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land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. O Lord! we acknowledge thou hast not dealt so with any nation. Bless the Lord, O our souls! and forget not all his benefits.We praise thee, especially at this time. for thy goodness to us the year past; that thou hast protracted our forfeited lives, favoured us with a good measure of health, and continued to us our religious, civil, and literary advantages. We bless thee for thy goodness to us in regard to the seasons of the year. Thou didst give unto us the former and the latter rain in his season, and didst reserve for us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness; and thy paths have dropped fatness. The promise thou hast hitherto fulfilled, that while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest shall not cease. The earth has yielded her increase, and God, even our God, has blessed us. We thank thee for the bounties of this year, and that we are enabled, at the close of it, to come before thee with a meat and a drink offering. Help us, we pray thee, to keep this day such a thanksgiving as the Lord our God shall be pleased to accept and to bless. Fill our hearts with gratitude for the many benefactions we have experienced. Continue to bless us in future; and may the streams of thy goodness lead us to thee the fountain.-May thy blessings be extended to all around us. Be the Guardian and Benefactor of our beloved country. Graciously regard the Chief Magistrate of these United States, and all our Senators and Representatives. Bless the civil officers of this State. Make our officers peace, and our exactors righteousness. Let violence no more be heard in our land, wasting nor destruction within our borders; but let our walls be salvation and our gates praise. May all our privileges, civil and religious, be preserved unto us, and

be transmitted from us down to the latest posterity. Bless all useful arts and sciences, our agriculture, manufactures, fisheries, and commerce. Bless the

Ministers of the Gospel. May their bow abide in strength, and the arms of their hands be made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. May utterance be given them, that they may open their mouths boldly, and may their preaching be as the word of the wise, and as nails fastened by the Master of assemblies. Bless all the nations of the earth. May they be under the administration of wise and equitable laws. May the wants of all men be supplied, and the whole earth be filled with thy glory. These our petitions, we are encouraged to offer up in hope of thy gracious acceptance through the Son of thy love; to whom with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be unceasing praises. Amen.

A Prayer for a Sick Person.

O thou great and everlasting God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being! help us at this time to address thee in prayer in behalf of this sick person. Thou hast taught us when afflicted to pray, and hast said, Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. With thee, O Lord! are the issues of life and death. Thou makest sore, and bindest up; thou woundest, and thy hands make whole. Thou killest, and makest alive; thou bringest down to the grave, and bringest up. O Lord! rebuke thy servant not in thine anger, neither chasten him [her] in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon him [her] for he [she] is weak; O Lord! heal him [her] for his [her] bones are vexed. Bless the means used for his [her] restoration, or direct to such as shall be blessed. Raise him [her] speedily from this bed of

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weakness and languishing, to health and strengtli again. Speak the word only, and thy servant shall be healed. Mitigate his [her] pains, rebuke his [her] disorder, and say unto it, Thus far thou shalt go, but no further. Let thy servant recover, that he [she] may live, and glorify thee on earth, and be a blessing to those around him [her]. Put underneath him [her] thine everlasting arm, and support him [her]. Consider his [her] frame, and remember he [she] is but dust. As his [her] days, so may his [her] strength be. Now wearisome days and nights are appointed unto him, [her] may he [she] acknowledge thee in this visitation of sickness. As thou triest him [her] in the furnace of affliction; so let him [her] come forth as gold seven times tried, and fitted for his [her] Master's use. Under all his [her] trials and sorrows, may he [she] with resignation say, The cup, which my Heavenly Father giveth me, shall I not drink it? O that his [her] afflictions might work together for his [her] good. Show him [her] wherefore thou dost contend with him, [her] and let him [her] receive thy chastisements as fatherly corrections. May he [she] suppress every murmuring thought; be still and know that thou art God. Sanctify unto him [her] his [her] sickness, and restore him [her] to health, that in the end he [she] may be enabled to say, It is good for me that I have been afflicted; I have learned wisdom under the corrections of my Heavenly Father; and to say, Bless the Lord, O my soul! and forget not all his benefits, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness, and tender mercies. But, Lord! if this sickness is to be unto death; O! let him [her] be prepared to die. And as the time of his [her] departure draweth nigh, may he [she] be enabled to look forward to the hour of dissolution with composure and resignation. Support him, [her] that he [she] may bear with

tranquillity the agonies of dying nature, and leave a smile upon death itself. And when his [her] pulse shall cease to beat, and the vital spark go out in death, and his [her] heart and flesh shall fail, be thou the strength of his [her] heart and his [her] everlasting portion. (If the sick person be aged, then pray; Though his [her] outward man perish, yet may the inward man be renewed day by day. And may he [she] come to the grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season.) (If the sick person be a child, or youth, then pray; Regard graciously this child, or youth, may it not die in the morning of life. Give it not up to the embraces of death. But shouldest thou call it to die, wash it in the blood of the Redeemer, sanctify its heart and prepare it for the everlasting enjoyments of thy kingdom, where youth shall bloom in eternal day.) Sanctify this dispensation of thy providence to all the friends and connexions of the sick person, and prepare them for thy holy will, whether the sick person is to live or to die. Pre'pare us for health or sickness, life or death. When we come to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, may we fear no evil, having thy rod and thy staff to comfort us; and in the day of the Lord Jesus may it be found, that we died in the Lord, and are blessed in him.

A prayer on account of the bereavement of a friend or

relative.

O thou eternal and compassionate God! help us on this affecting and mournful occasion, to raise up our souls to thee in prayer. We acknowledge, that death entered into the world by sin, and so death hath passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and

full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Thou hast determined his days, and the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, return, ye children of men. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down and withereth. For we are consumed in thy wrath; we spend our years as a tale, that is told.In thy righteous providence, thou hast commissioned death to enter this family, and remove one of its members. O thou God of consolation! pity us in our bereaved and afflicted state. Be our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. May we be still, and know that thou art God, and that the Judge of all the earth does right. May we not despise the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction. Sanctify unto us this instance of bereavement, so that, with the Psalmist, we may say, We know, O Lord! that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted us. Lord make us to know our end; and the measure of our days what it is; that we may know how frail we are. Suitably may we reflect upon the vanity and uncertainty of human life, and all things earthly. Let the solemn providence of mortality in our family, impress our minds with deep concern to be also ready. In the death of others, may we see as in a glass, our own mortality. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. May we humble ourselves under thy mighty hand, and cast all our care upon thee who careth for us. Ever may we exercise the highest confidence in God, and with holy Job, say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. May we remember that the Lord doth not afflict willing

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