that we should presume to stand in our own strength, in the various pursuits and trials to which we are called. May we look unto thee for direction and assistance in the performance of every duty; for we acknowledge that we have no light or strength but that which proceeds from thy Spirit, and can have no true enjoyment except it be kindled by thy smile. Continue, we pray thee, the bestowment of food, and raiment, and all things necessary to bodily comfort. Continue to shed upon our minds the cheering light of thy Gospel. Prepare us for a more faithful discharge of our duties to thee, to our family, and to the world; and may the example of Jesus be the pattern of our daily walk and conversation. Bless, we beseech thee, our friends and neighbors. May we all live together in peace, harmony and Christian love; and may the cause of truth and righteousness prosper throughout the earth.

Wilt thou pardon our manifold sins, and mercifully grant unto us a higher sense of communjon and acceptance with thee. Give us grace so to walk as that we may adorn the Christian profession; and may we increase in all knowledge and good works before thee: and unto thy name shall be all the praise, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

DIVINE MERCY.

THE Lord most merciful! we yield thee the homage of our hearts, and adore thee as the

Father of all mercies, and the God of all grace. Thou art ever benignant and compassionate towards thy dependent children. Thy watchful providential care hath never been withdrawn from us; thy loving favor and kindness thou hast not withheld. In the free and fall enjoyment of thy rich and exhaustless gifts hast thou permitted us to live. All our years and days have been crowned with thy tender and unfailing mercies.

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What, O Lord, shall we render unto thee for that mercy which hath always strengthened and cheered our hearts, excited and encouraged the most pleasing and devout hopes in our bosoms, and which, as thou hast graciously assured us, is commensurate with the wants of our race. cept, in thine infinite condescension, our contrite and trustful spirits; and may we exercise towards thee that gratitude and filial affection, which it becometh thy children ever to cherish. Give us, we pray, clear and exalted conceptions of the benignancy of thy nature and of the transcendent excellence of thy character, that we may aspire after that purity of heart, and cultivate that love of moral beauty, which shall enable us to become perfect in our sphere, as thou art perfect in thine. Help us to feel, O God, that we have none in heaven but thee, and help us to desire none on earth beside thee, that our affections may thus become elevated, and our hearts rendered more and more pure.

We thank and praise thee, heavenly Parent, that whilst the ties of our common brotherhood forever bind together "all nations of men," thou hast been pleased to sanction and strengthen those ties by the authorities of a religion, which at

once recognises the unbroken fraternity of man, and the impartial clemency and watchfulness of its benignant Author. We give thee praise for the great truths of the Gospel; and for their tendency to unite man to man, and man to his God, in the bonds of fraternal and filial love; and we thank thee that, in the hopes they inspire, the moral incentives they furnish, the blissful future prospects they spread before the eye of faith, we have the most persuasive indications of their divinity, and of their healthful and saving operation on the hearts of men. May we truly feel the influences of thy Gospel, live in its light, and obey its commands; and thus, we pray thee, satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may be glad and rejoice all our days; and unto thee, through Jesus Christ, shall be given all the praise, forever and ever. Amen.

BLESSING OF SLEEP.

FATHER of mercies! we thank thee for the blessing of sleep; that thou dost permit us, when wearied in body, by exertion in the cares and toils of the day, to lie down in peace, and repose in safety, beneath the shadow of thy wings. Help us to realize this manifestation of thy loving-kindness, that in our conscious waking hours our thoughts may be attuned to thy holy praise.

We bless thee that such abundant provisions. are allowed us for the enjoyment of sleep; that while others, by adverse circumstances, are pre

vented from realizing, as they desire, this essential comfort of life,-while they have not where to shelter themselves in quietness and security, and hear no kindly voices of affection blessing them as they retire to their nightly slumbers, we, O Father, realize thy ample bestowments, whenever our bodily necessities invite us to repose.

We bless thee, that while many of our race are doomed to live in dreadful apprehension of threatening earthly evils, and seek, almost in vain, their pillows for repose, thou dost secure us from such fears, and invite us to rest in confidence and safety. We bless thee that our sleep is not interrupted by debility or disease; that while multitudes find no sleep, from enduring pain, and turn in vain for relief, and while others are looking for exemption from suffering only to the sleep of death; thou dost impart unto us such healthfu! vigor, that our slumbers are sweet and refreshing, -that they quicken and renew our powers for continued duty to thee, to ourselves, and to our fellow-creatures. As we praise thee for these blessings, we would humbly beseech that our nightly rest may never be commenced nor ended without a humble and devout acknowledgment of thy goodness, humiliation in view of our forgetfulness of thy beneficence, and filial trust in thy never-failing mercies.

Enable us, Lord, so to live day by day, that the hour of nightly repose shall be greeted with satisfaction and delight; that then conscience shall not censure us for duties neglected nor opportunities abused; but soothe us with hallowing convictions of duty well and faithfully done. So instruct us to pass the time of our sojourning here,

that at its close we may, in holy trust, fall asleep in Jesus, to rise in his glorious image, and enjoy thy perfect love in a day without night, in a world without end. Amen.

ence.

SOCIAL RELATIONS AND DUTIES.

GIVER of every good and perfect gift! we devoutly acknowledge thy goodness unto us in the bestowments and blessings of our social existWe praise thee that thou didst in the beginning constitute man a social being, and hast so clearly confirmed this truth in the past history and present condition of our race. Especially would we thank thee for the social enjoyments of home; for the attractions and delights of the family circle, for the mutual interests herein realized, and the means thou hast given us to promote them. Enable us so to discharge the duties demanded of us in thy Word, that our household may be consecrated to thee, and all the joys, trials or afflictions of home be sanctified by the direct influences of thy grace and truth.

Enable us, O Lord, to extend our sympathies to all who hold communion with us in the intercourse of life; that to them we may do good as we have opportunity. And also, graciously instruct us in that holy truth of the brotherhood of man, so impressively taught in the life and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Make us to realize that none of us liveth to himself; that we have all one Father; that all, to whom we can do good, are our neighbors; and that mercy to