maining undone; and if this be true with regard to temporal matters, must it not be more so with respect to spiritual, on account of the natural alienation of our minds from God? The return of morning and evening seem to be seasons for devotion, not only recommended by custom, but marked out by reason and propriety. Our waking and sleeping hours constitute the most obvious and prominent division of our time. Each have their appropriate topics of supplication and thanksgiving; each have their peculiar wants and temptations. Let then no sun rise or set, without being witness to an act of worship. This will keep the soul in a state of pious composure and resignation; will preserve us from the manifold snares attending even a necessary intercourse with the world; will enable us to discharge our various duties with diligence, spirit, and success; and, amidst all the cares, vexations, and anxieties of life, will keep us from growing unmindful of the great Author of our being, and the great end of our existence. It will lead us to trace every thing to the providence or permission of the Almighty; to refer every thing to his wise and gracious disposal; and to commit the keeping of our souls to him, in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

II. The piety of Daniel was open and ex

emplary. He prayed with his face directed towards Jerusalem, and in a station sufficiently conspicuous to be seen, without difficulty, by those who watched for his life. There was, however, no spirit of ostentation, no improper affectation or vanity in this conduct. The nature of the case, and the peculiarity of the circumstances rendered a certain degree of publicity here not improper. The sense of duty concurred with patriotic feelings to render Jerusalem an object of pious regret and reverence to the captive Jews. There was the ancient seat of the chosen race. There had stood the temple dedicated to Jehovah; the spot which he had long honoured with the supernatural tokens of his presence. Thither the tribes had been accustomed to repair, at the great annual festivals. Hence prayers, addressed to this hallowed spot, were considered more acceptable than when offered up in any other direction. Towards Jerusalem the longing eyes of every captive in Babylon were naturally turned, as the object of his fondest esteem, regret, and admiration. The language of his heart respecting it was-" If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." To Jerusalem he hoped ere long to return. He hoped to see the holy city, now a desolation, once more rearing her walls and palaces, in all the pride and pomp of her past magnifi

cence. All these circumstances made it highly natural and proper for Daniel to pray with his face directed to that quarter of the earth, where stood the now ruined, but once splendid capital of his native land. He might also, under his actual circumstances at the court of a Gentile monarch, deem a certain publicity in his devotions a part of the necessary homage which he owed to the God of Israel. Had those devotions been studiously kept a secret, how could he have distinguished himself by the profession of true religion amongst a nation of idolaters? Without a temple to resort to, and debarred from all public celebration of religious worship, was he to be ashamed of his God? Was he to conceal his sentiments? Did not his exalted station in the court of an earthly prince, and still more the recent decree of that prince, make it proper that he should thus openly assert the supremacy of him who is King of kings and Lord of lords? Thus a line of conduct, which, under other supposable circumstances, might have seemed to border upon a spirit of ostentation, was in this case an act of duty, and a matter of strict propriety. The daily devotions of the Christian, as distinguished from his attendance upon social worship, are indeed performed to most advantage when they are performed in private. He is exhorted to enter into "his closet, and shut his door," with a promise that the God,

"who seeth in secret," will "reward him openly." The ancient dispensation having ceased, he is not called upon to direct his prayer towards any particular quarter of the earth. The God, whom he worships, is in heaven; and, though his spiritual presence continues to be vouchsafed to" temples made with hands," he no longer appears in them by any visible and supernatural tokens of his power. Yet, notwithstanding this change of circumstances, the conduct of Daniel will be found proper for our imitation in some degree. We must make no studied secret of our more private exercises of piety; we must never be ashamed to have it known that we worship God daily in acts of private devotion. Strange indeed that any one should be ashamed of what constitutes his highest praise! Those especially, who are called to stations of power and dignity, whose opinions enforce respect, and whose examples carry weight and influence, should learn, from the behaviour of Daniel, to make their piety as conspicuous as may be consistent with an adherence to the dictates of modesty and propriety. Though not situated, as he was, in the midst of an idolatrous people, they live in "a world" still "lying in wickedness." Let them therefore constantly endeavour to counteract the progress of vice and irreligion, by a courageous testimony in behalf of truth and righteousness.

III. The piety of Daniel was calm and rational. A devout man, of an enthusiastic spirit, would in all probability have pursued a different course. Fearful of being thought ashamed of his religion, and courting persecution, on account of it, he might have rushed into extremes. He might have exasperated his enemies beyond the necessity of the case, by making his devotions more conspicuous than they were before. He might have considered himself unfaithful to his duty, if he had not defied their malice by a more than ordinary display of zeal. His conduct might have betrayed somewhat of a spirit of hastiness and resentment, and his firm and unbending piety might have worn the appearance of being overstrained. But how did Daniel act, upon the singular occasion recorded in the text? His behaviour was throughout calm and rational. Had he abridged his customary devotions, or made them less public, he would have been guilty of a suspicious dereliction of duty in a matter where the honour of Jehovah was nearly concerned. He would have furnished his enemies with ground of triumph, on account of his timidity, without at the same time doing any thing to defeat their malicious purposes. Had he, on the contrary, made his devotions more frequent, or more public than before, he might have given them an advantage of a different kind, by affording them a handle for