d thereby have life and freedom.

_Standeth our eternal life_. Notice the phrase standeth in as a
substitute for is. We could not have said _whose knowledge is eternal
life_, because of the momentary doubt whether it referred to the
knowledge which God has, or to the knowledge which we have of Him. By
the use of an idiom not now in common use, we express the belief taught
by the Saviour's words S. John xvii. 3.

Notice also the phrase _whose service is perfect freedom_: here the
Latin original has _whom to serve is to reign_. Our eagerness to do
God's Will is, on the one hand, a service or bondage to Him; but, on
the other hand, it is what makes us masters of ourselves, and, in the
spiritual sense, kings (1 Cor. iv. 8; Rev. i. 6).

The prayer for defence from external assault has for its real motive
the attainment of trust and fearlessness.

The Evening Collect for Peace asks more plainly for spiritual peace; in
relation to (1) the tumults {142} occasioned in our consciences by
disobedience to God's commands, (2) the tumults occasioned in our lives
by outward interference. For (1), we appeal to God as the author of
good and holy desires within us: for (2), we appeal to Him as the
counsellor who helps us against our enemies. For both, we appeal to
Him who enables us, and others, to do what is just.

The Third Collect in the Morning is styled a Collect _for Grace_.
Because He is Almighty and Everlasting; because He is our Father and
our God and Lord; and, in particular, because He has brought us to the
beginning of the day; we ask Him to keep us from harm, and sin, and
danger, as the day goes on.

The corresponding Evening Collect is styled a Collect _for Aid against
all Perils_. Accepting the figure suggested by the close of the day,
we ask God to defend us from the perils and dangers of darkness. The
light which we seek is evidently inward and spiritual light; the
defence, in like manner, a defence from spiritual perils, though not
excluding the others: cf. Psalm xviii. 28: xxvii. i.

C. The other Prayers.

The change from the Three Collects to the Three Prayers which follow
may be softened by the Anthem, (or Hymn), which comes between. The
spiritual gifts, desired in the Collects, are the qualities which guide
the lives of men. When we pray that we may have a good King, or a good
Bishop, or a good People, we have evidently passed from the general to
the particular; from that which is within us to t