Above:  The Orphan ‘s Prayer

Lithograph Created (1840-1860) by Thomas S. Sinclair (1805-1881)

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/95507822/)

Reproduction Number = LC-USZC4-3402

James Edmeston (1791-1867), a London architect and surveyor, visited the London Orphan Asylum (http://www.qype.co.uk/place/239227-The-London-Orphan-Asylum-London) often and wrote over 2000 hymns–one per week for many years.

http://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/feast-of-jemima-thompson-luke-and-james-edmeston-february-29/

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Saviour, Breathe an Evening Blessing:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/saviour-breathe-an-evening-blessing/

Lead Us, Heavenly Father:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/lead-us-heavenly-father/

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Above:  Night, Between 1910 and 1920

Publisher and Copyright Claimant = Detroit Publishing Company

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-D4-72241

Hymn Source (Stanzas #1 and  2) = The Church Hymnary (1927), Presbyterian

Hymn Source (Stanza #3) = New Worship and Song (1942), Congregational Christian Churches (U.S.A.)

Stanzas #1 and 2 (1820), by James Edmeston (1791-1867)

Stanza #3 (1876) by Edward Henry Bickesteth (1825-1905)

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1.  Saviour, breathe an evening blessing

Ere repose our spirits seal;

Sin and want we come confessing:

Thou canst save, and Thou canst heal.

Though destruction walk around us,

Though the arrow past us fly,

Angel guards from Thee surround us;

We are safe if Thou art nigh.

2.  Though the night be dark and dreary,

Darkness cannot hide from thee;

Thou art He who, never weary,

Watchest where Thy people be.

Should swift death this night o’ertake us,

And our couch become our tomb,

May the morn in heaven awake us,

Clad in light and deathless bloom.

3.  Father, to thy holy keeping

Humbly we ourselves resign;

Saviour, who hast kept our sleeping,

Make our slumbers pure as thine;

Blessed Spirit, brooding o’er us,

Chase the darkness of our night,

Till the perfect day before us

Breaks in everlasting light.

Above:  Ocean Surf

Image dated 1900-1910

Image copyrighted by the Detroit Publishing Company

Image #034801

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994015895/PP/)

Reproduction Number = LC-D4-34801

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Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1916 (1918), The Episcopal Church

Words (1821) by James Edmeston (1791-1867), archtect, surveyor, and member of The Church of England

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1.  Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us

O’er the world’s tempestuous sea;

Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,

For we have no help but thee,

Yet possessing every blessing,

If our God our Father be.

2.  Saviour breathe forgiveness o’er us;

All our weakness thou dost know;

Thou didst tread this earth before us;

Thou didst feel its keenest woe;

Lone and dreary, faint and weary,

Through the desert thou didst go.

3.  Spirit of our God, descending,

Fill our hearts with heavenly joy;

Love with every passion blending,

Pleasure that can never cloy;

Thus provided, pardoned, guided,

Nothing can our peace destroy.