seek, to be religiously faithful to the duties of our lot, both the little and the great.

O God, our heavenly Father, thou hast made our life on earth a pilgrimage brief and uncertain: and now we are a day's march nearer to the grave and to eternity. We know that the time is short to us and to all. May we live, while we live; live as thy true children and servants, made for nobler pleasures than those of sense, for higher glories than any which men can offer, for sweeter rewards than those of earthly gain.

And now, O God, who compassest our path and our lying down, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike, we would seek the blessing of sleep, reposing now, as always, in the arms of thy protecting providence, and committing ourselves and all whom we love to thy fatherly care. We would go to the slumbers of this night, as we hope to go to the slumbers of the last, in peace with thee, in harmony with our friends, in charity towards all, in a Christian faith and a Christian hope, looking up to heaven and to thee. We pray for thy blessing upon our neighborhood, our country and the world, upon every righteous cause and every quickening truth in its struggle with the old evil that is in the world; we ascribe unto thee the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

XXVI.

Confession of Sin.

I will arise, and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee,

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry:

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.

O, ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, for all the blessings which we every day receive from thy bounty, for all the known and all the unobserved favors, deliverances, visitations and graces, of thy Holy Spirit, we bless thy good providence; beseeching thee still to continue thy fatherly care over us, for we need thy constant protection and guidance.

God be merciful unto us, who have broken thy laws, abused thy patience, wasted thy time, sinned against thy light, and resisted thy good Spirit. In

thy plenteous tender mercies pardon all that we have done or thought amiss during the past day. Now, when we draw nigh to thee, confessing that we have sinned against thee, wilt thou draw nigh to us, and embrace us in the arms of thy forgiving grace. We rejoice before thee in what our divine Master, thy chosen messenger, hath taught us of thy readiness to forgive, and thank thee that in the father welcoming the returning prodigal we may see thy own tender love. When we lie down, may it be as pardoned children. Grant us grace that we may render ourselves more worthy of thy favor for the time to come. Let us be excited to serve thee, our heavenly Master, with fidelity, and finish our work with diligence, before that night overtakes us wherein no man can work.

O Thou who never slumberest nor sleepest, but both by night and day dost watch over thy people, keep and defend us, we pray thee, this night. Let the shades which encompass us be as the shadow of thy wings. May our sleep be quiet and refreshing; and may we rise in the morning prepared and invigorated to serve thee in the duties of the day. May all our nights on earth be hallowed by thy blessing, and all our days devoted to thy service, so that when we have slept the sleep of the grave we may awake to the resurrection of the just.

Hear us, we beseech thee, in thy Son's name, as whose disciples we approach thee, our Father, and ascribe unto thee all honor and glory forever. Amen.

XXVII.

Seeking Pardon.

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we write to you, that your joy may be full.

This then is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

O THOU infinite and eternal God, the framer of our bodies and the Father of our spirits, in whose hands our times are, and whose are all our ways. We bless thee for the powers of our minds, and for the affections and sympathies of our hearts. We bless thee that thou hast made us capable of contemplating thine adorable nature and character; capable of knowing thy will and our duty in all the relations of life;

capable of serving thee in some acceptable, though imperfect, manner in this world; 'and capable of being prepared, by the aid of thy grace in Jesus Christ, for the more perfect service and the more sublime enjoyment of thee in the world to come.

We thank thee that thou hast added another day to our earthly life. We bless thee for every token of thy merciful kindness manifested towards us; that thou hast kept our feet from falling, our eyes from tears, and our souls from death; and hast brought us to the close of the day and of the evening still surrounded by the tokens of thy love, and still sustained by the power of thy grace. Serenely would we now look up to thee; for thou art light, and with thee there is no darkness at all.

Wilt thou, who art faithful and just to forgive us our sins, pardon the transgressions and imperfections of this day, and of our whole life. Create in us clean hearts, and renew a right spirit within us. Through that blood of Jesus which cleanseth from all sin, wilt thou blot out all our transgressions. Suffer them not to rise in this world to our shame, nor in the world to come to our condemnation. May the mind and spirit of Jesus, the Master, be received into our hearts, and nurtured and cherished there, until, bearing something of his image and likeness, we are prepared to join the spirits of the just in that world where our fellowship, in the purest and holiest sense,