The day before the commencement of the session of 1831, Mr. Buxton thus implores help and guidance from on high:—

“January so. 1831.

“Give me, O Lord, thy help, thy present, and evident, and all-sufficient help in pleading the cause of the slave. Let the light of thy countenance shine upon me. Give me wisdom to select the proper course, and courage to pursue it, and ability to perform my part; and turn the hearts of the powerful, so that they may be prone to feel for, and prompt to help those, whose bodies and whose souls are in slavery. ‘ If ye ask any thing in my name,’ said our Saviour, ‘ I will do it.’ In His prevailing name, and for His merits, do this, O Lord God! * * * * * But whatever may be thy will in my secular concerns, give me patience, faith, thankfulness, confidence; a sense of thy Divine Majesty, of the benignity of Christ, a love for thy scriptures, a love of prayer, and a heart firmly fixed on immortality. May I remember that, ere the year closes, I may be snatched away and hurried before thy judgment-seat! Be with me, then, in health and in sickness, in life and in death, in events prosperous and adverse, in my intercourse with my family, in my public duties, in my study. Be Thou my strong habitation to which I may continually resort. Be with me and mine every day and every hour during this year.”