as a field which the Lord hath blessed. While conscious of our dependence on thee for fruitfulness and grace, instruct us, by the season passing over us, in the duty of diligence. May we employ life as the spring time of our existence, and remembering that as we sow we shall reap, may we sow to the spirit, and of the spirit reap life everlasting. Help us carefully to root out the weeds of worldly care and pleasure, which would choke the growth of thy truth in us. Let the principle of spiritual life be unfolded in our minds, and may we revive as the corn, grow as the vine, and flourish as the cedars of Lebanon.

To thee, as to the God of nature and of grace, we offer our thanksgivings, and present our supplications, for that divine influence which thou hast promised, through him who is our great High Priest, consecrated for evermore, and ministering continually in the true sanctuary. To him be glory. Amen.

SUMMER.

Thou hast made every thing beautiful in its season, O thou Creator of men. Thy covenant is kept with the earth, and summer, with its genial air and verdant fields, has again returned to bless our land. We thank thee that thy mighty invisible power has melted the ice-bound rivers, made the earth put forth fruits and flowers, and covered the face of nature with varied beauty. Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and

evening to rejoice. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. The earth is full of thy goodness; so also is that great and wide sea, wherein creatures innumerable move, both small and great. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Our souls would gratefully adore thee, in thy works, while we love to draw our best impressions of thy character from thy revealed word. We ask that our spirits may be conscious of thy smile, and that no cloud may rest upon our souls. Let not our moisture be turned into the drought of summer, but may refreshing dews fall upon us from heaven, that we may be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth its fruit in season, whose leaf shall not wither. Let sentiments of piety pervade our bosoms, and may we reap instruction from the works and appearances of nature. From the ants, which prepare their meat in the summer, may we learn to lay up in store a good foundation for time to come. Teach us to act the part of the husbandman, who gathereth in summer, and to improve the time of our visitation, lest we mourn at the last, and exclaim, The summer is ended, and we are not saved.

We rejoice in the thought, that the field of the world is ripening to the harvest. Increase the number of faithful, devoted labourers in thy vineyard. May the days soon come when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed, and the mountains

drop sweet wine. Let holy influence come down as rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth, that Jesus may see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. May the people all be righteous, the branch of thy planting, that thou mayest be glorified. At the evening time of the world may it be light. Make the light of the moon as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold. May the zeal of the Lord of hosts perform this.

Our prayers are ended. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Amen.

AUTUMN.

Amidst the changes of time, the succession of seasons, and the return of day and night, we adore thee, O Lord, as the only immutable Being, whose goodness endureth continually. Thou art loading us with benefits of which we are every way unworthy, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, and preparing of thy goodness for the poor. A famine of bread and of water might justly have come upon us, as a punishment for our sins, but thou art filling us with the finest of the wheat, reserving to us the appointed weeks of harvest, and granting us fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with gladness. We thank thee for the dew of heaven, and for the deep that coucheth beneath; for the precious fruits put forth by the sun, and for the precious

things of the earth and the fulness thereof. While surrounded by multiplied proofs of providential goodness we would not be unmindful of the unspeakable gift of thy well beloved Son, which has made all other wonders lose their glory by reason of the glory that excelleth. May our hearts leap up with gratitude as we dwell upon thy loving kindness, and may we pour out a drink offering before the Lord. Help us, as a people, to honour thee with our substance and with the first fruits of all our increase, so shall we be filled with plenty, and our land be called Beulah, because the Lord delighteth in us.

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At this season of the year we would be reminded of our frailty, and of our exposure to the stroke of death. All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. Our days are as grass; as a flower of the field we flourish; for the wind passeth over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. We all do fade as a leaf; thou wilt change our countenances, and send us away. Oh that we may have grace to redeem the time, to consider our latter end, and to obtain a perfect meetness for heaven. When we go down to the grave may it be in a full age, laden with all the matured fruits of the Spirit, as a shock of corn cometh in in its season. Help us to improve our opportunities of mercy, so that none of us may have occasion to say, in the day of death, The harvest is past, and we are not saved.

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May thy church rejoice before thee according to the joy in harvest. Let thy ministers, who

have gone forth weeping, bearing precious seed, come again with rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. Grant that all thy people who now sow in tears, may eventually reap in joy. Fulfil the expectation of Messiah, and let the handful of corn in the earth on the top of the mountains shake like Lebanon, and they of the city flourish like grass of the earth. of the earth. And now blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be his glorious name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.

FOR THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Our fathers worshipped thee in this mountain, and though they are gone the way of all flesh we come to put our trust in thee, for thou art the same and thy years shall not fail. We thank thee that Christ Jesus hath an unchanging priesthood, that his word abideth for ever, and that he ever lives to make intercession for all who come to thee, by him. Through him we now approach thy throne, and offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who hath preserved and fed us all our life long unto this day; and blessed be the Angel of the covenant who hath redeemed us