FOR THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.

GOD of our lives! who art unchanged and unchangeable; we give Thee our thanks that thou hast brought us through the year that is closing, by thy mighty and outstretched arm. Thy candle hath shone upon our tabernacle, and thy smiles have gladdened our hearts. While many have fallen on our right hand and on our left, we remain witnesses to thy endearing mercy. While we have cause to be grateful, we have cause also to be humble in our review

of the past. Another year is numbered with the years beyond the flood; and has gone up, we fear, to be registered against us in the book of thy remembrance. Thou, who alone knowest what a year or a day shall bring forth, prepare us for all the events of that which shall succeed; for adversity in business, for bereavement of friends, and even for desertion by them. Prepare us especially for our own departure; so that when time with us shall be no more, we may be found meet to enter on the duties of an unmeasured and endless being.

Forms of Grace

AT TABLE.

GOD of our lives! on whose guardian care they continually depend: we pray Thee to nourish us, by these fruits of thy bounty, for thy more effectual service, and to bestow, with all thy gifts, grateful and obedient hearts.

HEAVENLY Parent, Giver of every good gift! Having spread again our table, and filled our cup, will it please Thee to follow thy bounty with thy blessing, and may the remembrance and the sense of all thy mercies lead us to make it our meat and drink to serve Thee.

GREAT Benefactor, upon whom the eyes of all wait! Help us now gratefully to receive what thy liberal hand hath given; to partake of every blessing in thy fear and to thy glory; and to become worthier objects of thy favour, for thy mercy's sake.

FATHER of mercies! dispose us to a temperate and grateful enjoyment of the good thou hast provided; and nourish us thereby to do thy will in all things; we ask it for thy goodness' sake.

GRACIOUS GOD! in Thee we live, move, and thy visitation preserves our spirits! Impress upon us more deeply our obligations and our dependence; continue to provide for us from thy boundless store; and feed our souls with the bread and water of life.

THOU, who openest thine hand to satisfy the desires of all! open our hearts to receive thy bounty, and in all our blessings, to see thy hand; so that we shall rise from this table, more fit for that kingdom which consisteth not in meats and drinks, but in righteousness, peace, and spiritual joy.

Secret Devotions.

FOR A BIRTH-DAY.

O God, my Creator and Father! who gavest me life at first; of all that has endeared it, what is there that I did not receive? Thou hast continued or restored my health; encircled me with kind and faithful friends; and unfolded my faculties to contemplate Thee, and to discern between good and evil. Thou hast guided me by the light of reason; restrained me by the voice of conscience, and blessed me with an everlasting hope. With the light of this day, Thou art permitting me to see the return of another affecting and solemn anniversary. Help me, in thy fear, and in view of the final account, to review the year that has now revolved. Sanctify my past experience, so that it shall render me wiser and better throughout this probationary life, and qualify me for the life to come, through mercy in Jesus Christ.

O THOU, my guardian GOD! Having obtained help from Thee, I continue to this day, which makes an era in my life. Help me here to raise a new memorial, and inscribe it to my almighty and unwearied Friend. Fill me also with penitential sorrow and shame, when I consider the flight of years, and am conscious to such a degree, of the waste of life. O GOD, have mercy upon my unworthiness and my unfruitfulness; help me to loathe and condemn myself, quicken my conscience, fortify my resolutions; and prepare me in time, for that endless retribution, where all must reap as they have sown; which I humbly implore for thy goodness' sake in Jesus Christ.

FOR RETURN FROM A JOURNEY.

O THOU, whose mercy is over all thy works, and whose providence reaches throughout thy creation, vouchsafe to accept my heartfelt gratitude for all the goodness in which Thou hast been passing before me, during my absence from this place. Thou hast kept me, in the house and on the way, and now permittest me