he may obtain mercy, that through him Jesus Christ may shew forth all long suffering and compassion. His life, he acknowledges, cannot stand a strict test and enquiry; for if thou Lord shouldest be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord who may abide it. He dares not appeal to the tribunal of thy Justice, but he flies to thy gracious offer of mercy. Accept him therefore we pray thee, according to the blessed covenant of favour and acceptance, which thy Son our Saviour purchased for us, and published to us. Prepare him by sincerity of heart, and resolution of obedience, to apply to thee in prayer. Strengthen him by a comfortable trust in thee, to proceed in the path of holiness,-favour him with further time to shew his sincerity by a holy life, and whenever thou shalt please to call him hence, receive him into the arms of thy favour, through the intercession and merits of our only advocate and redeemer, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Dodwell.) H 3

For one that has been long ill.

O GRACIOUS GOD, who in the midst of judgment hast remembered mercy, and hast made the sorest calamities to which we are liable, to be attended with some advantages: give thy grace to this thy servant, that he may look on his present condition, to remind him of his sins, and of thy mercy; by both to quicken him to earnest repentance. Let the tedious distemper under which he suffers, raise his thoughts to the cause of all human sorrow in the disobedience of man, and to an humble reflection on the disobedience of each man, as a just cause of each one's suffering. But let him look on the time and opportunity hereby afforded, as a particular favor, and improve it to a real blessing; make him thankful that he was not snatched away in a state of impenitence, nor cut off in the pursuit of sins and follies. Make him thankful that his distemper does not affect his understanding, but that thou

continuest to him the use of his senses and of his reason. O continue to him, or revive in him, the grace to improve this opportunity of mercy, and if his long sickness try his patience, let it likewise confirm it. Grant that he may employ the time hereby afforded, in acts of Repentance for his former offences, in acts of Resignation to his present lot, and in acts of Trust for thy future mercy, that whilst his body is decaying, his soul may be improving, and at their ensuing separation may be duly prepared to return to thee who gavest it, through the merits and satisfaction of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.-(Dodwell.)

For one that is Young.

O GOD, the author of our being, and the disposer of our state, who made us for probation in this world, and for glory in the next, have mercy we beseech thee,

on this thy servant, who almost at the entrance of life, has this solemn call to consider the 'uncertainty of his future abode in it. Give him, we pray thee, an early sense of his duty towards thee, as the great end of his being, and the business of his life, and grant him repentance, for the faults and follies of his unripe years. O remember not the sins and offences of his youth, but according to thy mercy, think thou upon him, O Lord, for thy goodness. Give him farther time to work out his Salvation, and give him grace to employ the remainder of it to that purpose. Let his whole desire be to attain thy favor, and in that let him trust with comfort, whether thou shalt please to continue him in life, or to cut him off from it. Accept of such improvement as has been suitable to his years, and whether earlier or later, let his departure from this world convey him to the happiness of the next, through the merits and mediation of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.-(Dodwell.)

For one that is old.

O GOD, the giver of life, and the preserver of it through the many accidents. and dangers that surround it; we offer up our prayers for, and with this thy servant, whom thou hast long continued through the changes and chances of it. Direct him to pay his just acknowledgments to thy good providence, for the many deliverances with which he has been favoured, and the many mercies he has received. But principally lead him to reflect on the return he has made for them. He has a long life to account for, and the use or abuse of many favors to present with joy or terror before thee: as thou hast hitherto spared him, O spare him still further for the purpose of Repentance. Let not a former habit of iniquity discourage his attempts at penitence and reformation, but let him finish his course with good resolutions and good deeds, and prepare his heart, as well as his infirmities will permit, to see thee yet