the moderation which characterizes this petition, we see transferred into our daily form of supplication, a series of remarks to which our Saviour often directed the attention of his disciples; namely, that all anxiety respecting the affairs of this life is an unbecoming distrust of the good providence of God; that, as moral beings, our chief object of solicitude ought to be, that we may always be doing the will of God; and that, while we are actuated by this nobler ambition, we may have perfect reliance on the beneficence of our Creator, who is intimately acquainted with all the circumstances of our condition, and who will suffer us to be in want of nothing that is really good for us.

While, therefore, we use these words, "Give us this day our daily bread," we are taught to receive all the blessings of our lot, as the gifts of a merciful and most wise Creator. We e are instructed also to be moderate in all our wishes for the fleeting advantages of this life; and, lastly, we are taught to believe, that He who clothes the grass of the field, and is watchful for the welfare of the fowls of heaven, cannot possibly overlook the situation of those creatures whom he has gifted

with the distinction of immortal minds; and with respect to whom he has given an express promise, that, while they are conscientiously engaged in the path of duty, all things shall work together for their good.

II. While, however, we thus recollect, that creation is one great kingdom, over which the Everlasting Father presides, and that his bounty is displayed at every moment in supporting and blessing even the inhabitants of this earth, we cannot but remember, that we have been far from acting as became the subjects of so great a Sovereign and so kind a Benefactor; that, instead of having endeavoured to keep his commandments, we have treated his kindness with ingratitude and disobedience; that we have been daily adding to the sum of that guilt which belongs to us as members of a fallen race; and that, were the Almighty to call us to a strict account for our sins, we could not answer for one of many thousands of our transgressions. Amidst such recollections, then, what supplication can be more natural, or more important, than that which teaches us to beg forgiveness for our of

fences; to throw ourselves, in unfeigned penitence,

at the footstool of that throne of mercy, from which remission is dispensed to all who repent; and, with tears of genuine sorrow, to vow before God, that, having done iniquity in time past, it will be our study, if we can but obtain pardon, to do so no more. It is upon this view, accordingly, that our sins are represented, in this petition, as a debt by which we have subjected ourselves to the inflictions of the Divine law. For that which we were bound to have paid to God, was a life of perfect and ceaseless obedience, for the glorious situation into which he has been pleased to call us; for the many blessings with which he is daily surrounding us; and for the far greater benefits which are hereafter to be conferred on us, if we act as becomes our situation in existence. But, instead of all this, we have been rebellious and disobedient; we have, on innumerable occasions, done those things which we ought not to have done, and have left undone those things which we ought to have performed; we have become debtors, therefore, in the deepest and most fearful of all accounts, and our only hope of being freed from this guilt must

rest on the free forgiveness and tender mercy of

God.

66

Forgive us;" therefore has our Saviour taught

66

us in this petition to pray, " forgive us our debts." It is only the expectation of such forgiveness, that can encourage us to approach the Father of our spirits with the affection that becomes us as his penitent children; that can take from us that great darkness which has settled on our spirits, from the remembrance of our many acts of transgression; or, that can enable us to perceive, in this scene of our probation, and in the thousand blessings by which it has been enriched, an earnest of the glories of that far greater inheritance which is reserved in heaven for the pure in heart.

66

The forgiveness, however, which we thus ask from God, we are taught to consider as granted to us only upon the condition, that we also are forgiving to those who have offended us. Forgive us," said our Lord; " 66 forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." And nothing surely could be more appropriate than such a petition; for the very principle upon which the Divine government, so far as it is experienced by us, is conducted, is

the principle of mercy or of forgiveness to offenders; and nothing can be more inconsistent than that, while we are indulging resentment against any of our brethren, we should yet venture to beg of the Divine mercy the free remission of our own offences. You know, accordingly, that nothing is more characteristic of our Saviour's instructions, than the importance which he attached to this duty of mutual forgiveness: some of his most beautiful parables are intended to illustrate the necessity of this virtue; and in this, our daily Prayer, we are taught to expect the blessing, which, of all others, is most desirable for us, the great blessing of the forgiveness of our sins, only upon the condition that we extend our forgiveness to our offending brethren. So pre-eminently odious, in the sight of our Lord, does a malignant and revengeful spirit appear to have been, and so true is it, that while it is the purpose of religion to reconcile man to his Maker, she never fails to connect this object with the establishment, in the heart that has been so reconciled, of a better and gentler and more charitable disposition to all other beings.