Received into their REDEEMER's KINGDOM, and participating in Its Glories for ever and ever. We, of this day and Generation, have All virtually seen The SUN of Righteousness, by the Imparted Light of The Gospel of The SON of GOD, and may be All Cheered and Vivified by Its Beams, and may behold the Full Radiance of Its Glory in the Realms of Light and Bliss Eternal, if we live in faith and walk by The Gospel Light. Or in lieu of this Prayer the lxvii. Psalm may be used.

GOD, Be Merciful unto us, and Bless us; and Shew us the Light of His Countenance; and be Merciful unto us!

The Light of GOD's Countenance is the Illuminating Inspiration of The HOLY GHOST, Sanctifying and Spiritualizing the heart, by the Guiding and Cheering Influence of Its Grace. This is That Light, Which Lighteth every One, that cometh into the World, who hath eyes, that can pierce through the veil of flesh, looking beyond the things of this Life, and resting with faith on CHRIST, in hope to behold the Fulness of His Glory, and to share the Inheritance of His Saints. With the Visitation of Such A Blessing as This, never can we too earnestly supplicate The ALMIGHTY in the Wonder of His Mercy to Bless us; for then shall we hereafter see Him, as He is, and have Joy Eternal in the view of His Favouring Countenance, as Sharers in His Communion.

That Thy Way may be known upon Earth; Thy Saving Health among all Nations!

The Mercy of The LORD is most Efficiently and Graciously Manifested when It is Displayed in the Communication of Spiritual Knowledge by The DIVINE Light of The SPIRIT of Wisdom and of Truth; Which is a Light unto our paths and a Lantern unto our feet. GOD is indeed ever Willing and His HOLY SPIRIT is ever Striving to Bring us into the Way, That Leadeth unto Life and Peace and Joy Eternal. And He hath Mercifully Revealed It to us in a Manner the most plain and intelligible; and hath moreover Written upon

our hearts the Course to be pursued for arriving at That Way, Which He hath Graciously Vouchsafed to Call His Own; and Which is indeed the Only Road to Salvation, and to the Mansions of a Blissful Eternity, namely, by repentance, humility, faith, temperance, purity, piety and charity. And Merciful will He further be to us, should He, by the Power of His SPIRIT, Render us instrumental to the diffusing the Blessings of a knowledge and adoption of His Way, and of the Soul's All Saving Health among our own and other Nations of the Earth.

Let the People Praise Thee, O GOD; yea, let All the People praise Thee!

To a Soul truly pious and devout, how joyous and gratifying. is it to see Others united in the same holy and Acceptable service and worship of GOD, in the Spiritual bond of Brotherly and Sisterly love, and in sanctified fellowship and communion in Grace! And how exceedingly gladdening would it be were all the People of the Earth to give their hearts to prayer and to praise, in the worship of The TRIUNE GOD, and in the faith of JESUS!

O let the Nations rejoice and be glad! for Thou shalt Judge the Folk Righteously, and Govern the Nations upon Earth.

O what reason would all the Nations of the Earth and every Individual among them have to rejoice and be glad, did they all consult their true interest, and walk in the Way of Righteousness and Perfect Holiness; for then would the comforting Assurance be Imparted by The HOLY SPIRIT to the Souls of All, that The Judgment, Which is to Come upon All after Death, to Fix the Destiny of Each in Eternity, would be a Judgment of Righteousness and Infallible Wisdom on that faith which rests its hope upon the Merits and Mediation of CHRIST. And thus would the Nations of the Earth guide and govern themselves with all gladness and faithfulness of Spirit, in obedience to the Revealed Will of The ALMIGHTY, after the Example of The Incarnate JESUS, and in observance of the Dictates and Promptings of The HOLY SPIRIT.

Let the People praise Thee, O GOD; yea, let All the People praise Thee!

The third verse is then repeated, as though the Soul dwelt with peculiar interest and delight on the invitation and invocation it contains.

Then shall the Earth bring forth her increase; and GOD, even our own GOD, shall Give us His Blessing.

The effects of such devotion of all hearts to magnify the Name and adore the Goodness of GOD in CHRIST JESUS, are justly declared to be the increase of the most desirable and sustaining fruits of the Earth, and their attendant Spiritual Blessings, when so peaceably and gratefully received, a growth in Holiness and Righteousness, and the acquisition of present Peace and the hope of future and interminable Joy in The HOLY GHOST the Free Gift of GOD in CHRIST, emphatically termed "His Blessing."

GOD shall Bless us; and all the Ends of the World shall fear Him.

The consciousness of the Blessings, Which GOD is Continually Pouring forth, more Especially in Those Great and Mysterious Proofs of His Disinterested Love, our Creation, Redemption and Sanctification, properly begets in the Human mind that sense of devout fear and admiration and reverential awe, which the contemplation of the Power of GOD and of His Purity, when Contrasted with Man's nothingness independantly of Him and of JESUS CHRIST, Whom He hath Sent to Redeem and Reclaim, is so calculated to confirm. -This Psalm is in like manner concluded by the Gloria PATRI. -The Apostles' Creed ;-the interchange of Prayer between the Minister and People for the Influence of DIVINE Grace ;-the alternate Prayers for Mercy from The Three PERSONS in THE TRINITY;-The LORD's Prayer ;and the Sentences intervening the latter and the Collect for the Day ;-and also that Collect follows here precisely in the same order and language as in the Morning Service, to which reference may accordingly be made.— -After the Collect for the Day, the following Collect for Peace, varying from that in the Morning Service, is used.

O GOD, from Whom All holy desires, All good counsels, and All just works do Proceed;

As air is the life of the natural body, so is the Grace of GOD the Life of the Spirit, that is in Man. With the Aid of That DIVINE Influence the Sons of Men are Led into the paths of Piety, Wisdom, Purity and Righteousness; whilst without That Grace they are altogether dead in tres passes and sins, without Spiritual Light and without Saving Health.

Give unto Thy Servants That Peace, Which the World cannot give!

Through faith in DIVINE Mercy for the Sake of JESUS CHRIST, we, in humble and devoted dedication of the whole Man, Body, Soul and Spirit to GOD, supplicate of Him the Gift of That Inestimable Blessing of inward and Spiritual Peace; the Fruit of CHRIST's Successful Intercession on our behalf, in the Obtainment for us of GOD's Pardon and Reconciliation: a State, which fills the Soul with the most animating Prospects of Life beyond the grave; having the Promise both of That and of the Life, that is, as a Life of Peace; a feeling, which no words can adequately express, and which all the riches and grandeur and pomp and power of this World, apart from the love of GOD, and faith in CHRIST JESUS, are utterly incapable of producing; and the Owners thereof even do not adequately understand It, from the not seeing It through a Spiritual Light.

That both our hearts may be set to obey Thy Commandments; and also that by Thee, we, being Defended from the fear of our Enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, our SAVIOUR!

The Effect of Such DIVINE Blessing, as the Gift of Grace and Spiritual Peace, is to Generate in the heart a willing and cheerful and zealous obedience to the Revealed Will and Word of GOD, and of His SON JESUS CHRIST, as also a faithful imitation, to the extent of our ability, of the Works of our SAVIOUR when Clothed with our Nature. A further consequence of it is frequently, but not necessarily, that state of outward Bodily peace, which so harmonizes with Heavenly

232 Collect for Peace concld-Collect for Aid against all Perils.

feelings within; and this state, as it is always in the Power of GOD, Who Ruleth over all the Kingdoms of the Earth, to Give to the People, whether individually or generally, that serve Him faithfully, so is He Likely to Do so on their earnest supplication. But, if for the Purposes of His Wise though Inscrutable Providence, it should be our fate to live in a season of wars and rumours of war, of sedition and tumults, and of Spiritual persecution, yet will He not Suffer the experience or apprehension of such evils to overwhelm us; but will, in His Good Appointed Time, Bring us out of them, and Give us Peace at the last; if not for any remainder of our Lives here, yet will He at the point of Death, and for the All of that Life, which shall be without end hereafter. And even amidst wars and tumults assailing the Body, He will Preserve the peace of our Souls, if we sedulously seek it of Him, and will Effectually Defend them from all assaults of the World, the Flesh and the Devil, by Means of His Sustaining Grace, as the Office of The SPIRIT, through the Price Paid for It by the Sacrifice of The SON of His Love.And the People add,—and, Oh may it now and ever be from the heart and in the spirit of a true and lively faith in JESUS!—

Amen.

After this a Collect for SPIRITUAL Succour against the power of Darkness and Evil is used.

Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O LORD! and by Thy Great Mercy Defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the Love of Thy Only SON, our SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST!

As the Sun is the light of the Body, so is the Grace of The HOLY SPIRIT the Light of the Soul. We therefore here pray for the Rays of That Light to be Shed upon our hearts, that we may Thereby be Guided and Guarded amidst the perils and dangers of Spiritual temptations and trials, imaged by the temporal difficulties and dangers of the Body in a night of darkness and perhaps in a Land unknown. And as the Gift of The SPIRIT is the Fruit of CHRIST's Mediation, through our repentance and faith, we seek It, not in any arro