“SEPTEMBER, 1802.

“’What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation?’

“’O give thanks unto God, for he is good; his mercy endureth for ever.’

“’How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God; how great is the sum of them.’

“’If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.  When I awake I am still with thee.’

“’The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy.’

“’The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.’

“’All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee.’

“’He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.’

“’Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.  He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.’

“’He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.’

“’Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.’

     “‘And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.’

“‘The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.’  The Lord hath turned our captivity, filled our mouth with laughter and our tongue with singing.

“Thomas,” her grandchild, “is restored to perfect health.  Thou hast heard our petitions, and continuest to us all our pleasant things.

“It is a time of prosperity; thou givest us the ’upper and the nether springs;’ thou blessest my children ’in their basket and in their store;’ and while the riches of many are making to themselves wings and flying away—­while many are sinking from affluence to poverty, falling on the right hand and on the left, by thy most manifest providence thou hast preserved them from the wreck.  O teach them to acknowledge thy hand in all this, and to say and feel, ’Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be the glory.’  It is God that giveth power to get riches.  O, enable them to honor thee with their substance, and with the first-fruits of all their increase.

“In the day of prosperity let them rejoice, but let this joy be in the Lord.  O let thy gifts ever, ever lead them to the giver, and fill their hearts with gratitude, their mouths with praise; and let their very actions be worship, while they acknowledge thee in all their ways, and thou directest their steps.  May they be as ’a city set on a hill, which cannot be hid,’ and their light so shine before men, that they seeing their good works, may glorify their Father in heaven.

“And now, O Lord, we wait for thy blessing in the restoration of our dear D——­ and I. B——­ and J——.  ’Thou hast shown them great and sore adversities,’ and thou hast manifested thy power to save.  When they passed through the waters thou wast with them, and through the rivers they did not overflow them.  When they walked through the fire they were not burnt, neither did the flames kindle upon them.  For thou art the Lord their God, the Holy One of Israel, their Saviour.