INTRODUCTION. VARIOUS excellent treatises of a didactic, hortatory, and devotional character, have issued from the press, suited to the peculiar circumstances of the sick and afflicted, which may be consulted with advantage, and which the present volume is by no means designed to supersede. Aiming at the same benevolent object, in imparting instruction, and furnishing motives to the sick to seek the salvation of their souls with earnestness, its highest pretension is to supply a supposed deficiency; particularly in the arrangement of passages of the Holy Scriptures, which may be regarded as peculiarly adapted to lead the sick to an examination of their spiritual state, inspire them with Christian hope, and impart to them divine consolation. To the sick and dying the word of God comes with peculiar energy. It is the great means by which the Holy Spirit works in convincing, converting, and strengthening the soul; and those who have been accustomed to visit the sick must have discovered, that their conversation has always had most emphasis and effect, when replete with the words of inspiration. However the word of God may be neglected by us, in the days of health, when we are apprehensive of a near approach to eternity, it possesses acknowledged weight and authority. The Prayers are few in number, and of a general character, and are so formed as to be appropriate under all circumstances. The Meditations are introduced, in the hope that they may lead the minds and hearts of those who read them, to similar trains of thought and feeling. The volume has designedly been constructed in a portable form, that |