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en us with might by thy Spirit, in the inner distress. Yet we rejoice to know that Thou man, for every purpose of the Christian life; art a very present and an all-sufficient help and may we be satisfied with no attain-in trouble. ment, till we are filled with all the fulness of God.

Awaken the careless; convince of their error and guilt all those who deny or vilify the work of thy grace; and plant in their consciences the conviction, that if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his.

Pour the spirit of grace and of supplication upon all our congregations. Bless the ministry of the gospel, and make it the ministration of the Spirit, and the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth. But how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher? How many are there, who by the wretchedness of their condition, if not by their actual desire, are saying, Come over and help us!

Hast Thou not commanded us to pray that thy kingdom may come? Hast not Thou promised that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the seas?

May we encourage our expectation by reviewing what Thou hast already accomplished, and remembering that Thou art a God of truth, and-the Almighty. May we therefore realize in our minds the delightful period when the heathen shall cast their idols to the moles and to the bats; when Mahometanism and antichrist shall perish; when the Jews shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn; and among Protestants, every plant which our heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

But why are thy chariot wheels so long in coming? Why does the whole creation groan and travail in pain together until now? How many would say, Lord, now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word-could their eyes see thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

While using the means, may we trust in thy wisdom as well as thy faithfulness: and hear the voice saying, I the Lord will hasten it-in his time.

And to God the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed the kingdom, power, and glory, both now and for ever. Amen.

Thou takest away, and who can hinder Thee, or say unto Thee, What doest Thou? Thou hast a right to do what Thou wilt with thine own. Thou art a sovereign, and the reasons of thy conduct are often far above out of our sight: but thy work is perfect, thy ways are judgment. All thy dispensations are wise, and righteous, and kind-kind, even when they seem to be severe.

May we hear thy voice in thy rod, as well as in thy word; and gathering from the corrections with which we are exercised the peaceable fruit of righteousness, be able to acknowledge with all our suffering brethren before us, It is good for me that I have been afflicted.

It is not the Scripture only that reminds us of our living in a dying world, but all observation and experience. Man is continually going to his long home, and the mourners daily go about the streets. And we are all accomplishing as an hireling our day, and in a little time our neighbours, friends, and relations, will seek us-and we shall not be. Our days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. Thou hast made our days as an hand's breadth, and our age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. For our days are not only few, but full of evil. Anxieties perplex us; dangers alarm us; infirmities oppress us; disappointments afflict us; losses impoverish us; we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled-O shut not thy merciful ear to our prayers; but spare us, O Lord, most holy; O God, most mighty; O holy and most merciful Saviour: Thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not at our last hour, for any bitter pains of death, to fall from Thee.

We acknowledge, O God, with shame and sorrow, that the state of degradation and mortality in which we groan was not our original condition. Thou madest man upright; but he sought out many inventions. Our first father sinned, and we have borne his iniquity. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

And we bless Thee that this is not our final state. By the discoveries of faith, we see new heavens, and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. We see the spirits THE EVENING AFTER A FUNERAL. bodies changed, and fashioned like the Saof just men made perfect. We see our vile O THOU Father of mercies, and God of all viour's own glorious body; and man the sincomfort-Thou hast often invited us to thy-ner raised above the angels who never sinself by a profusion of kindnesses; and it manifests our depravity, that we think of Thee so little in the hour of ease and prosperity. But we are now before Thee in affliction and

ned.

We bless Thee for this purpose of grace, formed before the world began, and accomplished in the fulness of time by the Son of

thy love, who hath abolished death, 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 whosoever liveth and 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 our hearts unto wisdom-that wisdom which will lead us to prefer the soul to the body, and eternity to time; that wis dom 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 as the 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.

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.

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 Thy judgments are now abroad in the earth proprietor; resuming what was lent us for a-may the inhabitants thereof learn rightseason, 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.

eousness. They have reached and invaded us-may we lay them to heart, and be suitably impressed with the afflicting 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, have 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 conti

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,nued in the midst of us to this hour. We 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

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 teachers; 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 tous 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.

And let the word that is to be spoken be quick and powerful, sharper than any twoedged 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.

FAST-DAY.

EVENING.

But we know—and O help us to feel-how unworthily and ungratefully we have behaved O God, Thou hast established thy throne ourselves towards our adorable Benefactor. in the heavens, and thy kingdom ruleth over 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 putrefying sores. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day, to our princes and our rulers.

We do not wonder at the scourge under which we are now groaning. We cannot complain of thy severity-we deserve to be turned into hell, with all the nations that forget God.

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.

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.

all. We prostrate ourselves before Thee, deeply impressed with a sense of the vastness of thy agency and dominion. Thou changest the times and the seasons: Thou removest kings, and settest up kings. Empires rise and fall, and fade and flourish, at thy bidding; and all nations are in thy hand but as clay in the hand of the potter.

But none of thy dispensations are arbitrary. Whatever Thou doest, is done, because O Father it seemeth good in thy sight: and thy judgment is always according to truth. Thou art holy in all thy ways, and righteous in all thy works-And Thou art good even in wrath. Thou rememberest mercy; and dost not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

Therefore it is that we have been this day humbling ourselves in thy presence.

For we acknowledge that we have been deeply guilty. Thou hast nourished and brought up children, but we have rebelled against Thee. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but we have not known, we have not considered. Thou hast given us our corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied our silver and gold; and we have prepared them for Baal. Because of swearing, the land has mourned. Pride has compassed us about as a chain. Discontent has rebelled against thine appointments. How has the love of money, which is the root of all evil, abounded among us. How have thy sabbaths been profaned, and thine ordinances disregarded. How has the gospel been undervalued, neglected, despised!

And all our transgressions have been more aggravated than those of any other people, because Thou hast favoured us unspeakably more than all the families of the earth.

Therefore Thou couldst easily and justly have destroyed us: but Thou hast not stirred up all thy wrath. In all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve. Yet Thou hast testified thy displeasure; and visited us with thy judgments: so that when we looked for light and peace, we have seen darkness and trouble.

O let us not be inattentive to the design of thy dealings, or insensible under thy rebukes. O let it not be said of us, as it was of the

Jews, The harp and the viol, and the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in thy feasts, but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hand. Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock; they have refused to return.

In the way of thy judgments, O Lord, may we wait for Thee. Thou hast said, Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Fulfil the word unto thy servants, upon which Thou hast caused us to hope. And O let not the calamity be removed only, but above all sanctified: let it appear that we have heard the rod, and Him that appointeth it: and be able to say, It is good for us that we have been afflicted. For which purpose, bless, we beseech Thee, the word of thy grace which has been spoken; and grant that the professed humiliation of the day may be real-for Thou lookest to the heart. And let it also be universal: may it extend from the highest to the lowest; may it pervade the court and the country; may it enter every church and every family-Let none of us lose sight of ourselves in the public calamity. May each individual retire and ask, What have I done?-and what wilt Thou have me to do? And though other lords have had dominion over us, henceforth by Thee only may we make mention of thy name. Regard the king as supreme, and the government under which we live. Bless his majesty's confidential advisers; the hereditary and constituted nobility of the realm; the representatives of the people; and the magistracy of the land-may all be wise in counsel, exemplary in conduct, and faithful to their trusts.

And thus may we be reformed and not destroyed. Thus may we be a holy, that we may be a happy people, whose God is the Lord. Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent Thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea the work of our hands establish Thou it.

clothed with honour and majesty: Thou co verest thyself with light as with a garment; Thou walkest upon the wings of the wind. When we reflect on the glory of thy majesty, we are filled with wonder at the vastness of thy condescension. For Thou condescendest even to behold things that are in heaven. What then is man that Thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that Thou visitest him!

We rejoice that we are under the governance of a Being, who is not only almighty, but perfectly righteous, and wise, and good; that all things in our world are appointed and arranged by thy paternal agency; that thy providence numbers the very hairs of our head, and that a sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Father.

Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. We bless Thee for personal mercies. If we are called, it is by thy word. If we are renewed, it is by thy Spirit. If we are justified, it is freely by thy grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is in Thee we live and move and have our being. Thy goodness has been always near us, to hear our complaints, to soothe our sorrow, and to command deliverance for us. And numberless are the instances of lovingkindness that now, from ignorance or inattention, elude our notice; the discovery of which will awaken our songs, when we mingle with those who dwell in thy house above and are still praising Thee.

We thank Thee for relative benefits; for blessings on our families, blessings on our churches, and blessings on our country. We confess that we are not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all the truth which Thou hast showed unto thy servants. Sins of every kind and of every degree have reigned among us; have spread through all ranks and orders; and continued notwithstanding all warnings and corrections: and if Thou hadst dealt with us after our sins, or rewarded us according to our iniquities, we should long ago have had no name nor place among the nations of the globe.

But to the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. All thy dispensations towards us have said, with a tenderness that ought to penetrate our hearts--How shall I give thee up, O England! Our privileges, never properly improved, and forfeited times without number, have been continued. We still behold our sabbaths, and our ears still hear the joyful sound. Our constitution, liberties, and laws, have not been subverted or impaired. Thou hast given us rains and fruitful seasons; Thou hast filled us with the finest of the wheat: our garners have been affording all manner of store; our oxen have been strong to labour; our sheep have brought forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets. Thou O GOD, Thou art very great, Thou art hast spread thy wing, and sheltered us from

And to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be rendered the kingdom, power, and glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

FOR A DAY OF THANKSGIVING.

MORNING.

the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Civil discord has not raged in our provinces; our shores have not been invaded; we have not heard the confused noise of warriors, or seen garments rolled in blood-it has not come nigh us. Our enemies have often threatened to swallow us up, but the Lord has been on our side, and they have not prevailed against us. We are this day called upon to acknowledge thy goodness in (- -).

God is the Lord who hath showed us light; bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar. After giving us such a deliverance as this, may we no more break thy commandments. May we never convert our blessings into the instruments of provocation, by making them the means of nourishing pride and presumption, wantonness and intemperance: and compel Thee to complain -Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people, and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established thee?

For this purpose meet with us in thy house; and may the goings of our God and our King be seen in the sanctuary. Be with the preacher and with the hearers; and let the words of his mouth, and the meditation of their hearts, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. May public instruction awaken the ardour of our feelings. May our gratitude not only be lively, but practical and permanent. And by all thy mercies may we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Thee, which is our reasonable service.

Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul. Amen.

FOR A DAY OF THANKSGIVING.

EVENING.

O God, Thou art good, and Thou doest good. Thou art good to all, and thy tender mercies are over all thy works.

We have thought of thy lovingkindness this day, in the midst of thy temple; and are again surrounding this domestic altar to exclaim, O that men would praise the Lord, for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

We lament to think that a world so filled with thy bounty, should be so alienated from thy service and glory. We mourn over the vileness of our ingratitude, and abhor ourselves repenting in dust and ashes.

O Thou God of all grace, make us more

thankful. In order that we may be more thankful may we be more humble; impress us with a deep sense of our unworthiness, arising from the depravity of our nature, and countless instances of unimproved advantages, omitted duties, and violated commands. May we compare our condition with our desert, and with the far less indulged circumstances of others. May we never be inattentive to any of thy interpositions on our behalf; but be wise and observe these things, that we may understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

How many blessings, temporal and spiritual, public and private, hast Thou conferred upon us. Thy mercies have been new every morning, and every moment.

Our afflictions have been few and alleviated, often short in their continuance, and always founded in a regard to our profit. Thy secret has been upon our tabernacle; and we have known Thee in thy palaces for a refuge. The lines have indeed fallen to us in pleasant places, yea we have a goodly heritage. Thou hast not dealt so with any people. It is a good land which the Lord our God has given us—a land distinguished by knowledge; dignified as the abode of civil and religious freedom; endeared by the patriot's zeal, and the martyr's blood, and the ashes of our forefathers: a land the Lord careth for, and upon which his eye has been from the beginning even to the end of the year.

Thou hast been a wall of fire round about us by thy providential protection, and the glory in the midst of us by the gospel of our salvation, the ordinances of religion, and the presence of thy Holy Spirit.

What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards us? Because Thou hast been our help, therefore under the shadow of thy wing may we rejoice. Because Thou hast heard our voice and our supplication, therefore may we call upon Thee as long as we live; and in every future difficulty and distress, make Thee our refuge and our portion.

Enable us to bless Thee at all times; may thy praise continually be in our mouth; and may we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives.

Being delivered from the peril and calamity (of) with which we have been exercised, may we serve Thee without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives.

We dare not trust our own hearts. We have often resembled thy people of old, who in the hour of deliverance and indulgence sang thy praise, and said-All that the Lord commandeth us will we do; but soon forgot his works and the wonders which he had showed them. Keep these things for ever in the imagination of our hearts; and not only draw us, but bind us to thyself with the cords of love and the bonds of a man.

And with all our calls to gratitude and joy,

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