remainder of our lives, that they may issue in our eternal good. We know not what a day may bring forth; but thou knowest all things, the strength of our hearts, and our portion forever from the beginning to the end. O, sanctify unto us our prosperity and our adversity, our sickness and our health, and in all conditions grant unto us grateful and contented minds. While we live on the earth guide us by thy counsel, and afterward receive us to thy glory.

We commend to thee the young and the old, the strong and the feeble, the happy and the afflicted. Grant unto all the needful spirit of thy grace, the remission of sins, and life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV.

Seeking a Clean Heart.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted to thee.

O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

For thou desirest not sacrifice: else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt-offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

O LORD, our Heavenly Father, the day is thine, and the night also thine. The light and the darkness, thou hast created them. They are both alike unto thee, who seest through the thickest shades, and whose care never slumbers nor sleeps; and they both alike unto us reveal thy gracious providence. We would show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.

We thank thee for thy goodness to us during the day that is now past. We thank thee that we have been preserved from its various perils, seen and unseen, and kept in our going out and our coming in; that no calamity has befallen our condition, and no burthen more than we could bear been laid upon our strength. We thank thee for all the instruction we have received, whether through our outward experience or thy good Spirit; for all that we have tasted of thy bounty, and seen of thy truth. We thank thee for every social and domestic comfort that we have enjoyed; for every faithful exercise in which we have been allowed to partake; for every good purpose that tnou hast strengthened us to fulfil; for whatever blessing has flowed through the senses, or been imparted to the soul. We owe all to thee, on whom we absolutely depend, and in whom alone we truly live.

O Lord, who searchest the hearts of the children of men, with the acknowledgment of thy constant favors it becomes us to mingle the feeling of our sinfulness and ill-desert. We are not worthy of the least of thy mercies, though thou passest before us in innumerable benefits, and carest for us with all this care. May thy goodness lead us to repentance, that we may be ashamed of our unthankfulness, and turn from every thought of disobedience unto thee. Forgive us, we beseech thee, whatever we have done amiss this day, and whatever we have failed to do which thy law within us enjoined.

And now, Searcher of hearts, we would enter into a solemn self-examination. If we have indulged any evil habit or passion, if we have dealt unreasonably with our brother, or lost the control of ourselves, if we have allowed the hours of this opportunity and probation to run to waste, or if we have abused them to any corrupt affection or evil design, we entreat of thee, O Father, the pardon of these sins. Create within us clean hearts, and renew a right spirit within us; and let this entreaty fill us with earnest resolutions for the time to come, if we are permitted to see it, that it shall find us more truly inclined to thy will, and walking in thy way.

And now, Lord, we commit ourselves to thee this night. Draw around us with its shadows the peace of thy Spirit, and the strength of thy defence. When we can do nothing for ourselves, do all for us. Before

we lose all will of our own in dreams and unconsciousness, we would solemnly renounce every intention of wrong; we would cast out from our hearts every disposition of enmity; we would be of a forgiving spirit; we would have no variance with the world that is soon to become to us for a season as if it were not; we would repose ourselves upon thy sovereign will, even thine only. And when we come to lie down in the last sleep, may thy mercies surround us with their security, and enfold us in their peace, and crown us with the redemption that has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

V.

Encouragements to Pray.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you:

For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, the door shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he shall ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Therefore all things whatever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

FATHER of our spirits, we bless thee that the peaceful hour of evening has come to us once more, and that we may hear the voice of thy mercy in the invitation to rest. In thee may we find rest to our souls. Without trust in thy love there is no true peace for us upon our pillow, and with thy presence only can we know the true refreshing of our souls. Lord, draw near to us now, and keep us within the shadow of thy wings. We thank thee that a Father's ear is opened to the cry of thy children, and that there is no truly good thing which thou wilt not give to the asking soul.

We would solemnly review the experience of this day. We would bless thee for whatever good we have been enabled to do or enjoy. We implore thy forgiveness for all our transgressions of thy holy will. We beseech thee to bestow upon us thy grace to enable us to overcome our peculiar faults, and to grow in the true life of children of God. Let our own earnest self-examination bring this day's record before the throne of thy judgment. May every day find us more obedient to the golden rule of our great