Higher Education.

Appeals for money to found new schools and colleges, or to support those already established, are common occurrences in America. As a usual thing, such requests excite but little comment, but the following, which we take from a recent number of Harpers' certainly ought to command attention by its exceedingly practical piety. It is headed "A Prayer for Royer's Academy." printed on a slip of paper, and sent about as a circular. It opens with an invocation to the Almighty and the All-wise, and thanks Him that He has put it into the hearts of men to "build this academy," and that "amid all the discouragement the work has gone forward," until the edifice, "now a temple of beauty, lifts its proud turrets above the oaks of the forest." But this paean abruptly changes into a confession, as follows :

"But, O Lord, nothing is hid from thin eye. Thou nasty look down through its comely Mansard roof, and through its thick walls of brick and mortar. Thou knowest its hideous incompleteness within. There is no floor upon which to walk through its lovely corridors or its magnificent halls, no winding stairs by which to ascend its heights, no plaster to hide its grinning walls, no seats, no bell, no furnace, no musical instrument, no library."

And with this confession the prayer takes the form of intercession: "O Lord, send us friends. Thou has made many of our people rich. Now, O Lord, make them liberal. Teach them to speak to us through the A. H. M. S., O Lord!"