THANKSGIVINGS. ¶ A General Thanksgiving. LMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and lovingkindness to us, and to all men; [*par*This to be said ticularly to those who desire when any that have been prayed for de- now to offer up their praises sire to return praise. and thanksgivings for thy late mercies vouchsafed unto them.] We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. "A general Thanksgiving."- A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful,' is a sentiment true to natural as well as spiritual feeling. The ordinary state of a Christian, undepressed by fears, unharassed by multiplied temptations, is that of thankfulness; and when he has joined his brethren in prayers for mercy, he reverts with joy to the blessings already received, and in the fulness of filial gratitude pours out his heart in praises to the God of love. The thanksgiving is as universal in its spirit and application as the prayer for all men. It gives thanks for those who have not yet been taught the heavenly lesson of gratitude to God. It gives thanks for every blessing we enjoy, or are made capable of enjoying through the mercy of our Father and the merits of our Redeemer; and it closes with a petition, indirectly the best praise which could be offered, that we may be rendered more and more wise to appreciate, and more capable of exhibiting, the force and influence of the divine goodness. This prayer was not added till the last review of the Liturgy, and is said to have been composed by Bishop Sanderson. Those which follow were inserted in the time of James the First; and an objection was thereby removed which had been made with some degree of reason, namely, that we had no form of thanksgiving for deliverances obtained in answer to our prayers. For Rain. GOD our heavenly Father, who by thy gracious providence dost cause the former and the latter rain to descend upon the earth, that it may bring forth fruit for the use of man; We give thee humble thanks that it hath pleased thee, in our great ne cessity, to send us at the last a joyful rain upon thine inheritance, and to refresh it when it was dry, to the great comfort of us thy unworthy servants, and to the glory of thy holy Name; through thy mercies in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Fair Weather. LORD God, who hast justly humbled us by thy late plague of immoderate rain and waters, and in thy mercy hast relieved and comforted our souls by this seasonable and blessed change of weather; We praise and glorify thy holy Name for this thy mercy, and will always declare thy loving-kind ness from generation to generation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Plenty. MOST merciful Father, who of thy that our land may yield us her fruits of increase, to thy glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Peace and Deliverance from our Enemies. ALMIGHTY God, who art a strong tower of defence unto thy servants against the face of their enemies; We yield thee praise and thanksgiving for our deliverance from those great and apparent dangers wherewith we were compassed: We acknowledge it thy goodness that we were not delivered over as a prey unto them; beseeching thee still to continue such thy mercies towards us, that all the world may know that thou art our Saviour and mighty Deliverer; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For restoring Publick Peace at Home. ETERNAL God, our heavenly Father, who alone makest men to be of one mind in a house, and stillest the outrage of a violent and unruly people; We bless thy holy Name, that it hath pleased thee to appease the seditious tumults which have been lately raised up amongst us; most "For Peace," &c.-There are seasons in which the Almighty manifestly stretches forth his hand to deliver the nation from calamity. Tremblingly alive to danger, we surely ought not to be less awake to the mercy whereby alone deliverance is effected. National calamities should be met by national prayer, and national deliverance by national thanksgivings. Were we more attentive to the signs of Divine displeasure and returning mercy, the substance of these prayers would often enter spiritually into the general form under which they are ranged. We need deliverance from many an unnamed danger; and we owe a vast debt of gratitude to God for innumerable blessings, mighty in their influence, but invisible in their operation. humbly beseeching thee to grant to all of us grace, that we may henceforth obediently walk in thy holy commandments; and, leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, may continually offer unto thee our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for these thy mercies towards us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Deliverance from the Plague, or other common Sickness. LORD God, who hast wounded us for our sins, and consumed us for our transgressions, by thy late heavy and dreadful visitation; and now, in the midst of judgement remembering mercy, hast redeemed our souls from the jaws of death; We offer unto thy fatherly goodness ourselves, our souls and bodies which thou hast delivered, to be a living sacrifice unto thee, always praising and magnifying thy mercies in the midst of thy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Or this. E humbly acknowledge before thee, O most merciful Father, that all the punishments which are threatened in thy law might justly have fallen upon us, by reason of our manifold transgressions and hardness of heart: Yet seeing it hath pleased thee of thy tender mercy, upon our weak and unworthy humiliation, to asswage the contagious sickness wherewith we lately have been sore afflicted, and to restore the voice of joy and health into our dwellings; |