below. O! let me never seek for happiness in the enjoyments of this life; but grant that I may daily aspire after that eternal and unchangeable state of felicity hereafter, which thou hast reserved for thy faithful servants: to which I beseech thee of thy infinite love and mercy to bring me, through the merits and for the sake of thy dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Extend thy mercy, O God, to all mankind: in a more particular manner, I pray thee to be gracious to these sinful nations to which I belong to pardon our great and crying sins; to avert the judgments which we have most justly deserved; and to put away from us the spirit of profaneness and infidelity, of malice and uncharitableness; that thou mayest delight to dwell amongst us, and be our God, and we thy people.

Bless and preserve our sovereign [lady Queen Victoria,] and grant that all who are in authority under [her] may faithfully endeavour to promote thy glory, and the good and welfare of this church and nation.

Look with pity and compassion upon all thy afflicted servants; be a father to the fatherless; heal the sick; supply the wants of the poor and needy; and grant that whatsoever is wanting of outward comforts to any one may be abundantly made up by the inward consolations of thy holy Spirit.

Bless all my friends and relations, especially

; reward all who have done me good; forgive all who have done or wished me evil; and vouchsafe to every one of us, from the highest to the

lowest, whatever in thy great wisdom thou knowest to be needful both for our souls and bodies.

And now, O most merciful Father, from an humble sense of thy great goodness, I adore and praise thy glorious name, for all the manifestations of thy love and kindness vouchsafed unto me. I bless thee for my being, for my reason, and all the endowments and faculties of my soul and body; for my health, friends, food and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences I enjoy; for thy continual care and watchful providence over me, through the whole course of my life; and particularly for the preservation and protection of me the day past.

Give me grace, I beseech thee, to make a right improvement of all thy blessings; and be thou graciously pleased to take me, and all that belong to me, this night under the care and protection of thy fatherly providence. Give thy holy angels charge over us; and grant us such refreshment of soul and body as may enable us cheerfully to go through the duties of that station wherein thou hast placed us. And when thou shalt be pleased to remove us out of this world, O! let us be found in the number of thy faithful servants, through the merits of our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ for whom my soul doth bless and praise thee, and in whose most holy words I sum up all our wants, saying, "Our Father," &c.

130

PRAYERS.

A PRAYER WHICH MAY BE ADDED TO THE DAILY
EVENING PRAYER ON THE LORD'S DAY.

I again return my most humble and hearty thanks to thee, O Lord my God, for the special blessings of this thy sacred day; that I have been admitted to the great privilege of joining with thy faithful people in their assemblies for public worship, and to offer up my praises and prayers to thy divine majesty, in the name of our blessed Redeemer; to hear thy holy word read and preached by the ministers of thy Gospel; and that I have had farther opportunities for employing myself more privately in thy worship and the care of my immortal soul.

I earnestly beseech thee, O Lord, to pardon all the wanderings and disorders of my mind, and whatsoever else thou hast seen amiss in my attendance upon thee: and graciously to accept my sincere though weak endeavours to serve thee.

Cause thy word, which I have heard or read, to be impressed upon my heart, and to bring forth the fruits of a holy and religious life.

of

Help me, by the use of all thy appointed means

grace and salvation, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; fitting me more and more for seeing and enjoying thee, my God and my blessed Redeemer, in the life to come and grant, that when I shall cease to praise and serve thee with thy saints on earth, I may continue to be so employed with the blessed spirits in heaven.

I heartily beg the same blessings for all my fellow

Christians, recommending them and myself to thee, my heavenly Father, in the words and through the intercession of Jesus Christ thy Son, our only mediator and advocate. "Our Father," &c.

A MORNING PRAYER FOR A YOUNG PERSON.

O Lord, my heavenly Father, I humbly adore thee, as the maker and governor of the world, the

author of my being, the preserver of my life, and

the giver of every good thing.

I heartily thank thee for the comfortable rest which I have enjoyed the night past; that thou hast preserved me in safety and raised me up in health.

I bless thee for all thy mercies to me ever since I came into the world, and especially for those advantages thou hast given me, of being instructed and improved in the knowledge of thee, the only true God, and of Jesus Christ my Lord.

Grant, O good God! that the sense of thy favours may so deeply affect my heart, that I may show forth my thankfulness in the whole course of my life. I am thine, O Lord, by creation, by redemption, by my baptism and Christian profession, by all the obligations which thou hast laid upon me: I desire to be thine also by a willing dedication of myself to thee every day of my life, and by a constant and faithful endeavour to approve myself to thee,

I beseech thee, in thy great mercy, through the mediation of my blessed Redeemer, to pardon all

my past offences, and to enable me, by thy grace, to discern and to amend whatsoever is amiss in me.

Help me ever to remember the Christian principles which I have learned, and the pious instructions which have been given me; and never to depart from the good way in which I have been taught to walk.

Incline my heart to all that is good: grant that I may be modest and humble in my carriage and behaviour; chaste and pure in all my thoughts, words, and actions; true and just in all my dealings; respectful and obedient to my superiors; innocent and inoffensive in my whole conversation; faithful and diligent in the discharge of all the duties of that state and condition of life wherein thou hast placed me; and teach me to fear and love thee, my God, above all things, and to do to all others as I would they should do unto me.

Make me perfectly contented with my condition, and thankful to thee, who hast given me all things necessary for life and godliness. Let thy good providence always take care of me, and let me never place my trust and confidence in any thing but in thee.

Take me, I beseech thee, into thy protection this day keep me, if it be thy good will, in health and safety. Preserve me from the vanity of my own heart, and from the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Help me (through a sense of thy constant presence with me, and of the account I am to give unto thee) so to to govern all my thoughts, words, and actions, that I may reflect