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THE BLESSING OF THE CHURCH ON MARRIAGE.

Almighty God, who at the beginning did create our first parents, Adam and Eve, and did sanctify and join them together in marriage, pour upon you the riches of His grace, sanctify and bless you; that ye may please Him both in body and soul, and live together in holy love unto your lives' end. Amen. Marriage Service.

MARRIAGE CONSIDERED RELIGIOUSLY. We may often observe, that a sincere mutual affection at the beginning is not sufficient to procure a continuance of happiness to married persons. And this happens, not from the want of amiable qualities on either side, nor through any imprudence which the most intimate friends of the parties can observe; but from an error in the foundation

of their plan. Having been too much clated with their prospects, having fondly terminated their hopes in each other, and forgotten their immediate dependence on the Almighty, they have not enjoyed that blessing from above which is necessary to secure the permanent happiness of the matrimonial state.

Mr. Addison, and some other writers, have occasionally treated of many little improprieties which married persons are apt to commit. Their instructions upon these heads are worthy of notice in their proper place; but none of them that I have seen go to the bottom of the subject. The great impropriety, and the first cause of every other miscarriage, is our unhappy propensity to propose a rest and satisfaction merely in the creature. So far as we attempt this, the Lord, either in mercy or in judgment, will assuredly disappoint us. He will multiply the sorrows of those who thus presume to seek after another god; for He is jealous of His glory, and will

not give it to our idols. It is the Holy Scripture alone which furnishes us with rules or motives sufficient to direct and animate us in the various relations of life; especially in this, which is of all others the most honourable, the most intimate, and the most important. It is the most honourable, as instituted by God himself, and appointed as an emblem of the love and indissoluble union between Christ and His Church; in which respect the Apostle scruples not to call it a great mystery. It is the most intimate, because it is expressly ordained to supersede all other relations and connections; "for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they two shall be one flesh." And it is by far the most important, as having a necessary influence, either good or bad, upon every future action and circumstance of our lives.

It would not be an easy task to point out and illustrate the nature, rise, and improvement of that peculiar sympathy of soul which takes place in those whose hearts as well as hands are joined in marriage; which so far resembles the joy of a good conscience that it is hard to represent it to those who have not felt it, and next to impossible to describe it but from experience. Conjugal affection, wherever it appears, exhibits the fairest prospect of human happiness; though too often it is like a beautiful edifice raised upon an insufficient foundation. But when it is formed and cherished under the influence of true religion, it is firm and lasting.

I write now for those, whose temper or circumstances inclining them to a married life, have yet their choice to make. Few persons, warm in the pursuit of their own inclinations, and relying on the sufficiency of their own judgments, will be either pleased or profited by my remarks; but those who are truly serious and considerate will perhaps discover their expediency. At all events, the following rules are of the utmost importance in this

matter:

Whoever would hope for comfort in the marriage relation must, in the first place, humbly submit himself and his designs entirely to the disposal of the Almighty, and earnestly seek the direction of His wisdom and providence. We have a promise that if we acknowledge God in all our ways He will direct our paths; but if we reject His offer, and choose for ourselves, what have we to expect. but to be filled with vicious or vain

desires, and when we have sown the wind, to reap the whirlwind?

And as it is necessary to begin this great design in submission to the will of God, so it must also be conducted, with respect to the end, in subordination to His glory. We cannot, consistently with our Christian profession, either entreat or expect a blessing upon such of our designs as may terminate solely in ourselves. So far as we can, upon the closest consideration, foresee the circumstances and engagements which our new relation may bring us into, it behoves us to resolve (by Divine assistance), that we will act in them as those who are not their own, but "bought with a price."

The due observance of these two points will necessarily lead to a third, namely, to make choice of such a partner for life as we have good reason to believe is under the same principles; and not to be so misled by any plausible appearances as to unite ourselves with any person in whom these principles have not in some measure taken place. A want of care in this matter has filled many a pious heart with anguish through all the remaining years of life. When a truly religious person marries one who has no relish for spiritual things, that individual is taking up a heavy burden which can never be laid aside. How greatly must the worship of God in the closet, and in the family, be interrupted or distracted in such a case! How must the improvement of children and domestics be hindered, and the force of good example lessened! How must the Christian husband be wounded in his soul, when, deeply impressed with the love of God shed abroad in his heart, he would fain look upon a beloved wife as the sharer of his joys :

"Sure is the knot that true religion ties:

And love that's rightly grounded never dies."

Or when, under distress or temptation, he needs or carnestly desires the assistance of her counsel and prayers; but, in either case, can meet with no return but coldness, surprise, and misapprehension !

How must it add to his grief in a time of trouble, and damp his pleasures in brighter hours, to reflect on the dangerous situation of one whose interest is dearer to him than his own life! If divine providence takes her from him in such estate, how deep and bitter must be his mourning! How hard will he

find it to silence the bodings of his heart, and to resign her into the hands of that God to whom, as he fears, she lived and died a stranger!

If he should be called first from her, with what anguish must it perhaps fill his dying hours, to think that their present parting is too likely to be an eternal separation; and that he leaves her in the midst of the snares and calamities of an evil world, without an interest in those precious promises which, he knows, are alone able to support her! An union of affection which either obviates or softens all other trials will in this case greatly heighten and aggravate the distress. The more tenderly they love, the more sensibly they must grieve each other while together, and the more awful and overwhelming their situation will become.

How different is the experience of those who are united in grace as well as in affection! How are their pleasures heightened, and their necessary trials alleviated, by the sense of their Redeemer's love, while their prayers are enlivened and their praises multiplied upon each other's account. The one who may depart first can with faith and comfort commit the survivor to the gracious protection of their Heavenly Father. The one who may remain longest here has the unspeakable satisfaction of knowing that the dear companion is safely arrived at the haven of eternal rest, and that a few revolving years will re-unite them in a state of unchangeable happiness, beyond the power of death, sin, or sorrow, for ever! Fordyce.

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THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE.

From Jesus Christ and His Spirit, marriage and home received a new sanction and a new position in the whole world. In spite of all the fancies, and perversions, and exaggerations of later times, the institution of Christian marriage and the blessings of a Christian home are such as have indeed been worthy of the "beginning of miracles" in Cana of Galilee. They are the bulwarks of nations and churches; they are the salt of human life; they are the proper sphere of every human soul. A happy marriage is a new beginning of life; a new starting-point for happiness and usefulness: it is the great opportunity, once for all, to leave the past, with all its follies and faults and errors, far, far behind us, for ever, and to press forward with new hopes, new courage, and new strength into the future which opens before

us.

A happy home is the best likeness of heaven; a home where husband and wife, father and mother, brother and sister, child and parent, each in their several ways, help each the other forwards in their difficult course as no other human being can; for none else has the same opportunities, none else so know the character of any other; none else has such an interest at stake in the welfare and the fame, the grace and the goodness, of any one else, as of those who are bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; in whose happiness and glory we ourselves become happy and glorious; in whose misery we become miserable; by whose selfishness, weakness, and worldliness we are dragged down to earth; by whose purity, and nobleness, and strength, we are raised up, almost against our will, to duty, to heaven, and to God. Dean Stanley.

FORBEARANCE IN MARRIAGE.

Two persons who have chosen each other out of all the species, with a design to be each other's mutual comfort and entertainment, have, in that action, bound themselves to be good-humoured, affable, discreet, forgiving, patient, and joyful, with respect to each other's frailties and perfections, to the end of their natural lives. Addison.

Marriage is honourable in all.

St. Paul.

UNDER THE BRIDAL VEIL.

And so she moved under the bridal veil, Which made the paleness of her cheek more pale,

And deepen'd the fajnt crimson of her mouth, And darken'd her dark locks, as moonlight doth,-

And of the gold and jewels glittering there
She scarce felt conscious; but the weary glare
Lay like a chaos of unwelcome light,
Vexing the sense with gorgeous undelight.
A moonbeam in the shadow of a cloud
Was less heavenly fair-her face was bow'd,
And, as she pass'd, the diamonds in her hair
Were mirror'd in the polish'd marble stair
Which led from the cathedral to the street;
And, even as she went, her light fair feet
Erased these images.

Virgil.

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A MARRIAGE PRAYER.

O Thou, whose merciful decree
Hath knit our hearts in bonds of love,
Our sure defence and safeguard be,
Whate'er our wedded lot may prove.

Without Thy blessing love is vain
The varied ills of life to bear;
But when bestow'd, few griefs remain
Beyond affection's healing care.

Avert from us the spirit's chill,
Each wandering thought and fickle mood;
Mould every feeling to Thy will,

Incline our hearts to every good.

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