as thou in thy infinite wisdom shalt think fit for them. Do thou grant success to my endeavours; and if it be agreeable to thy kind providence over me and mine, let me live to see the good effects of these. And as I learn from thee to perform the duties of a father, so let me learn from my children to become thy son, and to love and obey thee with my whole heart. Let my imperfect benevolence towards them convince me that I have nothing to fear, and ought to hope for every thing from thee: that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what things thou hast prepared for those that love thee. Hear me, most merciful God, through thy well-be loved Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the adoption of sons, and cry, Abba, Father. In the Conjugal Relation. Etat. 29. O GOD, by whose goodness alone it is that I am joined to one so fitted to promote my happiness! teach me to love her with all sincerity, tenderness, affection, and purity; to seek her welfare with all pleasure and gratitude; and in every thing to regard her as myself. Bless us with all the blessings of this life, which thou seest fit for us, and teach us to assist each other in our preparation for a better. Make us zealous to improve each other's virtues, and careful and affectionate in admonishing each other upon all occasions of, or tendencies to, error or vice. Teach us to perform all the duties of our life and station, with prudence, uprightness, and true religion; to govern our family with all kindness, and benevolent regard to every one in it; and especially to be diligent in the education of those children with which thou shalt bless us: keep us from being over careful to provide for them the things of this world; and let our chief study be, to form their minds to real piety and virtue, and to instil into them the knowledge of Christ and him crucified. Thou hast so ordered the relations of life, as to beget in us that love of our neighbour and of thee, in which alone true happiness consists; teach us therefore thus to ascend unto perfection,-unto that state in which we shall become members of Christ and of each other, and thou, O God, be all in all. Let not the transient joys of this world engage our affections: make us dead to pleasure, honour, and profit; and let us so use the blessings which thou hast conferred upon us here, as to prepare us for solid happiness hereafter. It is thine undeserved goodness alone to which we are indebted for all the comforts and conveniences of this life, in so desirable a degree; for the health of our bodies and minds; and for the outward means of gratifying our wants. In all these things we entirely resign up ourselves to thine infallible wisdom, and undoubted goodness; and neither ask for riches, nor health, nor life itself, but for that alone which will make us most acceptable unto thee. Let thy blessing attend us and ours, to direct, sanctify, and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments. Let our conversation be in heaven; and let the attainment of a happy futurity be the grand design and employment of our lives. And whenever it shall please thee to call us, or any of our connections, into that invisible state towards which we are continually hastening; teach those that remain, not to sorrow as they which have no hope; but be thou their Guide and Guardian, and make them to see and be assured, that death itself, when sent by thee, is the most welcome of all mes-sengers. For in truth, O God, we ought to know, and be assured, that it is a matter of indifference whether we live or die, provided we be thine; and that the dark valley of the shadow of death has nothing terrible in it, to those who are conducted by thee. Preserve in us therefore a perpetual sense of this important truth, that so we may learn both to fit and prepare ourselves for our great change, and also cheerfully to resign up our souls to thee, as to a faithful Creator. To thee, therefore, do I now resign up all our concerns, temporal and eternal, in the name of Jesus Christ our only Mediator, our Lord, and our Judge. 1736. Etat. 31. For Earnestness in Doing Good, and in SelfDiscipline. ALMIGHTY Parent and Governor of the world! Thou hast placed me in the various relations of this life, that I, as a part, may, in my proper station, contribute to the beauty, order, and good of the whole. Let me ever pursue this great end with unfeigned and unwearied zeal, courage, and constancy; let me earnestly seek all occasions of promoting the welfare of others, and avoid all of causing misery. Grant me unlimited charity; the strictest regard to truth, justice, and integrity; unaffected humility; an invincible meekness in every apprehension of insult or injury; perfect chastity in thought, word, and deed; and a temperance not to be overcome by appetite, or surprised through folly or negligence. Make my heart right before thee; and grant me prudence so to conduct my actions, that they may best answer the purposes of true wisdom. In the pursuit of my own happiness here, let thy spirit direct and govern me, that the appearance of good may not impose upon me, nor my own foolish passions transport me beyond due bounds. O most wonderful and incomprehensible Being, who art the hope, end, centre, and happiness of all things! let me desire nothing in comparison of thee. Let me consider this world as the school of discipline for my affections, and the joys and sorrows of it as intended to prepare and qualify me for the enjoyment of thee. Oh teach me to love, reverence, and fear thee above all things; to put my whole trust in thee; to resign myself implicitly to thee; to make it my chief delight to look up to thee with all the devotion in my power; and whatever I do, to do it as unto thee. Let the consciousness, the experience of my blindness, and the deceitfulness of my heart, arm me against them, and since I cannot confide in myself, be thou ever with me.-Ætat, 28. |