at all that love and fear thee may ever
find the joy and comfort of a good conscience, beyond all the
satisfactions that this world can afford. And now, blessed Lord, from
whom every good gift comes, it is meet, right, and our bounden duty,
that we should offer up unto thee our thanks and praise for all thy
goodness towards us, for preserving peace in our land, the light of thy
Gospel, and the true religion in our churches; for giving us the fruits
of the earth in due season, and preserving us from the plague and
sickness that rages in other lands. We bless thee for that support and
maintenance, which thou art pleased to afford us, and that thou givest
us a heart to be sensible of this thy goodness, and to return our thanks
at this time for the same; and as to our persons, for that measure of
health that any of us do enjoy, which is more than any of us do deserve.
We bless thee, more particularly, for thy protection over us the day
past; that thy good spirit has kept us from falling into even the
greatest sins, which, by our wicked and corrupt nature, we should
greedily have been hurried into; and that, by the guard of thy holy
angels, we have been kept safe from any of those evils that might have
befallen us, and which many are now groaning under, who rose up in the
morning in safety and peace as well as we. But above all, for that great
mercy of contriving and effecting our redemption, by the death of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, whom, of thy great love to mankind, thou didst
send into this world, to take upon him our flesh, to teach us thy will,
and to bear the guilt of our transgressions, to die for our sins, and to
rise again for our justification; and for enabling us to lay hold of
that salvation, by the gracious assistances of thy Holy Spirit. Lord,
grant that the sense of this wonderful love of thine to us, may
effectually encourage us to walk in thy fear, and live to thy glory,
that so when we shall put off this mortal state, we may be made
partakers of that glory that shall then be revealed, which we beg of
thee, for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ, who died to procure it for
us, and in whose name and words we do offer up the desires of our souls
unto thee, saying,

"Our Father," &c.

OBSERVATIONS

ON

HEYLIN'S HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIANS.[1]

[Footnote 1: Written by the Dean in the beginning of the book, on one of
the blank leaves. [Note in vol. ix. 1775 edition of Swift's Works.]]

This book, by som