father of mercies, and God of all comfort, by relieving the distressed, instructing the ignorant, confirming the doubting and irresolute; and may I endeavour to remove, in all with whom I converse, needless fears and anxieties, by promoting worthy and amiable apprehensions of thee; that being free from all superstition, they may rejoice in thee as their father, at the same time that they prepare with awful reverence to meet thee, as their omniscient and impartial judge.

O most gracious God! enable me to allay every uneasy ferment, and to subdue every turbulent and injurious passion; that being animated by thy divine spirit, I may abhor all malevolence and cruelty, all rancour and malice, all pride and oppression, and all desires of revenge. May I be disposed to forgive and even love my enemies, do good to those who hate and persecute me, that I may prove myself the genuine child of thee, my heavenly father, who doest good even to the evil and the unthankful; who causest thy sun to rise on the good and on the bad, and sendest rain on the just and on the unjust. O God, thou art the father of the rational

d, and didst form them all for happiness;

and thou didst intend all inferior creatures, who are capable of pleasure and pain, for good upon the whole, adapted to their respective natures: I desire to concur with thee, in doing my utmost to advance this great end of thy creation and providence. Do thou assist me in forming, and make me vigorous and unwearied in executing, the most noble and extensive schemes of public and private usefulness. May I strive to the fullest extent of my power, to make all around me easy and happy. And as thou hast implanted in me natural and unextinguishable sympathies, and soft relentings of heart, at all appearances of evil and misery, may I always cherish this divine disposition; and esteem it my most worthy employment, and my most exalted pleasure, to banish, as much as in me lies, vice and all real evil out of the world. Animated by such a spirit as this, may I experience a constant source of dignity, and of refreshing joy and tranquillity of mind. And finding myself

raised and elevated to a nearer resemblance of thee, may I be always prompted to ascend still higher, towards the perfection of my nature; till at last I shall be closely and for ever united to thee, O thou God of love, from whom all happiness flows; and to whom be

extinguished. Penetrate my heart with such a deep sense of all thy mercies to me, and of thy constant bounty to thy whole creation, as shall stir up all that is within me to bless and praise thy name as long as I live. Establish my mind in such a firm persuasion of the infinite goodness and wisdom of thy universal and everlasting providence, as shall engage me to throw myself, and all my great interests, upon it, with a boundless confidence.

Thou hast surrounded me here with my fellow-creatures, the children of thy family, and made me capable of exercising kind affections towards them; of rejoicing with them. in their prosperity; of sympathizing with them in their adversity; and of performing kind offices to them in every state: but, alas! how often have I failed in this part of my duty! I am conscious to myself that my friendly affections, at best, are but too weak and limited, frequently interrupted, sometimes overcome, by the workings of the selfish and interested passions. O great Father of all, who art love and dwellest in love, teach me to imitate thy perfect and universal goodness. Enlarge my heart to embrace the whole human kind. Make me feel a perpetual flow of good-will to

all thy children around me. Check the growth, nay destroy the seeds of all malice, envy, and ill-will in my bosom. Raise me to that happy state, in which I shall forget myself, and place my chief delight in spreading peace, joy, and happiness, all around me, to the utmost of my power.

O thou righteous judge of all the earth, who renderest to every one according to his works, when I take a calm and serious review of all the motions of my heart and actions of my life, I must acknowledge with deep regret, that I find many things which I cannot approve; nay many things for which I am self-condemned, and which I cannot call to my remembrance, without feeling the peace of my mind sensibly disturbed, and the awful dread of thy displeasure strongly awakened.

Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; forgive all my follies and transgressions, and deliver me from the sad consequences of them, in the present and in a future state. What

ever moral imperfections are still remaining in me, direct me to the knowledge of them, and to the proper means of removing them. When

ever I wander from thee, thou eternal fountain of light and life, shew me my error, though it should be by fatherly correction; let pains or sorrows bring me home, but never leave me to myself. Carry me still forward, O heavenly Father, by all the methods of thy provi dence and grace, in the paths of righteousness, till I become fit to be transplanted into that world, where I shall no more bewail the darkness of my understanding and the wanderings of my heart, but where I shall love thee entirely, rejoice in thee triumphantly, and celebrate thy praises to all eternity. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR THE USE OF A PERSON IN AFFLICTION.

O SUPREME, but gracious sovereign of all nature, whose tender mercies are over all thy works, without whose notice and permission not a sparrow falleth to the ground; thou Lord of the universe and Father of the children of men, before thee I would now humbly and reverently bow. Thy uncontroulable ways are to be adored. Who can fathom the counsels of thy wisdom? Who can understand thy vast, comprehensive designs? Amidst a variety of sorrowful thoughts, under the pressure of