?

JOSIAH (burst out,) To pray, Mr. Alcott, is Idea of Prayer. to be good, really; you know it is better to be bad before people, and to be good to God alone, because then we are good for goodness' sake, and not to be seen, and not for people's sake. Well, so it is with prayer. There must be nothing outward about prayer; but we must have some words, sometimes; sometimes we need not. If we don't feel the prayer, it is worse than never to say a word of prayer. wrong not to pray, but it is more wrong to speak prayer and not pray. We had better do nothing about it, Mr. Alcott! we must say words in a prayer, and we must feel the words we say, and we must do what belongs to the words.

It is

Oh! there must be doing,

JOSIAH. Oh! yes, Mr. Alcott! doing is the most important part. We must ask God for help, and at the

same time try to do the thing we are to be helped about. If a boy should be good all day, and have no temptation, it would not be very much; there would be no improvement; but if he had temptation, he could pray and feel the prayer, and try to overcome it, and would overcome it; and then there would be a real prayer and a real improvement. That would be something. Temptation is always necessary to a real prayer, I think. I don't believe there is ever any real prayer before there is a temptation; because we may think and feel and say our prayer; but there cannot be any doing, without there is something to be done.

MR. ALCOTT. Well, Josiah, that will do now. will you let some one else speak?

JOSIAH. Oh, Mr. Alcott, I have not half done.

Responsive
Prayer.

Now

EDWARD J. Mr. Alcott, what is the use of responding in church?

MR. ALCOTT.

Cannot you tell?

EDWARD J. No; I never knew.

JOSIAH. Oh! Mr. Alcott!

MR. ALCOTT. Well, Josiah, do you know?

JOSIAH. Why, Edward! is it not just like a mother's telling her child the words? The child wants to pray ; it don't know how to express its real thoughts, as we often say to Mr. Alcott here; and the mother says words, and the child repeats after her the words.

EDWARD J. Yes; but I don't see what good it does. JOSIAH. What! if the mother says the words, and the child repeats them and feels them really wants the things that are prayed for―can't you see that it does some good?

EDWARD J. It teaches the word-prayer-it is not the real prayer.

JOSIAH. Yet it may be the real prayer, and the real prayer must have some words.

Ritual of Worship.

But, Mr. Alcott, I think it would be a great deal better, if, at church, every body prayed for themselves. I don't see why one person should pray for all the rest. Why could not the minister pray for himself, and the people pray for themselves; and why should not all communicate their thoughts? Why should only one speak? Why should not all be the preachers? Every body could say something; at least, every body could say their own prayers, for they know what they want. Every person knows the temptations they have, and people are tempted to do different things. Mr. Alcott! I think Sunday ought to come oftener.

MR. ALCOTT. Our hearts can make all time Sunday. JOSIAH. Why then nothing could be done ! There must be week-days, I know

Sunday oftener.

MR. ALCOTT.

doing prayers.

Prayer of Faith.

some week-days; I said,

But you wanted the prayers to be

Now some of the rest may tell me, how you could pray doing prayers.

GEORGE K. Place is of no consequence. I think prayer is in our hearts. Christian prayed in the cave of Giant Despair. We can pray any where, because we can have faith any where.

MR. ALCOTT. Faith, then, is necessary?

GEORGE K. Yes; for it is faith that makes the prayer.

MR. ALCOTT.

yourself.

Suppose an instance of prayer in

GEORGE K. I can pray going to bed or getting up. MR. ALCOTT. You are thinking of time, place, words.

GEORGE K. And feelings and thoughts.

GEORGE K. Yes; action comes after.

JOHN B. When we have been doing wrong and are sorry, we pray to God to take away the evil. MR. ALCOTT. What evil, the punishment?

Forgiveness.

JOHN B. No; we want the forgiveness.

MR. ALCOTT. What is for-give-ness, is it

any thing given?

LEMUEL.

Goodness, Holiness.

JOHN B. And the evil is taken away.

MR. ALCOTT. Is there any action in all this? JOHN B. Why yes! there is thought and feeling. MR. ALCOTT. But it takes the body also to act; what do the hands do?

JOHN B. There is no prayer in the hands!

MR. ALCOTT. You have taken something that belongs to another; you pray to be forgiven; you wish not to do so again; you are sorry. Is there any thing

to do?

JOHN B. If you injure any body, and can repair it, you must, and you will, if you have prayed sincerely ; but that is not the prayer.

MR. ALCOTT. Would the prayer be complete without it?

JOHN B. No.

ANDREW. Prayer is in the Spirit.

MR. ALCOTT. Does the Body help the Spirit?
ANDREW. It don't help the prayer.

MR. ALCOTT. Don't the lips move? Dramatic Prayer. ANDREW. But have the lips any thing to do with the prayer?

MR. ALCOTT. Yes; they may. The whole nature may act together; the body pray; and I want you to tell an instance of a prayer in which are thoughts, feelings, action; which involves the whole nature, body and all. There may be prayer in the palms of our hands.

ANDREW. Why, if I had hurt any body, and was sorry and prayed to be forgiven, I suppose I should look round for some medicine and try to make it well. (Mr. Alcott here spoke of the connexion of the mind

with the body, in order to make his meaning clearer.) SAMUEL R. If I had a bad habit and should ask God for help to break it; and then should try so as really to break it that would be prayer.

CHARLES. Suppose I saw a poor beggar boy hurt, or sick, and all bleeding; and I had very nice clothes, and was afraid to soil them, or from any such cause should pass him by, and bye and bye I should look back and see another boy helping him, and should be really sorry and pray to be forgiven that would be a real prayer; but if I had done the kindness at the time of it, that would have been a deeper prayer.

AUGUSTINE. When any body has done wrong, and does not repent for a good while, but at last repents and prays to be forgiven, it may be too late to do any thing about it; yet that might be a real prayer.

MR. ALCOTT. Imagine a real doing prayer in your life.

LUCIA.

Suppose, as I was going home from school, some friend of mine should get angry with me, and throw a stone at me; I could pray not to be tempted to do the same, to throw a stone at her, and would not.

MR. ALCOTT. And would the not doing any thing in that case be a prayer and an action? Keeping your body still would be the body's part of it.

LUCIA. Yes.

ELLEN. I heard a woman say, once, that she could pray best when she was at work; that when she was scouring floor she could ask God to cleanse her mind.

Devotion to the Holy.

MR. ALCOTT, I will now vary my question. Is there any prayer in Patience?