grace, I beseech thee, to remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. In six days thou didst make heaven, earth, and sea; and didst rest the seventh day wherefore thou hast blessed the Sabbath, and hallowed it. I thank thee, God of Mercy, for that consecrated season, in which thou givest rest to our wearied natures, and affordest us leisure for reflection on our duties in this world, and our destinies in the world to come. I thank thee for its privileges of praise, of prayer, and of instruction, by which thy saints are built up in faith and zeal, and sinners are brought from the darkness and iniquity of carnal nature, to the light and holiness of heavenly grace. I would praise thee that there still remaineth this rest to the people of God. Thou hast made the Sabbath for man; and thou hast abolished neither its privileges nor its duties; but thou wilt continue them down to the end of the world.

O that I might always be in the Spirit on the Lord's-day.-May I remember that thou hast given me six days of the week for my own employments, and hast challenged a special ownership of the seventh; and that thou hast given it the sanction of thine own example and blessing. O let me not profane that holy time by idleness; nor by doing that which is in itself sinful; nor by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about worldly employments or recreations. May I sanctify it by a holy resting, even from such avocations as are lawful on other days; and spend all its sacred hours in the public and private exercises of God's worship; except so much as may be taken up in the works 'of necessity and mercy. Let that day ever be a precious occasion, wherein thy love shall be richly manifested to me, and my affections shall hold free,

and holy, and rejoicing communion with thy Spirit. May I be prepared by its sanctifying duties and reviving pleasures, for serving thee and mankind better, in all the relations of life. O make it a blessed type of that eternal Sabbath, which is reserved for the pure in heart, in the regions of unmingled bliss.

Lord, save thy holy day from the desecration which has been so fearfully brought upon it. Thou seest how men pursue on it their carnal pleasures and worldly interests, regardless of thy statutes, and the ultimate welfare of their country, and of mankind. Even those who have made a covenant with thee, to keep thy commandments, sometimes join hand in hand with the ungodly, in these profanations of sacred time. O that thy people would set their faces as flint against these transgressions, and bear the testimony of their voice and conduct against them. Bring not thy wrath upon our land, because its inhabitants make the Sabbath their season of amusement, convenience, and lucre. Teach all men that it is thine imperative will, that they should sanctify that day: and that thou hast judgments in store for its transgressors :—while they who turn away their feet from polluting it, and from doing their pleasure on it, and shall call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shall honour thee, not doing their own ways, nor finding their own pleasure, nor speaking their own words-they shall ride upon the high places of the earth, and shall be fed with the heritage of Jacob; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it!

SABBATH-SCHOOLS.

Lord, thou hast taught us that it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath-day. I thank thee, that in mercy towards the ignorance and wickedness of the world, thou hast established the system of Sundayschools. I would praise thee that they have been spread so widely, and that so many heart-cheering fruits have sprung from them. Thou hast made them instrumental in elevating the standard of religious knowledge, and active piety, in the church. They have been the means of dispelling ignorance and superstition, and of moulding the character of our youth in right knowledge and moral feeling. And blessed be thy mercy for that which is worth more than every other blessing; they have been made the nurseries of the Lord, from which many plants of righteousness have been transferred to the gardens of thy church, there to bear fruit unto eternal life. And of these, not a few are now singing, in everlasting bliss, the song of redemption to him who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Gracious God, I would humbly trust that these things are but the introductory tokens of the glorious influences which this heaven-born system will yet exert on behalf of our ruined race. Lord, am I not warranted, from thy word, and from the nature of things, to expect that the religious instruction of our children and youth, when it shall become universal, and shall be conducted with that preparation of the heart and answer of the tongue, which are from the Lord,-will secure that outpouring of thy

Holy Spirit, which will fill the earth with thy knowledge, even as the waters cover the deep?

Great Shepherd of Israel, may all that seek the prevalence and triumph of the gospel, give this cause their sanction and help.-Make thy ministers watchmen and husbandmen in it, who shall give it the service of the eye, and of the lips, and of the hands, with willing and diligent hearts.-May all who have made a covenant with thee by sacrifice, and who stand pledged that they will not live unto themselves, inquire what thou wilt have them to do in this labour of love. O that there were heartburnings of shame, and deep repentings of soul, among those who have refused to come up to the help of the Lord, in this work of faith.-Lord, give this cause favour in the eyes of parents, and of the world at large. May they all delight to honour and promote it.

Father of Mercies, I would invoke thy blessing on all who are engaged in it as teachers. Give them knowledge to discern, and zeal to fulfil, the important duties of their office. Show them that their service relates to filling the immortal mind with the riches of religious knowledge; and to converting the soul from sin and death unto holiness and everlasting life. O that they would understand, and meet, and discharge, these awfully solemn responsibilities!-Lord, give them grace to help in all their times of need. May they live in constant dependence on the teaching and blessing of the Holy Ghost. Put into their hearts that well of living water, which springs up into everlasting life; and let every work of their hands be nourished by that fountain of piety within them.-May they teach by a living example, that shall be seen and read by

all their scholars-that shall make them as a city set on a hill-that shall be as salt to purify and save their classes.-Give them an ample and welldigested knowledge of divine truth. Make them wise in the treasures of the book of nature, and the volume of thy providence. Make them apt to teach -in simplicity, in patience, in love, in judgment, and in perseverance.-May all teachers love each other out of pure hearts, fervently; and keep the unity of the spirit, in the bond of peace. Make them helpers to each other in mutual study, and in private and social prayer.-Preserve their hearts from the influence of the discouragements which beset their office. Let them not be cast down, nor driven back from their work, by difficulties within the school, or by apathy or opposition without it. Let them not be weary in well-doing; but do thou strengthen them by thy precious promises, that in due season they shall reap, if they faint not; and that though they may now often go forth, bearing precious seed, and weeping, yet they shall hereafter return, bringing many sheaves with them.

Heavenly Father, visit by thy mercy, those who are taught in Sunday-schools. Though foolishness. is bound up in their hearts, thou canst supplant it by divine wisdom. Though thou seest that the imagination of their hearts is evil, thou canst create in them a new heart, and renew a right spirit within them.-Lord, make them punctual, attentive, obedient, and diligent. Seal instruction on their minds. Let not thy word return from them void; but do thou prosper it in the thing whereunto thou sendest it. Let it not be as water that is spilled on the ground, and cannot be gathered. O make their hearts as good ground, which will give growth to