ensnared and injured, but give yourself to prayer. If you are slandered, wronged, defrauded, or persecuted, by men, do not give yourself to vexation and resentment, which, instead of removing, will aggravate the evil; but give yourself to prayer. If you are surrounded with difficulties and dangers, and your prospect is darkened with thick gathering clouds, do not give yourself to despondency, which sinks and overwhelms the spirit; but give yourself to prayer, the best remedy in sickness, the best refuge in trouble, and the best retreat and choicest comfort at all times, and in all circumstances. Prayer is never out of place, nor out of season; for the Sacred Writers exhort us to pray every where, and to pray always, without yielding to doubt, distraction, or weariness. Turn often then to the Scriptures of truth, and ponder over those passages in which patriarchs and prophets and apostlęs poured out their souls to God, till you kindle into a similar flame, and make such language as the following your own. Oh! thou lofty One, that inhabiteth éternity, whose name is Holy; thou art clothed with light and majesty, and exalted above all blessing and praise. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine; and thou, O Lord, preservest man and beast. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in thy sight; but all things are naked and open

unto thee. Thou art wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working; glorious in holiness, and fearful in praises; of purer eyes than to look on iniquity. And how shall a worm of earth, a lost, wandering, and guilty rebel, appear before thee? O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee; but to me, shame and confusion of face. Thou knowest my foolishness, and my iniquities are not hid from thee. Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. If thou shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Blot out my transgressions as a cloud, and my sins as a thick cloud, for thy name's sake. O Father of mercies, and God of all consolation, deliver me from going down into the pit of perdition, seeing thou hast found a ransom! Look upon the face of thine Anointed, in whom thou art ever well pleased; and let the blood of Jesus Christ, thy Son, cleanse me from all sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew me in the spirit of my mind. Keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me; restore my soul to paths of righteousness, and lead me in the way of thy precepts. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is good; turn unto me, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Who can utter thy mighty

acts? Who can shew forth all thy praise? Thou, O Lord, hast led me, and kept me amidst snares and dangers; thou hast daily loaded me with benefits. I would abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and sing of thy righteousness. Thanks be to thee for thy unspeakable gift; for the Sun of Righteousness, which thou hast made to rise upon a dark world, with healing under his wings; for the sure mercies of David, in thy holy and everlasting covenant; for the glad tidings of salvation; for the great and precious promises, which are able to make me a partaker of the Divine nature; for the grace of the Holy Spirit, and a lively hope of the inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven. O God, guide me by thy counsel, and strengthen me with all might, by thy Spirit, in the inward man;sanctify me through thy truth, and fill me with joy and peace in believing;-be my helper and refuge in trouble, my trust and stay in the valley of the shadow of death, and my portion for ever.

SECTION II.

ON THE DUTY OF PRAYER.

IN the weighty concerns of religion, it is of great importance to examine not only what we do, but also why we do it. There is an immense distance between the high ground of conscience, and the low ground of worldly convenience. There is a striking difference in the same actions, considered with reference to their motives; and it is wrong to confound such as rise from the steady dictates of sound principle with such as flow from the variable impulse of feeling or fancy. Is it not a very great honour, put upon frail sinful creatures, to have the liberty of access to the divine Mercy-seat?an unspeakable privilege for degenerate mortals to hold communion with the first, the greatest, the best of Beings? But prayer, though considered apart from the honour and favour inseparably connected with it, must be enforced as a point of duty. It is not one of the things which may be done, or left undone, according to circumstances; it is not to be numbered

among those dubious matters, upon which the mind can with safety remain undecided. Nor is it to be viewed as a thing of secondary or inferior moment. 66 Prayer," says Nicole, a pious foreign writer, "ought to be esteemed the chief and most important part of our duty. Of a Christian prince, it ought to be said, that he is a man who prays, and governs a kingdom; that a general prays, and conducts an army; of a magistrate, that he is a man who prays, and administers justice; that a Christian tradesman is a man who prays, and labours in his business; that a farmer is a man who prays, and cultivates the earth; and that the mother of a Christian family is a woman who prays, and superintends her domestic concerns. Prayer enters into every vocation and condition, and sanctifies them all."

Our Lord expressly declares, that men ought always to pray. Whatever we ought to do cannot be neglected without committing sin, and incurring danger. Unless, therefore, we will oppose, or supersede, the authority of Christ, we must own the solemn obligation under which we are laid-to be found in the exercise of prayer. When the path of duty is once made plain, it must be pursued, though it should not be always pleasant; but to turn from it when our own interest and the will of God are combined, and both point the same