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and brought life and immortality to light by the gospel : and who, among the ravages of the grave, says, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that believeth in me shall never die.

May it be our immediate and supreme concern to win Christ, and be found in Him; knowing that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus; and that blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply bur hearts unto wisdom-that wisdom which will lead us to prefer the soul to the body, and eternity to time: that wisdom which will lead us to secure an interest in a better world, before we are removed from this.

O let not the trifles of time induce us to neglect the one thing needful. While each of us is compelled to say, I know Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living, may we be enabled also to say, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him, against that day.

And, O, let not the solemnities we have this day witnessed, be ever forgotten: for often our most serious impressions have worn off, and our goodness has been as the morning cloud and early dew, that soon passeth away.

Thou hast permitted death to invade our circle, and hast turned our dwelling into a house of mourning. May we find that it is better to be in the house of mourning, than in the house of mirth. By the sadness of the countenance, may the heart be made better, more serious to reflect, and more softened to take impression.

With the feelings of the creature, may we blend the views and the hopes of the christian. May we remember, that Thou hast bereaved us, not as an aggressor,. but as a proprietor; resuming what was lent us for a

season, but never ceased to be thine own. May we, therefore, be dumb, and open not our mouth, because Thou hast done it; or if we speak, may it be to acknowledge and pray—I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me; let thy loving kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.

We bless Thee for thy goodness to the deceased, and that we are not called to sorrow, as those who have no hope. We ascribe whatever excellency was found in them to thy grace; and desire to be followers of them, as far as they also were of Christ.

Forgive us in whatever instances we failed in our duty towards them. Let the prayers they offered for us while on earth be answered; may we hold communion with them in our living Redeemer; and look forward to a period of renewed and improved intercourse, in which we shall be for ever with each other, and for ever with the Lord.

Now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

FAST DAY.*

MORNING.

HOLY, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of thy glory. O for such an impression of thy holiness as Isaiah had; when penetrated with a sense of his own sin, and the sin of the nation, he exclaimed, Wo is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips. Banish all insensibility and indifference from our minds, and unite our hearts to fear thy name.

We lament that the world in which we live, formed to show forth thy praise, was so early defiled by sin: that all flesh corrupted its way before God, and every imagination of the thoughts of the heart, was only evil continually. We adore thy awful but righteous displeasure, in bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and taking them all away.

Yet even this tremendous desolation, did not hinder the renewed human race from rebelling against Thee: and a long succession of private and public calamities, proclaims the desperate depravity of our nature, and the evil of sin. Our world is the empire of death, a vale of tears; and tempests, and earthquakes, and war, and pestilence, and famine, scatter the tokens of thy wrath, for Thou distributest sorrows in thine anger.

Thy judgments are now abroad in the earth--may the inhabitants thereof learn righteousness. They have reached and invaded us-may we lay them to heart, and

* The two following prayers are particularly adapted to a fast appointed on account of some great calamity, but with slight alterations may be used on ordinary fast days.

be suitably impressed, with the afflicted circumstances of the country to which we belong.

We have been equally distinguished by privileges and guilt; and it is impossible for us to review the one, without being reminded of the other. An innumerable multitude of natural, providential, and religious benefits, has distinguished our portion. The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, yea, we have a goodly heritage. At an early period the gospel visited our shores, and has continued in the midst of us to this hour. We have lived under the administration of laws, just, mild, and beneficent. We have enjoyed civil and religious freedom. The scriptures have not been withholden from us, nor have our teachers been removed into a corner-but our eyes have seen our teacher; and sitting under our own vine and fig-tree, none has dared to make us afraid. In our dangers, Thou hast appointed salvation for walls and bulwarks the earth has yielded to us her increase; and God, even our own God, has blessed us.

It is impossible for us to express, or conceive, the obligations we are under to love and serve Thee.

But we know-and O help us to feel, how unworthily and ungratefully we have behaved ourselves, towards our adorable Benefactor. We are a sinful nation, a seed of evil doers; children that are corrupters. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint from the crown of the head, even to the sole of the foot, there is no soundness, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but to us, shame and confusion of face, as at this day, to our princes and our rulers.

But Thou art the Almighty Thou hast all hearts in thy hand, and all events at thy disposal.

And we have heard, that to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled

against Him. We are proofs ourselves, that thy compassions fail not-hence though corrected, we are not consumed and though guilty, we are yet allowed and invited to enter thy presence.

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With deep humiliation, not unmingled with hope, may we approach the throne of thy grace, at this time of need. O be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause thy face to shine upon us, that we may be saved. For the sake of thy dear Son, who died the just for the unjust, by whose name we are called-behold a country prostrate at thy footstool; and hear the voice, which will issue to day, from so many temples and closets, saying, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach.

Remove, if it please Thee, the blow of thy heavy hand, in the calamity which we are deploring; and after giving us such a deliverance as this, may we no more break thy commandments. Or if Thou hast determined to continue the correction, O correct us, but with judgment, not in thine anger, lest Thou bring us to nothing.

Aid thy people in the private and public devotions of the day. Pour out a spirit of grace and of supplication, that we may sorrow after a godly sort. May thy ministers be faithful and fearless: may they cry aloud, and spare not; but lift up their voice like a trumpet, and show thy people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sin.

And let the word that is to be spoken, be quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and be a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Our Father, &c. Amen.

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