SECOND ADDRESS.

O ALMIGHTY and ever-living God! with deep self-abasement and veneration, I, thy weak and imperfect creature, would adore Thee, whose name alone is Jehovah, and who art the creator, preserver, and governor of all things. The earth, with all the numerous worlds and systems that surround it, is the production of thy infinite power, wisdom, and goodness.

Thou

didst but speak, and thy purpose was effected.-Thou didst but command, and all things rose into existence, and magnified be thy holy name! Thou didst create the boundless universe from motives of the purest benevolence, and in order to communicate happiness to all who are capable of receiving it from thy infinite fulness,

Rejoicing in thy unbounded and everlasting goodness, I would now render unto Thee the glory due to thy sacred majesty. I thank Thee, righteous Father! that thy eternal power and perfection are so illustriously manifested in every part of thy

works; and, that in the open volume of nature, we can discern such clear and legible characters of the transcendant excellencies and glories which exalt Thee to an infinite superiority above every thing that exists.

I praise Thee for raising up, in past ages, prophets and good persons to teach mankind the knowledge of religion and virtue, and to persuade them to the practice of it. I devoutly bless Thee that in the fulness of time thy anointed servant Jesus appeared, bringing life and immortality into the fullest light, and offering himself as the way, the truth, and the life to the world. I humbly thank Thee for the proofs he gave that Thou, O God! wast with him-by the miracles he wrought, and by the prophecies he uttered and fulfilled-by the purity of his doctrines-the perfection of his precepts and the unsullied purity of his example. Adored be thy goodness for his resurrection from the grave-for exalting him to glory-for giving him a name that is above every name--for appointing him to judge the world in righteousness, and to render unto men according to what they shall have done in the body.

I earnestly pray, O Lord! that thy abounding goodness shown to me and to all mankind may deeply impress my heart, and have an habitual influence over every part of my life. May the various powerful motives to religion and virtue, with which the sacred writings abound, produce their proper effects upon me: may they free my mind from the power and dominion of all iniquity, and engage me to live soberly, righteously, and piously in this present world. Professing to be risen with Christ from the death of sin to a life of righteousness, grant most gracious God! that I may, by a patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, honour, and immortality, that when he who is my life

shall appear, I may also appear with him

in glory, and receive the end and objects of my faith and hope, even everlasting salvation and happiness.

To Thee, most gracious God! I would humbly pray for all my brethren of mankind. Grant that all thy rational creatures may become the grateful obedient subjects of thy righteous government. Let the nature of true religion be everywhere well understood-let it possess its due

influence over the hearts, and manifest its power in the lives of men. May the light of the gospel be continually diffusing itself over the world, until all mankind acknowledge Jesus as the messiah, and obey him as their master. Let such as have embraced his religion become truly pious and grateful towards Thee their God, benevolent and useful to all around them, and, at all times, disposed to do unto others as they could reasonably desire others in exchanged circumstances to do to thein. Banish from every part of the earth all ignorance, oppression, persecution, and war, all immorality, profaneness, profligacy, and vice; and let the prevalence of pure religion and virtue, knowledge, peace, and good order bless every class and order of society,

O thou supreme Governor of all worlds! in mercy grant that thy laws which are all wise, holy, just, and good, may be everywhere obeyed. Bring about the happy time when the whole human race shall receive them with sincerity and gratitude, and the obedience paid to them, shall become like the perfect obedience of the blessed and glorified spirits above.

To thy merciful care, Father of heaven! I would now humbly commit myself and every thing in which I am interested, beseeching Thee to be my guide through life in all its varying scenes-to be my support and comfort when my eyes shall be closing in death-and to raise me to the enjoyment of thy favour through the unbounded ages of a happy eternity.

All honour and glory, praise and power, be ascribed to Thee, the one only everliving and true God, for ever.-Amen.