deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bound, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power.

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you, as unto children; My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not. Now no chastening for the present seemeth joyous, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby.

PRAYER.

Our Father, who art in Heaven; we thank thee, that thou hast opened, in the gospel of thy Son, the storehouse of thine eternal truth, that our souls when worn and weary, may partake and be refreshed. May our hearts flow out in love to thee, and to all thy children; and wilt thou so imbue us with the wisdom of thy word, as to make every duty joyous, and every burden light. We would remember, in our petitions before thee, at this time, those that mourn the loss of friends, and all that are afflicted in body or in mind. May they trust in the Lord, and may the precious promises of the Gospel be their consolation, their solace, and their support. O, may the mourners be enabled to look beyond the valley of the shadow of death, to the time when they shall again meet the loved and the lost, and part no more forever. We pray, 0 Lord, that thou wilt give us hearts of sympathy for all the afflicted and sorrowful; and may we be no less ready to

weep with those that weep, than to rejoice with those that rejoice.

Be pleased to grant unto us thy divine blessing, in the labors and business of this meeting. Let thy Holy Spirit guide us by its good and gracious influences; and when we go from this place, may we be better prepared for the duties and the trials of life. Forgive our past ingratitude, and all our transgressions against thee, and accept us at last, through Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

SCRIPTURE LESSON VI.

FOR OPENING ON A CHARITABLE OCCASION. PASTOR.-Blessed is he that considereth

the poor.

RESPONSE. The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

P.-The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive;

R.—And he shall be blessed upon the earth:

P.-The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing;

R. Thou wilt make all his bed in sickness.

P. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him;

R. And saved him out of all his troubles,

P. The rich and the poor meet together;

R.And the Lord is the maker of them all.

P.- When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

R. Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

P. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and the cause that I knew not, I searched out. I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth. If I have withheld the poor from his desire,

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; Or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, and any poor without covering; If his loins have not blessed me, and he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep-Then let mine arm fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor and thy needy in the land.

For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good. And if ye do good to them that do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners, also, do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners, also, lend to sinners, hoping to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great,