beneficial purposes. the book of nature and the volume of revelation, and enforced it with the most solemn and awful sanctions. Thou hast set life and death, heaven and hell before me; my body and my soul, with all their faculties and interests, are every moment in thy hand. And yet, in how many instances have I revolted from thee, and disregarded thy salutary counsels and commands! how far has my heart been from thy service and thine ordinances! what corrupt desires and passions have I harboured! what an excessive fondness for the world have I discovered! how foolishly have I preferred temporal gratifications and pursuits to eternal joys! how greatly must my behaviour and example have injured my fellow-creatures! and what distress, disorder, and remorse, have I prepared by my vices for my own soul!-And, O thou most compassionate Father and Friend of the human race, how much more aggravated are my offences, when considered as committed against the experience I have had of thy loving kindness, against the endearing ties of gratitude, as well as against the obligations of duty and interest! Thou hast nourished and brought me up as thy child; and yet I have rebelled against thee. Thou hast been my Guardian, my Guide, my unwearied Benefactor; to thee I am indebted for all my worldly comforts; to thy rich and free grace I owe the discoveries and invitations of the gospel, the offers of pardon, and the hope of eternal felicity through the mediation of Christ Jesus thy Son. And yet, how have I abused thy goodness, misapplied my advantages, despised thy grace, and rejected the offers of life and salvation!

Thou hast written thy will in

Blessed God, I confess my guilt; I am sensible, that thy favour is life; I feel that I must perish, if I remain far from thee. Have mercy upon me, miserable offender; and teach me so to think on my ways, as to

make haste and not delay to keep thy commandments. I adore thy forbearance in lengthening out the space given me for repentance, though I have so long neglected this great and necessary work; and I pray, that I may no longer draw back from the yoke of duty. Give me, O Lord, abiding views of the shortness and uncertainty of life, of the growing power of evil habits, and of the vanity of expecting greater assistances of thy Holy Spirit, if I resist those which thou hast already afforded me. Enable me carefully to cherish every serious impression that may be made on my mind, and diligently to improve all the helps with which I am favoured. Dispose me to seek thee whilst thou mayest be found, and to call upon thee whilst thou art near. Assist me to learn that lesson which I am so slow to learn, and inspire me with a taste for the pleasures of religion and devotion. Spiritualize my affections, ennoble my pursuits; quicken my desires and endeavours; and grant, that with full purpose of heart I may cleave unto thee the Lord.

Thou

Gracious God, though I have sinned against light and knowledge, and have justly deserved to forfeit all thy friendship, yet I would rejoice that with thee my help is found. Thou art ready to receive the penitent, and art waiting to be gracious to them. hast sent thine only begotten Son to seek and to save those that are lost. Reconcile me to thyself, and forgive and accept of me, for thy mercy's sake in him. And grant, that, being made free from sin and become a servant to thee, I may possess peace of heart, have my fruit unto holiness, and in the end receive the unspeakable and unmerited gift of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

25.

A PRAYER FOR A PERSON, RECOVERED FROM A NEGLIGENT MIND TO A SERIOUS VIEW OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH.

ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, the just and equitable Ruler of the children of men! behold in mercy thy frail and forgetful child, who turns unto thee with a penitent and humble heart. Blessed be thy name, that I am brought to see, how careless and unprofitable I am. Blessed be thy name, that, though I have been greatly inconsiderate and negligent, thy Providence and grace have prevented me from falling into presumptuous and atrocious transgressions. But, while I thank thee, my heavenly Father, for the restraints which have been laid upon me; I confess with shame, that I have often been unmindful of what I owe to thee and thy beloved Son, and that I have not been duly influenced by the principles of thy sacred gospel. I have not been diligent in advancing the welfare of my fellow-men, have often lost sight of the concerns of my own soul and of the world to come, have been estranged from the worship and the love of thee, have not been studious to govern my heart, to rise above grovelling views, and to live by faith in him who loved me and gave himself for me. But I purpose before thee, who knowest my heart with all its frailties, no longer to be like those who are without God in the world. And I beseech thee, from whom wisdom and virtue proceed, to forgive the levity, the vanity, the folly, the worldly mind, with which I have been chargeable, and to inspire me with that Christian temper which I have neglected to cultivate. O give me fervent desires and abiding resolutions to serve and love thee, and to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Excite me to diligence in reading, meditation,

and prayer. Assist me to delight in the ordinances of thy house, and in the study of thy holy word. Arm me against the influence of vain customs, and of careless companions. Lead me to make the regulation of my own mind, and the practice of a pious and virtuous life, my chief care and business. Help me to keep the instructions and the model of my blessed Redeemer habitually before mine eyes, to confess his name without fear before men, to follow no other" maxims but his, to labour and cherish concern for his glorious cause, and to employ my powers and possessions in the service of society according to his precepts. I would no longer live, with my wishes and endeavours all centering here; but as a candidate for immortality, as a being who expects a judgment and an eternal state, as the disciple of a risen Redeemer who will come again and take his faithful followers to his own heavenly glory.

Gracious God, be pleased to pardon my sins, to accept this act of self-devotion, and to establish my holy purposes. I have sworn, that I will keep thy righte ous statutes. Do thou give me strength to fulfil my vows, to grow in grace; and let nothing ever be able to separate me from the love of thee in Christ Jesu my Lord. Amen.

26.

A PRAYER FOR A SINCERE PENITENT, DISTRESSEL BY THE DIFFICULTIES WHICH ATTEND HIS CHRIS TIAN IMPROVEMENT.

FATHER of mercies, whose strength upholds the weak! I come to thee for protection and assistance, and rejoice that thou hast encouraged me to seek thy face. I have experienced that thou art good, and praise thee for what thou hast already done for my.

soul. From what threatening dangers has thy paternal love delivered me! what everlasting gratitude is due to thee for opening the eyes of my mind, and affecting my heart with a sense of my duty to thee! what tribute can I offer, expressive of that divine goodness, to which it is owing, that I am not blind and dead in trespasses and sins, and that I have not been cut off from this probationary state, unconcerned about the fate which awaits me!

O God, I adore thee as my Father and my Saviour, and bless thee for the merciful promises which thou hast given me through thy Son. But I confess and lament, before thee, my weakness and unfruitfulness. I lament the sins, which so easily beset me. I lament the difficulties in discharging my obligations, which are the sad effects of my former carelessness and wickedness. I lament the wanderings of my mind, the coldness of my affections, the power which past follies and transgressions still exercise too frequently over my imagination. I confess, that I deserve to suffer, and that thou art righteous in all thy ways and doings. But I beseech thee, Almighty God, to strengthen me by thy Spirit in the inner man, and to preserve me from fainting under the tribulations which attend me. O bend my will more perfectly to thine; and let none of those things, which once subdued me, any longer prove a snare. Thou knowest, that I hunger and thirst after righteousness: give success, I pray thee, to my endeavours, my watchfulness, my supplications. Cleanse me from every pollution both of the mind and the flesh; and cause me to know, that blessed is the man who endureth temptation. Save me from presumption and from despair of success. Teach me to labour with diligence, and to confide in thee. And grant me to realize, that wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and that the path of the righteous is like the morning