or evil; and that out of them go streams that poison or heal the veins of social life throughout the land. Teach thy people that there are the strongholds of vice, where the adversary of souls stations his choicest legions, and establishes his dominion in the nation. Show them that if his power could be subverted in the midst of these crowded marts, his sceptre would be broken, and his throne be shaken to its foundations.

O God, make thy followers appreciate the facilities that are there afforded for procuring the triumph of the gospel. In these thou hast gathered a large proportion of the human race, and hast put their dwellers within the reach of Christian exertion for their salvation. There thou hast planted the institutions of religious benevolence, which, like trees of life, are shedding their leaves for the healing of the nations. And Lord, the wealth of our cities can furnish the means, and their numbers the men, that shall carry to all the earth's inhabitants the messages of mercy.

Lord, bless all the instrumentalities that are now employed for the conversion of these places. Bring all their youthful population into Sabbath-schools, and into the nurture of the Lord. May personal Christian effort be brought to bear, in prayerful reliance on thy help, on every impenitent heart. Increase and give universal application to the power of the Christian ministry: and roll on the chariot of thy gospel amidst these dense congregations of life, until each place shall shadow forth the holiness and joy of that city, which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God!

COMMUNION WITH GOD.

O thou that hearest prayer, grant that I may hold communion of spirit with thee, the Father of Spirits. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so may my soul pant after thee: and as the parched land drinketh in the rain of heaven, so let my soul receive the gifts of thy presence. Dispose me to be faithful and to delight in the observance of stated seasons of private devotion, and in the frequent exercises of occasional prayer. May I love to seek thee in the tabernacles of the righteous. Let my thoughts and desires hold intercourse with thee in thy word, and in thy works, and in thy ways. Let my walk be close with thee; and do thou fix my affections on thee, as the highest and noblest object of love. Teach me thy will, that I may acquaint myself with thee, and be at peace.

Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon me. Draw near to me in all my attempts to approach thee; and manifest thyself unto me as thou dost not unto the world. Sprinkle reconciling blood on the altar where I meet thee. Kindle with heavenly fire the incense I bring thee, and let it rise up as a sweet-smelling savour before thee. Make thine abode with me; and let my heart be a temple of the Holy Ghost. Give me that spirit of adoption by which I may cry, "Abba, Father." May I be persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from thy love, which is in Christ Jesus. Give me such a sense of pardoned sin, as shall fill me with holy joys, and strong purposes of new obedience to thy will. Grant me, in these seasons of sweet converse with thee, those

blessings which are spiritual in their nature, satis fying in their possession, and eternal in their continuance. Cause me, in the enjoyment of them, to commiserate the destitution of those who are without God in the world, and the wo of them who are shut out from thy presence forever. O let me cling closer to this precious privilege, and be pervaded with deeper pity, and animated with stronger zeal, for those who know not the delights of thy communion.

Lord, vouchsafe that my fellowship with thee may be sought only through him who is the way, the truth, and the life; for no man cometh unto the Father but by him. Let the communion of thy Holy Spirit rest upon me, and abide within me, now, henceforth and forever.

Heavenly Father, dispose me, in gladness and singleness of heart, to keep the fellowship of the saints. May I have more relish for their company, though they may be poor and unhonoured, than for intercourse with those who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Make my communion with them pleasant and profitable to my soul; and do thou come and be in the midst of us, to bless us. Let our bonds of union have the strength and beauty of those that bind the happy throng above, in their perpetual fellowship of bliss. May I feel that we are all children of the same Parent; brethren of the same family; subjects of the same discipline of trials and duties; and heirs of the same inheritance beyond the grave. Incline me to love their persons, their character, and their interests-rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and weeping with them that

weep-ministering to their necessities-holding converse with them in the grace of God-seeking not to please myself, but bearing their infirmities and burdens-and so fulfilling the law of Christ, who hath given us a new commandment, that we love one another.

COMPANY.

Lord, teach me that my habits of life, and my reputation, will be determined by the company I keep. Make me ever mindful that evil communications are full of corruption, and that the companion of fools shall be destroyed. Make me holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. O let me not enter the path of the wicked, nor follow a multitude to do evil; and permit me not to conform, in any degree, to either the principles or practices of the ungodly. But when I am called, in the exercise of social or religious duties, among the impenitent, enable me to seek by kindness, and persuasion, and example, to win them to the obedience of faith. Make me, O Lord, a companion of them that fear thee and keep thy precepts. May I desire more the fellowship of them that are lowly and poor in spirit, than of those who are rich in this world's goods, while their hearts are strangers to the love of God. Preserve me, I pray thee, from every unholy association; and lead me to seek the communion of thy saints, that we may be comforted together, by our mutual faith. Suffer not my conduct, anywhere, to be a reproach on thy cause; but do thou bestow on me grace to occupy my station in the family, in society, and in the church, so as to promote thy glory in the sight of men.

CONDESCENSION OF GOD.

Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him; or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou art infinite in all thy perfections, and needest not our praises nor services to increase thy happiness and glory. If our guilty race had continued even as thou didst create it, (but a little lower than the angels,) we must have praised thee for thy condescension in nourishing and governing us; but now, that we have lifted the arm of rebellion against thee, and have steeped our souls in transgression, how greatly is thy condescension magnified, in pursuing us with thy mercies, in providing for our wants, in protecting and delivering us from evil; and above all, in offering to redeem us from our lost estate by the sacrifice of thy Son. He, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He, who was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. He, who from eternity knew no pain, sweat great drops of blood, and suffered unspeakable agony, that we might escape the wrath to come-the worm that never dieth, and the fire that is never quenched. O help me, God of Grace, to acknowledge thine undeserved and astonishing mercy. May it draw me closer to thee in the bonds of love and confidence, and seal me for thy service, in a covenant never to be forsaken.

CONFESSION.

Holy One of Israel, help me, I beseech thee, to confess before thee my unworthiness and ill-desert. To whom but to thee should I go with the recital of my transgressions; for it is against thee, thee