sake of thy beloved Son, my only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Orphan's Prayer.

O LORD my God! thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; and art pleased to style thyself in a peculiar manner, the father of the fatherless. Now that I am left unto thee, mine eyes are upon thee, O my Father, and I desire to pour out my soul before thee, and to entreat thy gracious favour. Have compassion on me, and leave me not desolate. Expose me not helpless and unprotected to the wants and dangers of this wicked world: but now that my father and mother have forsaken me, O Lord, do thou take me up; and be a father (and the best of fathers) to me, and still a gracious provider for me. Guide me, O my heavenly Father, and direct my friends also, who are concerned in the disposing of me and my affairs. O be thou pleased to choose my inheritance for me; and order all that concerns me for the promoting of thy glory, and the advancing of my present and everlasting happiness. Direct my designs, that they may be agreeable to thy blessed will; and bless and prosper my endeavours, that they may succeed according to my desire, and furnish me with continual occasions of praise and thanksgiving. My Lord, I commit myself to thee: O be thou my God and guide, even unto death. Be ever watchful over me for good, and

preserve and keep me, and conduct and lead me, in all the variety of estates and affairs of this life, till thou hast brought me to inherit the blessed portion of thy children, in that most sweet and glorious life, which shall never fail. Grant this, O merciful Father, for thy dear Son's sake, my only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Aged's Prayer.

O LORD of my life: thou art my God from the womb; my hope and trust from my youth. By thee I was brought into the world; and upon thee have I lived all my days. O with what patience and long-suffering hast thou endured me! and with what loving kindness and tender mercies hast thou still prevented and followed me! how many have I seen snatched out of this life (as I fear) miserably unprovided for their death; whereas thou prolongest my days, and together with more days, still addest new mercies to my life. O that the lengthening of my days may be a real benefit; and that, as my life is prolonged, so the whole work which God has given me to do, may be finished! may I redeem the time, and improve all the opportunities and means of grace which thou art pleased to put into my hands, for the everlasting advantage of my soul! And let my age be the good old age: and the remaining time of my sojourning here, be the best of all my time.

Though my sight is dim to the world, let my eyes be ever towards the Lord, and open to see the things belonging to my peace. Though my ears are dull of hearing let my heart be attentive to thy calls, and let me hear thy voice, while it is called To-day. Though I cannot (as formerly) relish the pleasures of meat and drink, yet let me taste the goodness of the Lord, and savour the things of the Spirit of God, and hunger and thirst after righteousness, and long for those pleasures which are at thy right hand for evermore. And though my limbs are weak, and my strength will not serve me to travel abroad as I have done; yet make me strong in the Lord, to do thy work, and to walk in thy ways, and to perform my great journey homeward, to my house eternal in the heavens. And, seeing there is no man that liveth and shall not see death, and the longer I have escaped it, the nearer I am now to it, and shall one day certainly fall by it, and must every day reckon upon it, and know not but that my soul may this night be required of me: O let not my length of days tempt me to forget their end, or to put my last day far from me: but let me keep it ever in my prospect, as drawing nigh to me; that I may order all my concerns, not only like a stranger and sojourner, but as a dying man who is ready to drop into the grave, and as waiting, watching, and preparing, for the coming of his Lord. O that at thy coming, thou mayest find me so doing!

And, because I am old in sins, as well as in

years; weighed down with iniquity, as well as with age; O my gracious Lord, give me that godly sorrow for my sins, which shall work repentance not to be repented of. Thou hast saved many old sinners; O God, be so merciful to me a sinner. Put all my sins to the account of thy dear Son and wash me thoroughly from them in the fountain of his precious blood. Especially, O merciful Lord, acquit and discharge me from the sins that lie heaviest upon me, and that make the thoughts of death and judgment most painful to me. O give me, Lord, some token for good, that I may have an evidence of my having found mercy at thy hands, and that I may depart in peace, and finish my course with joy, and, in the end of my life, be numbered among the redeemed and blessed of the Lord, through the tender mercies of my God, and through the allsufficient merits of my only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Child's Prayer.

O MY GOD and Father, who hast made me, have mercy upon me, and teach me to know thee; and incline my heart to love thee, and enable me in all my life to do thy will, as I ought to do. Thou hast formed me for thyself; and in the church I have been devoted, and offered up unto thee, as thy child. O thou adorable Saviour, who hast ordered children to be brought unto thee, and hast declared, that of such is the

kingdom of heaven, give me thy grace that I may understand and seek after God; yea, that I may seek thee early, and with my whole heart. Dispose me to remember thee, my Creator and Redeemer, in the days of my youth, and to take upon me now thy light and easy yoke: that thou mayest not be unmindful of me in the time of age, or leave me comfortless in my latter days. As I grow in years and stature, so help me, Lord, to grow in wisdom and grace, and in favour with God and men. O keep me from the evil of this world; and carry me safely through it to thy heavenly kingdom. Make me obedient to my parents and teachers; and lowly and respectful unto all. And bless to me all the means that are used for my instruction: teach me to profit by them, and to acquire such learning, as shall qualify me to discharge with advantage the duties of any station which I shall hereafter be called to fill. O my heavenly Father! take care of me, and provide for me; and so dispose of me in the world, that I may be useful in my generation, and a blessing to the place where thy providence shall fix my abode. Preserve me, O my Lord, from the infection of bad examples: let me never be led away and enticed to follow the despisers of thy laws; but make me a lover and follower of such as are truly good, and a pattern to others of all that is lovely and of good report. O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and seest how weak I am: O look not upon my follies, nor be extreme to mark what is done amiss; but have pity on my infirmities,