I own and reverence thine hand in my present affliction. I acknowledge that thou art righteous in all that befalls me; for I have sinned; and thou chastenest me less than my iniquities deserve. In punishment thou shewest mercy, continuest to me many comforts, prolongest my opportunities of reflection and amendment, and givest hope of that pardon which I so much want, and at this time earnestly entreat.

I desire, in this poor condition of my health, to search and try my ways, and turn unto thee, O Lord,, by deep humility, sincere repentance, and faith in the great Redeemer: and may the fruit of this and every affliction be to take away sin, and make my heart better.

O God, if it be thy merciful will, direct me to, and prosper, some means for the removal of my disorder, that I may yet be capable of glorifying thee in my sta tion, and, by farther endeavours for thy service upon earth, be fitter for immortality.

Support me, gracious Lord, that my soul may not be quite cast down, and too much disquieted within me. Assist me to cherish penitent, believing, serious thoughts and affections. Grant me such resignation to thy will, such patience and meekness towards men, as my divine Master requireth, and as he himself manifested while he was a sufferer on earth. Forgive all the harshness and sinfulness of my temper, and keep it from increasing upon me. May I learn, from what I now feel, to pity all who are sick, in pain, or otherwise afflicted, and do all in my power to assist and relieve them.

If by this affliction thou intendest to bring me down to the grave, prepare me, by thy grace, for my removal hence, and entrance on the unseen eternal state: and may all the sufferings of the present life work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

I am thankful for any degree of ease and comfort which I have this day enjoyed. Grant me, this night, such refreshing rest, that I may be better able to discharge the duties, and bear the burden of another day, if thou art pleased to indulge me with it. If my eyes

blessings we enjoy, and "every good and perfect gift cometh," grant us, we humbly beseech thee, such a measure of thy grace, that whenever. thou art pleased to remove any of thy blessings from us, we may bear it with a perfect resignation to thy divine will; and with all patience, humility, and contentedness of spirit, consider how unworthy we are of the least of thy

mercies.

More particularly, O Lord, we beseech thee to giv this peaceableness, and contentedness of mind, to this thy servant, whom thou hast so sensibly afflicted, by taking so near and dear a blessing from him. O give him such a portion of thy blessed Spirit, and such a lively sense of his duty, that he may have power to surmount all the difficulties he labours under, and freely to resign all his thoughts and desires unto thee, submitting himself entirely to thy good providence, and resolving, by thy gracious assistance, to rest contented with whatsoever thou in thy wisdom appointest for him. Thou knowest, O Lord, the weakness and frailty of our nature, and therefore be pleased to com fort him in this bed of sickness; establish him with the light of thy countenance: and grant that no repining thoughts may increase his illness, or discompose his duty towards thee, or his neighbour: but enable him to think wherein he hath offended thee, and carefully to amend his errors; to set his affections on things above, and not on things below, and to lay up for himself treasures in heaven, even the treasures of a good life, which no disasters or calamities shall ever be able to take from him. Grant this, O heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A prayer for a person who by any calamitous disaster hath broken any of his bones, or is very much bruised and hurt in his body.

(From Mr. Jenks.)

O LORD, the only disposer of all events, thou hast taught us that " affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;" but that the disasters which befall us are by thy appointment. Thou art just in all thou bringest upon us: and

though thy "judgments are far above out of our sight," yet we know "that they are right, and that it is in very faithfulness thou causest us to be afflicted." "Why then should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?" Let these considerations prevail with thy servant to submit to thy dispensations. Make him resolve to bear the effects of thy displeasure, and to consider it as the just desert of his sins. O Lord, give him patience and strength, and grace proportionable to this great trial; and enable him so to conduct himself under it, that after the affliction is removed he may find cause to say, "it was good for him to be afflicted." Thou that hast torn and smitten, thou art able to heal and to comfort. ber him in this his low estate. and try his ways, and turn to fruits meet for repentance."

Be pleased to rememCause him to "search

thee, and bring forth

We know, O Lord, thou canst raise him up from the deepest affliction: O, let it be thy gracious will to glorify thy power and mercy in his recovery: or, however thou shalt think fit to dispose of this "vile body," grant him, O God, a mind entirely resigned to thy will, and satisfied with thy dispensations. O, make this calamity the messenger of thy love to his soul, and the happy means of his conversion; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

A prayer for a person that is afflicted with

grievous pains of his body.

(From Mr. Jenks.)

O LORD, thou art a merciful God, and dost not will. ingly afflict the children of men; but when necessity requires, thou chastisest us for our profit, that we may be partakers of thy holiness. Remove, we beseech thee, this affliction from thy servant, or enable him to bear what thou art pleased to lay upon him. Lord, all his desire is before thee, and his groaning is not hid from thee. Regard his affliction, when thou hearest his cry. Enter not into judgment with him, nor deal with him according to his sins, but according to thy mercy in Jesus Christ. O gracious Father, sanctify to him what thou hast laid upon him, that his present afflic

tion may work out for him an eterual weight of glory. Support him under his pains, till it shall please thee to grant him ease and comfort. And, however thou shalt deal with him, let him not repine at thy correction, nor sin in charging thee foolishly. Make him sensible, that thou doest nothing but what is wise and just; nothing but what thy servant shall one day have cause to bless and praise thee for doing. And let this consideration teach him to glorify thee in the time of his visitation, by an humble submission to thy will, and a sincere reformation under thy providential dis pensations; that thou mayest visit him in mercy and love, shew him the joy of thy salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A prayer for one who is troubled with acute pains of the gout, stone, colic, or any other bodily distemper.

(From Mr. Spinkes.)

O BLESSED God, just and holy, who dost not willingly afflict the children of men; withhold not, we be seech thee, thy assistance from this thy servant in the extremity of his pain. His sorrows are increased, and his soul is full of trouble. He has none to flee unto for the ease and mitigation of his agonies but to thee, O Lord. He freely owns that his sufferings are infinitely less than he has deserved; yet, since they pierce deep, and are become almost too heavy for him to bear, we presume to call upon thee for aid; and to entreat thee, not to punish him according to his deserts. "For if thou shouldest be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it?" Spare him therefore for thy mercy's sake; and correct him "not in thine anger, lest thou bring him to nothing." Endue him with that patience which may enable him cheerfully to submit to thy chastisement; and grant him an unfeigned repentance for all his sins. Comfort his soul, which melteth away for very heaviness, and let thy loving mercy come unto him. Sanctify this thy fatherly cor rection to him, that it may be for thy glory, and his advantage. And when thy gracious ends in afflicting him shall be accomplished, which we know are not for "thy pleasure," but for his profit, give him, we be

seech thee, a fresh occasion to rejoice in thy saving health; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A prayer for a person in the small-pox, or any such-like raging infectious disease.

O GRACIOUS and merciful Father, the only giver of health, look down, we beseech thee, with an eye of compassion, upon thy miserable and disconsolate servant, from whom thou hast taken this great and valuable blessing; and, instead of it, hast filled every part of his body with a sore disease.

Teach him, O Lord, and teach us all from hence, to consider how soon the beauty of life is blasted, like a flower, and our "strength dried up like a potsherd," that we may not put our trust in any of these transitory things, but in thee only, the living God, who art able to save and to destroy, to kill and to make alive.

Our brother, whom we now behold a spectacle of misery, was lately, like one of us, in perfect health. But now" thou makest his beauty to consume away, as it were a moth fretting a garment. Thine arrows stick fast in him, and thy hand presseth him sore; so that there is no soundness in his flesh, because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in his bones by reason of his sin.

"O, reject him not utterly, but take thy plague away from him. Return, O Lord, and that speedily; for his spirit faileth. O leave him not in his distress: for though the world may fcrsake him, his sure trust is in thee. To thee, O Lord, does he cry; to thee doth he stretch forth his hands; his soul thirsteth after thee as a barren and dry land. Lord, all his desire is before thee, and his groaning is not hid from thee. Comfort him therefore again now after the time that thou hast afflicted him, and for the days wherein he hath suffered adversity."

Put a stop, O Lord, we beseech thee, to this raging infection, and say to the destroying angel," It is enough." Protect us under the shadow of thy wings, that we may not "be afraid of any terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pesti