Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,

In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York.

T.

B. SMITH, STEREOTYPER,

216 William Street, New York.

R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER.

112 Fulton Street.

Preface.

To the bereaved, the sorrowing, the weary, and the heavy-laden, this volume is affectionately inscribed.

It is designed to comfort and sustain the Christian pilgrim in his passage through an enemy's country, by presenting daily to his mind the precious promises contained in the word of God, and to encourage him to press forward to that glorious inheritance promised to him who "endureth unto the end." Many of the selections accompanying the text will doubtless be familiar to the reader, but we trust they will not for this reason be the less acceptable; they have been chosen not so much for their novelty, as for the devotional and earnest spirit which they breathe. It has been a delightful occupation to search the Scriptures for these great and precious promises; and it is humbly hoped that many of those into whose hands this small selection may fall, will find it their pleasure to commit to memory the passage of Scripture appropriated to the day of the month, which, with a little effort, may be accomplished before entering on the business of the day. When "clouds and darkness are round about us," when there seems "no eye to pity," and no human hand to bring relief, with these words hidden in the heart, instead of pining in sadness, we can always rejoice and sing, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul."

JANUARY 1.

Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.-PSALM lxiii. 7.

FOR what shall I praise thee, my God, and my king?

For what blessings the tribute of gratitude bring? Shall I praise thee for pleasure, for health, or for

ease,

For the sunshine of youth, for the garden of peace?

Shall I praise thee for flowers that bloomed on my breast,

For joys in prospective, and pleasure possessed? For the spirits that brightened my days of delight? For the slumbers that sat on my pillow by night?

For this should I thank thee; but if only for this, I should leave half untold the donation of bliss:

I thank thee for sickness, for sorrow, for care,

For the thorns I have gathered, the anguish I

share,

For nights of anxiety, watching, and tears,

A present of pain, a prospective of fears;

I thank thee, I bless thee, my king and my God, For the good and the evil thy hand hath bestowed,

The flowers were sweet, but their fragrance is flown,

They yielded no fruit, they are withered and gone! The thorn it was poignant, but precious to me; 'T was the message of mercy, it led me to thee.

CAROLINE FRY.

JANUARY 2.

The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them who walk uprightly.-PSALM lxxxiv. 11.

OH! Christian, who is like to thee?

A ransomed sinner-called to be

Peculiar to the Lord: