Litchfield enquirer., 1829-05-14

| studied expression of the wants and fec lings ofthe soul. It will be so if the heart is lively and affected in the duty; 1t must be so if the edi6cation of others is the point in view.
 Several books have been written to as- sist in the giff and exercise ofprayer, as by
 Or. Watts and others; and many useful hints may besborrowcd from them; but a too close attention to the method and transitions thorein recommended, gives an air of study and formality, and olends a. gainst that simplicity which is SD essential- ly necessary to. n good prayer, that no de- gree of acquired abilities can compensate
 for the want of it. It is possible to learn to pray mechanically, and by rule; but it
 is hardly possible to do so with acceptance, and benefit 10 others. When the several parts of invocation, adoration, confession, petition, &Lc. follow each other in stated order, the hearers mind generally goes be-. fore the speakers voice, and we can form aiolerable conjecture what is to come next.
 On this account we often find, that unlet- tered people, who haveshad little or no help from books, or rather have not been feitered by them, cain praywith an unction and. savonr in an anpremeditated way, while the prayers of persons of much su- perior abilities, perhaps even of ministers themselves, are, though accurate and reg ular, so dry and starched, that they afford little either of pleasure or profit to spirit- ual mind. The spirit of prayer is the 1 fruit and token ofthe spirit of adoption. The studied addresses with which some ap- proach the throne of grace, remind us of strangers coming to great mans door l; he knocks and waits, sends in his name, and goes through course of ceremony, before he gains admittance; while child of the family uses no ceremony at all, but enters freely when he pleases, because he knows he is at home. It is true we ought always to draw near the Lord with great humilia- ton ofspirit, and sense of our unworthi- ness. But this spirit is not always best ex- pressed or promoted by pompous enumer- ation of the names aud titles of the God with whom we have to do j. or by fixing in our mind beforehand the exact order in which we propose to arrange the several parts of our prayer. Some attention to method may be proper, for the prevention ! of repetitions; and plain people may he little defective in il sometimes but this. de- 1 feet will not be half so tiresome and disa- greeable as studied and artificial exact- ness. Rcmaindcr ne1t soeek.
 The religious paper of the Methodist Episcopal Society, in New York, is ex- tensiveiy patronized: 200 hands arc cm- ployed in this office; 25,000 papers are issued weekly, besides II, 900 magazines for adults, 800 juxenile snagazifaess and other printing.
 A young person once mentioned to pr. Franklin lis surprise, that the possession of great riches should ever be attended with undue solicitude; and instanced a mer- chant, who, although in possession of inc mense wealth, was as busy, and much more anxious than the most assiduons clerk in lis counting house. The doctor in reply, took an apple from fruit basket, and presented 1t to child in the room, who could scarcely grasp it in his hand. He then gave it . second, which filled the other hand :; and choosing third, remark able for its size, and beauty, he presented
 that also. ,Ths child after many inefect- l nal attempts to hold three apples. dropped the last on the carpet, and burst into tears.
 q See tberc," said the philosopher, lis a
 Kttlc man with more riches than le can enjoy" tsss {, ,tA,man who belonged to very respects able family, and had formerly been in bu-
 siness in this city, but had become much
 addicted tn drunkenness, made a request
 on Saturday at the Police Office to be confined five or six months, in the hope l that it would have the effect to emanci- pate him from his present degraded state. The magistrates, finding he had no fixed place of abode, committed him for five months. flo expressed his gratitude for the favor. What deplorable picture
 does this present of the vice of intemper- ance. Y Obs. l..,8 N x .sl,Ala,.G A fine Newfoundland dog, the other day--having something of a taste for the fine arts as well us his master, who had paid his two shillings went in to see the Panorama Painting of the Lake and City of Geneva, now exhibiting in New York. Ailer gazing some time. with evident tokens of grati6cation, he found himself tempted by the cool and fresh appearance of the water, that he could no longer resiss, and nude a tlosperate nlunre at tho canvass.