of making objections taken away. One might presume to hope that the amusements of the gay, or the toils of the industrious, would not unwillingly be suspended at the call of devotion, did she condescend to address them with her native cheerful countenance, and suffer them to resume their various employments with renewed alacrity. We should then, no doubt, be more familiar with the edifying spectacle of a private mansion changed into a temple of God; the father of a family into the sacred character of their priest; brethren and sisters, kinsfolk and friends, into fellow-worshippers around the same domestic altar,-happy to exchange the career of worldly pursuits for more important cares, by which the lively spirits of the young are gently restrained, and the disquietudes of age are soothed into peace.

What pleasing effects this naturally tends to produce it is not difficult to conceive. When the several members of your household observe you affectionately interested in their present and eternal welfare, and hear the prayers which you present, on their behalf, to the Father of all the families of the earth, the most thoughtless can

not avoid being unawares betrayed into attentión, having their affections seized, and listening with reverence mingled with gratitude. Hence they must necessarily receive such a tincture of piety, as, though it may be obscured for a season, can never be wholly lost.

Nor can any thing tend more to strengthen the union of a family, and engage the affections of its several members to each other. Because, in the first place, it greatly contributes to the regular discharge of those mutual obligations which are the best foundation of their union: and then, by calling them to partake of the pleasures of devotion, heightened by all the powers of sympathy, it will raise a mutual friendship on the basis of esteem, far superior to the unhallowed combinations of the vicious, both in stability and ardour.

Behold a happy family, encircling the faithful guardian of their infancy, their childhood, and their youth! What lively gratitude is painted upon every countenance, while they listen to the words of eternal life, or raise the social hymn to that good Being who has crowned their days with loving-kindness, and

made their cup overflow with blessings! Sweet are the accents of artless innocence; cheerful the praises of dawning reason and opening virtue; but to the parent's ear they are indeed sounds of delight! Then, with what fervour does the prayer of his heart rise to the God of his forefathers and of his children, that himself and his household may be kept in the paths of wisdom and holiness, guided by the hand of Providence through the mazes of the present world, and at length meet together in some happier and better state!

Pious Christian, thy prayers are heard thy children shall be virtuous: thy dependants shall be faithful: thy friends shall be sincere : the dews of heaven shall shed their influence upon thy labours: "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up as a memorial before God!"

PRAYERS, &c.

PRAYER I.

ALMIGHTY God, the Father of Mercies, we bless thee for calling us into being; and forming us for knowledge, virtue, and happiness. We bless thee for placing before us the invaluable truths which Jesus taught; the holy and benevolent example which he manifested to

the world, for extending our pros

B

pect of happiness beyond the grave,

and raising us to the hope of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

Forgive us, O heavenly Father, all that in our past lives we have done amiss; have mercy on the work of thine own hands---teach us to correct whatever is wrong in the temper of our minds, and henceforward may we delight in keeping thy commandments. May we maintain an habitual sense of thy presence, and remember the account

we must render to thee of all our