gracious word, on which thou hast caused us to hope; pleading those precious promises which in Jesus Christ are all yea and amen; entreating thee to have mercy upon us, notwithstanding the offences we have committed; and casting all our care upon thee, as upon one who is full of compassion, and who careth for us.

We give thee thanks, gracious God, for our preservation and our comfort during the past day. We bless thee that we have been permitted to go out and come in, in safety; and that God, who commanded the outgoings of the morning, hath also caused those of the evening to rejoice over us. We desire to trace all our mercies up to thee, the gracious source of them; and to bless and magnify thy holy name. We pray that a sense of thy manifold and unmerited goodness may produce a deep and a lasting impression upon our minds; and that in some proportion to our experience of thy care and kindness, may be the ardour of our gratitude, the sincerity of our repentance, and the diligence and zeal we display in thy service. As every new day of prolonged life adds to our knowledge of thy liberality and grace, may the impression on our minds daily become deeper, that we are not our own. Under a growing sense of obligation, may we be more active in the cultivation of personal religion, and in the advancement, according to our respective means and opportunities, of the best interests of our fellow-creatures. God forbid that we should be of those who receive the bounties of thy providence only to abuse them; or who remain cold, and thankless,

and unprofitable, under a dispensation of constant and varied mercy. May we ever remember, that to whom much is given, of them the more shall be required; and may we be anxious not to be of those who cumber the ground, or who, when thou lookest for grapes, bring forth only wild grapes. Knowing the terror of the Lord, but above all melted by his goodness and mercy, may we daily endeavour to abound in all the fruits of righteousness, which by Jesus Christ are to his praise and glory; to bring forth not only fruit, but much fruit, that he may be glorified; to walk in all respects as the children of so many mercies; and to testify, to the world and to our consciences, the constraining sense we entertain of what we owe to him, whose providence supplies our wants, and whose mercy saves our souls.

Forgive, we humbly pray thee, our past unprofitableness and ill desert. Make us sensible how little we have done for thee, how poorly we have answered the end for which we were brought into existence, and how far short in all things we have come of thy glory. Humble us under a sense of our unworthiness. But, while conscious that we are nothing, and deserve nothing, let us not yield to despair. Direct our views, we beseech thee, to Him who taketh away the sin of the world, and enable us to rely, with humble but undoubting confidence, on the efficacy of his sacrifice, and the perfection of his righteousness, for pardon and peace, for acceptance and eternal life.

In the faith of Him who died for the ungodly, but who now is exalted a Prince and a Saviour at thy

right hand, we commend our bodies and our spirits to thy favour and protection this night. Watch over us, and over all who are dear to us. May they and we be safe under the shadow of thy wings, and may our sleep be the means of affording us necessary rest and refreshment. And if it please thee that we see the light of a new day, may we spend that day, and every other day added to our life, in thy fear and in thy favour. All that we ask is in the name, and for the sake of Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

SATURDAY MORNING.

O LORD, who art the hope and confidence of all thy people, we bless thee that we are encouraged to put our trust under the shadow of thy wings; and to look up to thee as infinitely able, and infinitely willing, to do to us, and for us, far more exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ask or think.

We bless thee for the rest of the past night, the light of this morning, and the many comforts of our condition in life. We bless thee for the understanding by which we are made wiser than the beasts of the field, and are rendered capable of knowing and serving thee, our Creator and Benefactor: we thank thee also for the circumstances in which we are placed; for the measure of health it is our privilege to enjoy ; for the connexions and friends by whom we are sur

rounded; and for all the various bounties and blessings which enter into our lot, and which, with thankfulness we acknowledge, have all flowed to us from thy liberal hand.

In the enjoyment of thy gifts, forbid that we should lose sight of thee the Giver of them all. May each of them recall thee to our grateful remembrance, and excite us to ascend from the streams to the fountain; that in thee we may find that supreme increasing, and permanent satisfaction, which it is not intended we should experience in the enjoyment of portion but thyself.

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And, while this is the effect of thy temporal mercies, grant that we may especially feel our obligations for spiritual and heavenly blessings. While we acknowledge our dependence upon thee for life, and breath, and all things pertaining to our condition in this present world, we would, above all, bless thee for the good hope of a future and glorious life in thy presence, in the world to come. We thank thee for the means by which this good hope has been made ours; and for the encouragement thou hast given us to appropriate and cherish it. We rejoice in Him who laid down his life a ransom for many, and bless thee that we are invited to trust in him as the resurrection and the life, and to come unto him, that we may have life through his name.

Believing in him, we would look up to thee for the accomplishment of thy promises made to us in him. We rejoice that in him all thy promises are yea and amen. And, in the midst of all the dissatisfactions

and sorrows of this present life, we would exult in the thought, that the hour is at hand, when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and when they that are his shall be acknowledged by him at his coming, and shall be admitted by him, to be with him where he is, to behold his glory, and to share in his love for ever.

Grant, O Lord, that these convictions and these prospects may support and animate us, while it is thy will to continue us in this world. Under a persuasion that here we have no continuing city, may we cherish the spirit, and cultivate the habits, and exhibit the deportment of pilgrims and strangers upon earth. May the mercies and privileges we enjoy in the course of our pilgrimage, not withdraw our affections from their proper home, nor seduce us into negligence in preparing for the happiness of heaven. While we feel thankful for the least of thy mercies, may the thought of the greater mercies we have in prospect, keep our hearts from fixing on any thing under the sun. And while we are alive to the afflictions and sorrows with which it may please thee to try us, may we be so habitually under the influence of the hope of the glory of God, as to reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed.

Thus, gracious God, enable us to run with patience the race that is set before us. Let us not look at the things which are seen, but at those which are not seen; and forgetting the things that are behind, may we reach forth unto those that are before, and press