Thanks we give to thee for the sleep and rest of the past night. Filled with new vigor, we rejoice in the waking hour; and with the return of consciousness we would recognize thee ever present and blessing us. The world is filled with thy glory; and the great providence is the manifestation of thy goodness; and here at the family altar, here especially, would we render to thee unfeigned thanks for thy care of each one of us. Impress us with the thought of our entire dependence upon thee. Every pulsation of our hearts, every thought of our minds, every feeling of our souls, every breath and sensation, are so many witnesses to thy quickening Spirit. We live, and move, and have our being, in thee.

O God, help us to understand the great significance of life; created in thine image, and called to be fellow-laborers with thee, and taught to aspire to glory, honor and immortality, aid us, we beseech thee, to comprehend such a privilege and destiny, and to press forward to it with the awakened and resolute powers of our souls. This day may we be wise, sober, and diligent. May the powers of the world to come touch the springs of present action. O, may we make no work for repentance, ever mindful that as we sow we must reap. Warned of sin and its dreadful consequences, may we abhor evil and cleave to that which is good, looking with prayerful hope to the open heavens, and arming ourselves to engage with vigor in thy service.

Bless each one of us before thee. May peace and love fill this home with grateful happiness. May we be wise unto salvation. Lead the young in paths of innocence; cheer the days of old age; and guide all hearts to thee.

O Thou, who didst so love the world as to give thine only Son to reclaim man from sin, and open before him the way of life, we thank thee that thou hast appointed us to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Convinced of our need of a Saviour, may we seek and find Christ, hear his word, obey his precepts, and have him formed and living in our hearts. This day may we be children of the light, Christians in every thought and deed, and come one day's journey nearer to a glorious and blessed immortality; so that the day of our death, even should it be this day, may not overtake us as a thief, and whether we wake or sleep we may live with Christ.

Graciously hear us, O Father of our spirits, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

XXXVI.

For Self-Control.

My son, attend to my words; incline thy ear to my sayings.

Let them not depart from thy eyes; keep them in the midst of thy heart.

For they are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Let thy eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before thee.

Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

ETERNAL GOD, we adore thee as the sovereign Lord over all beings and in all worlds. None can dispute thy authority, resist thy will, or deny thy right to reign supreme. But we rejoice and are comforted to know that thy power is not more absolute than are thy wisdom and thy goodness, and that thy mercy endureth forever.

O God, grateful for thy continual care, we would feel that it is our duty and our happiness alike to submit ourselves to thy will. O, teach us to obey thee as we ought. Let not the evil that is in our own hearts, nor the evil that is in the world around us, beguile us to our ruin. May May we keep thy sayings in the midst of our heart, remembering that we can be safe, innocent and happy, only as we are guided, controlled and disposed of, according to thy holy will. Be thou, O God, our counsellor, guardian, sanctifier, and comforter. With filial reverence, gratitude and love, we

would commit to thee the keeping of our souls, as to a faithful Creator, who does all things well, and cannot lay upon man more than is right.

If it be our lot this day to endure hardship, loss or pain, to be wounded in our affections, or injured in our interests, then, O Father of mercies, do thou help us to keep our hearts with all diligence, and in patience to possess our souls. Blessed by thee in all time past, we would never repine at thy chastisements, or doubt thy future care and kindness. Let not one murmuring thought or feeling arise within us in the hour of our chastening. But may the sorrows we experience be mitigated by the remembrance of all thy past mercies, and soothed by the hope of good yet to come after sorrow may have purified and made us better. If the events of this day shall be conducive to our prosperity, replete with joy, and our hearts exult in the attainment of some good we have desired, then, O Father, may thy Holy Spirit graciously move each better feeling within us, prompt us to render the thanks due for thy merciful goodness to us, and repress every impulse which might tend to convert to evil what is designed for our improvement. Thus may we use all sublunary things with pious wisdom, nor turn to the right hand nor to the left in the path of thy service.

Great God, we beseech thy blessing on us and on all who are dear to us. Let this be a day well spent.

Let thy peace dwell in our hearts. Let integrity and justice, truth and innocence, purity and charity, distinguish and adorn our characters. May we honor Christ before men by a conduct consistently Christian. To thee, O Father, we yield ourselves, to be thine now and forever. Amen.

XXXVII.

Mutual Affection.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice :

And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

ALMIGHTY GOD, it is owing to thee that we have been preserved through the past night. It is through thy goodness that we have been refreshed with sleep, and that our eyes are now opened to the light of another day. Accept, we beseech thee, our grateful praise; and grant that this day we may be upheld by thy power, and led by thy hand, and kept from danger, from sin, and from pain. With the return of each morning may our thoughts and affections rise to thee; and as one day succeeds another, so may our