Page:The rock of wisdom.djvu/139

 together let not man put asunder, and forasmuch as Mr. and M. have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and hereto have pledged their faith unto each other, and declared the same by joining their hands, I pronounce that they are man and wife, together in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. The Prayer.—O thou eternal God, the great Creator, the maker of heaven and earth, we are now assembled together in thy great name; O, wilt thou answer our prayers, thou most holy and glorious Lord God; the great builder of the universe, the great giver of all good gifts and graces, thou hast promised that where two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou wilt be in the midst of them and that to bless. Now, Lord, we are assembled, and now we most humbly beseech thee to bless us in all our undertakings, that we may know thee in truth and serve thee aright, and that all our actions may tend to thy glory and to our advancement in knowledge and virtue, for we beseech thee, O Lord God, to bless this our present assembling, for thou art the great preserver of all mankind; and now, Father of mercy, we pray thee to bless these, thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless in thy name; O may they, as Isaac and Rebecca, live faithfully together, so that they may surely keep the vow and covenant between them made, and ever remain in perfect love and in peace together, according to thy holy laws, and may they ever remember the obligation they have taken toward each other. Now, O Lord, we acknowledge thy power, thy wisdom and thy goodness unto us, and now we implore thy blessing; for this great end, we pray thee; gracious God, to eudue thy servants with a competence of thy most holy Spirit, that they may be enabled to walk in the light of thy countenance, and when the trials of our probationary state are over, be admitted into the great temple not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens. Amen. I now wind up my simple address in these words. I counsel you all to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, by standing on the rock Christ Jesus.

And now to the ladies and gentlemen of distinguished talents. You all will please to excuse all the imperfections