upon me, and offer interests true and eternal. But, O Lord, thou knowest my weakness; and I can only again confess mine unworthiness, and pray thee to enable me now to seek into the state of my soul that I may unite myself more firmly to thee before this day be for ever past away. Oh forgive me all my sins before I sleep; and grant that I may wake in the morning with a strong and lasting resolve to work out my salvation. Assist my weak endeavours that I may grow in grace as I grow in years. Cleanse my heart from all those corrupt dispositions which are offensive to thee; from pride, wrath, selfishness, and inattention to serious things. To my sense of mine unworthiness, let me add real sorrow; and to sorrow, sincere purposes of amendment. May I always reverence thy holy name, thy church, thy word and ordinances. May I be ever just, mild, and compassionate to others: temperate, chaste, and humble in the government of my passions: content with my condition and although diligent in my business, yet ever mindful to heap up to myself treasures there where no foe can break in upon my hoard. : Where I err, let me amend; and where I amend, let me give the glory to thee, my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sanctifier. Bless all my relations and friends, and especially those who are near and dear unto me; and grant that I may never give pain to those for whom I am beseeching thy mercy. Accept the prayers, and pardon the imperfections, of all, through the merits of thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ON OUR SAVIOUR'S LAST SEVEN SENTENCES. O Lord, my Saviour Jesus Christ, who, in the last hours of thy life on earth, didst close the work of our redemption by uttering seven sentences so exemplary and important that thy followers ought ever to bear them in mindgrant, oh grant me the grace to profit by thy last lessons; and, in virtue of these thy blessed parting words, forgive me if I have ever offended thee by committing any of the seven deadly sins. O Jesus, enable me to imitate thy blessed example in the forgiveness of injuries: "FATHER," thou didst say, " FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO." Enable me, for the love of thee, my Saviour, to pardon others whatever they may have done or said against me. O thou who didst comfort the dying thief with the saving promise, "THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE," make me live in such a manner that, at the hour of my death, my soul may also have the same blessed assurance that I shall, on that day, rejoin thee in thy heavenly kingdom. "WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON," didst thou say to thy sorrowing mother; and to the disciple to whom thou didst commit her, "SON, BEHOLD THY MOTHER." Oh enable me to recommend myself to her, our blessed Lady; may she look upon me as a son, and may I ever love and reverence her as a protector, an intercessor, a mother. My Saviour and my God! let me remember, in every care and anxiety of my life, what thou thyself didst suffer for my sake: let me remember the anguish which prompted thee to exclaim, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME!" Forsake me not, my Redeemer in every care and anxiety, raise up my soul towards thee, and enable me to exclaim with confidence, Help me, O God, and have mercy on me, thou who didst redeem me with thy precious blood. Nor let me ever forget the anguish which prompted thee, my dear Saviour, to exclaim, “I THIRST." O let me ever bear in mind what thou didst suffer for me; ever acknowledge thy goodness; ever aspire to thee and thirst after thy grace-thou who art the fountain of all graces, the well-spring of living waters, most worthy to be sought and thirsted for by every ardent soul. O Lord, I know not the time nor the manner of my death but do thou, O God, who foreknowest all things, remember thy goodness towards me; and, whenever that fearful hour may come, reject me not, but remember tr prayer which I now form in thine own words: "FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT." And to whom, my Saviour, but to thee, can I commend myself at that awful time?-to thee, who wouldst endure so many various torments for my salvation, and drink the full chalice of suffering ere thou wouldst resign thy pure spirit and pronounce the concluding words, "IT IS CONSUMMATED." Oh, remember those torments, I beseech thee: let them not have been endured for me in vain : let me appeal to those torments: let them supply mine unwor thiness and be received in atonement for my sins by them and through them, when all is consummated for me on earth, may I hear thy loving voice exclaim, "Come, thou blessed of my Father: come, thou for whom I suffered so much thy toils and thy trials are at an end come and receive the kingdom prepared for thee from the beginning of the world." Amen. CHRISTIAN. If this little book has tended to awaken thy sorrow, to assuage thy fears, to strengthen thy faith, to brighten thy hope, or to quicken thy charity, offer up, sometimes, the following prayer for its Author : Almighty God, bestow thy mercy upon the |