THE ALTAR AT HOME: PRAYERS FOR THE FAMILY AND THE CLOSET. BY CLERGYMEN IN AND NEAR BOSTON. SECOND EDITION. BOSTON: AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION, 21 BROMFIELD STREET. HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 1875, March 22. Walter Beguit. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by HENRY A. MILES, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Stereotyped by BOSTON. E PREFACE. WHATEVER diversity of opinion may exist as to the preference between written and unwritten prayers in the public worship of the Church, ancient and extensive usage has assigned a great value to prepared forms of devotion for the Family and the Closet. Even those who can readily express their thanksgivings and requests in their own words oftentimes gratefully resort to this help. Amid the cares, fatigues and varying moods, of daily life, the well-chosen and hallowed words of a Manual of Prayer assist in composing their spirit, and suggest many topics of devout reflection, which might not otherwise have been presented to their minds. But there are others who still more deeply feel the need of a like assistance. They may distrust their ability to express what they feel, and imagine that the use of a form will seem more appropriate to their condition, and believe that its introduction may bring with it the blessing of domestic and private worship where it might not else be enjoyed. How tenderly and kindly did One, who knew what is in man, respond to the request, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples"! Into how many households has a repetition of the form of prayer |