Advice to a Young Man upon First Going to Oxford / In Ten Letters, From an Uncle to His Nephew

by Edward Berens

Prayer for the right government of the tongue.

O God, watch over me this day for good; and grant that I may so keep the door of my mouth that I may not speak unadvisedly with my lips. Preserve me from offending with my tongue either against charity or purity. Let me not be guilty of foolish and immodest talking and jesting, of evil-speaking or censoriousness, or of any other of the many sins of the tongue. Grant that all my conversation may be such as becometh one who professes to be the servant and disciple of thy beloved Son, in whose name I beseech thee to hear my prayers.