s from
the _Theoscopia_ when long and patiently studied.'

Another unfinished fragment that Behmen's readers seek for and treasure
up like very sand of gold is his _Holy Week_. This little work, its
author tells us, was undertaken upon the entreaty and desire of some
loving and good friends of his for the daily exercise of true religion in
their hearts and in the little church of their families. The following
is Behmen's method of prayer for Monday, which is the only day's prayer
he got finished before his death: 'A short prayer when we awake early
and before we rise. A prayer and thanksgiving after we are risen. A
prayer while we wash and dress. A prayer when we begin to work at our
calling. A prayer at noon. A prayer toward evening. A prayer when we
undress. A prayer of thanks for the bitter passion and dying of JESUS
CHRIST.' What does the man mean? many of his contemporaries who came
upon his _Holy Week_ would say, What does the madman mean? Would he have
us pray all day? Would he have us pray and do nothing else? Yes; it
would almost seem so. For in his _Supersensual Life_ the Master says to
the disciple who has asked, 'How shall I be able to live aright amid all
the anxiety and tribulation of this world?': 'If thou dost once every
hour throw thyself by faith beyond all creatures into the abysmal mercy
of GOD, into the sufferings of CHRIST, and into the fellowship of His
intercession, then thou shalt receive power from above to rule over the
world, and death, and the devil, and hell itself.' And again, 'O thou of
little courage, if thy will could but break itself off every half-hour
from all creatures, and plunge itself into that where no creature is or
can be, presently it would be penetrated with the splendour of the Divine
glory, and would taste a sweetness no tongue can express. Then thou
wouldst love thy cross more than all the glory and all the goods of this
world.' The author had begun a series of reflections and meditations on
the Ten Commandments for devotional use on Tuesday, but got no further
than the Fifth. Behmen is so deep and so original in his purely
philosophical, theological, and speculative books, that in many places we
can only stand back and wonder at the man. But in his _Holy Week_ Behmen
kneels down beside us. Not but that his characteristic depth is present
in his prayers also; but we all know something of the nature, the manner,
and the blessedness of prayer, and thus i