152.
At the Table.
Almighty God, by whose mercy I am now permitted to commemorate my Redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ; grant that this aweful remembrance may strengthen my Faith, enliven my Hope, and encrease my Charity; that I may trust in Thee with my whole heart, and do good according to my power. Grant me the help of thy Holy Spirit, that I may do thy will with diligence, and suffer it with humble patience; so that when Thou shalt call me to Judgement, I may obtain forgiveness and acceptance for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
153.
At departure, or at home.
Grant, I beseech Thee, merciful Lord, that the designs of a new and better life, which by thy Grace I have now formed, may not pass away without effect. Incite and enable me by thy Holy Spirit, to improve the time which Thou shalt grant me; to avoid all evil thoughts words and actions; and to do all the duties which thou shalt set before me.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, for the Sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
These prayers I wrote for Mrs. Lucy Porter in the latter end of the year 1782, and transcribed them October 9, -84[1].
154.
[On leaving Streatham[2].]
October 6, 1782.
Almighty God, Father of all mercy, help me by thy Grace that I may with humble and sincere thankfulness remember the
- ↑ He was staying in her house at Lichfield on that day.
- ↑ Mrs. Thrale recorded in her Diary on Sept. 20 of this year: – 'And now I am going to leave Streatham (I have let the house and grounds to Lord Shelburne, the expense of it eats me up) for three years.' Hayward's Piozzi, 2nd ed., i. 171. On July 28, 1790, she wrote: – 'We have kept our seventh wedding-day and celebrated our return to this house [Streatham] with prodigious splendour and gaiety. Seventy people to dinner... Never was a pleasanter day seen, and at night the trees and front of the house were illuminated with coloured lamps, that called forth our neigh-
