my noblest honour and chief happiness, and may prepare myself for its duties, by summoning up all my holiest recollections,-by ordering aright my words before thee,-and by bearing in mind, when I approach thy throne of grace, that I am in the most august attitude in which an inhabitant of the earth can be found,-and that nothing can equal the high privilege and truly-sublime honour of holding communion with him who is the Most High over all the earth.

O Lord, teach me to pray,-order aright my heart and my words before thee,-grant me the spirit of prayer,-a submissive,-an earnest,-a persevering, a humble,—a reverential,—and a holy spirit ;—and especially, O God, let me not presume to dictate unto thee what things thou oughtest to give,—but rather let me ask all things with devout submission to thy will, and with a patient waiting till thy good time for granting my requests shall have arrived.

And even if my petition should not be heard, help me to be strong in faith,—always believing that thou knowest better than I can know what is really for my good,—and that, even although my request should not be granted, my act of devotion,

if sincerely and humbly performed, shall not be left without its reward.

"Lord, I am thy servant, the child of thine handmaid, I will take the cup of salvation, and will pay my vows before all thy people."

Be it with me, O Lord, according to thy word, for my Redeemer's sake. Amen.

II.

FOR THE MORNING OF A DAY OF HUMILIATION.

PSALM Xxxii. 8. I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.

REFLECTION.

How solemn to my soul ought this day and all its exercises to be !-with what anxious care should I endeavour properly to acquit myself of its duties! -for this is a day set apart for the confession of my sins before God;-for impartial consideration of all my past conduct,―and for fervent prayer that the Divine Spirit may renew my soul in all its views and feelings, and prepare me for offering, during the future course of my life, an obedience more suitable to my high hopes as an Heir of immortality.

Good men, in all ages, have kept these days of

humiliation with peculiar care,-and God has often signified his approbation of their acts of penitence, by giving them signal tokens of his favour, and making their services of piety return to them in showers of gladness. It was on such occasions that he often revealed to the prophets the wonderful things which he had in store for his church ;and it has frequently been at such times that he has commanded a blessing upon the piety of more private Christians, and established with them the "covenant of his peace for many future days."

Yet let me not delude myself by thinking, that it is merely the abasement of the outward man that the Lord requireth. Rather let me keep in mind the declarations both of the Old and of the New Testament upon this subject,-and endeavour to conform myself to the repeated directions both of Prophets and of Evangelists. For thus speaketh God by the voice of the Prophet :

"Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wicked

ness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee: and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward."

Thus also spoke the divine voice of Him who has taught us all things that belong to life and to salvation :

"When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."

Let me then, in obedience to these truly-divine precepts, put away from my heart all falsehood