glory. Thou wert the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, and art still slain in all the periods of it. O be thou pleased to adorn thy passion still with such miracles of mercy; and now in this sad conjuncture of affairs, let me be made the instance.

Thou art angry, if I despair; and therefore thou commandest me to hope my hope cannot rest upon myself, for I am a broken reed, and an undermined wall. But inasmuch as it rests upon thee, it ought not to be weak, because thou art in finite in mercy and power,

He that hath lived best, needs mercy, and he that hath lived worst, even I, O Lord, am not wounded beyond the efficacy of thy blood, which was shed, blessed Redeemer! to ransom a guilty and sinful world.

I hope it is not too late to say this. But if I might be suffered to live longer, I would, by thy Grace, live better, spending all my time in duty, employing all my faculties in Religion and Holiness.

O my God, I am ready to promise any thing now, and I am ready to do or to suffer any thing that may be the condition of mercy and pardon to But I hope I am not deceived by my fears, but that I should, if I might be tried, do all that I could, and love thee with a charity, great,

me.

like that mercy through which I humbly pray that be pardoned.

I may

My comfort, O God, is, that thou canst if thou wilt: and I am sure thy mercy is as great as thy power, and why then may not I hope that thou wilt have mercy according to thy power? Man, only man is the proper subject of thy mercy, and therefore only he is capable of thy mercy, because he hath sinned against thee. Angels and the inferior creatures rejoice in thy goodness, but only we that are miserable and sinful can rejoice in thy mercy and forgiveness.

I confess I have destroyed myself; but in Thee is my help; for thou gettest glory to thy name by saving a sinner, by redeeming a captive slave, by enlightning a dark eye, by sanctifying a wicked heart, by pardoning innumerable and intolerable transgressions.

O my Father, chastise me if thou pleasest, but do not destroy me: I am a son, though an Absalom and a Cain, an unthankful, a malicious, a revengeful, uncharitable person: Thou judgest not by time, but by the measures of the Spirit. The affections of the heart are not to be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, nor repentance to be measured by time, but by the Spirit and by the measures of thy mercy.

my God, hope is a word of an uncertain sound

when

when it is placed in something that can fail; but thou art my hope and my confidence, and thy mercies are sure mercies, which thou hast revealed to man in Christ Jesus, and they cannot fail them who are capable of them.

O gracious Father, I am as capable of mercy as I was of being created; and the first grace is always so free a grace, so undeserved on our part, that he that needs and calls, is never forsaken by thee.

Blessed Jesus, give me leave to trust in thy promises, in the letter of thy promises; this letter killeth not, for it is the letter of thy Spirit, and saveth and maketh alive. Ask and you shall have; so thou hast said, O my God, they are thy own words; and whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved..

There are, O blessed Jesus, many more; and one tittle of thy word shall not pass away unaccomplished and nothing could be in vain by which thou didst intend to support our hopes. If we confess our sins, thou art just and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquities.

When David said he would confess, then thou forgavest him. When the Prodigal was yet afar off, thou didst run out to meet him, and didst receive him. When he was naked, thou didst reinvest

reinvest him with a precious robe; and what, O God, can demonstrate the greatness of thy mercy, but such a misery as mine, so great a shame, so great a sinfulness?

But what am I, O God, sinful dust and ashes, a miserable and undone man, that I should plead with the great Judge of all the world? Look not upon me as I am in myself, but, through Jesus Christ, behold thy servant; clothe me with the robes of his righteousness, wash me in his blood, conform me to his image, fill me with his Spirit, and give me time, or give me pardon and a right spirit, that I may do what may be acceptable in Jesus Christ. If I perish, I perish; I have deserved it but I will hope for mercy, till thy mercy hath a limit, till thy goodness can be measured. O my God, let me not perish; thou hast no pleasure in my death, and it is impossible for man to suffer thy extremest wrath. Who can dwell with the everlasting burnings O my God, let me dwell safely in the embraces of thy mercy, Amen, Amen. Amen.

See Saturday before the Sacrament, p. 178.

A Prayer to be said upon our Birth Day, or Day of Baptism.

O BLESSED and Eternal God, I give thee praise and glory for thy great mercy to me in causing me to be born of Christian parents, and didst not allot to me a portion with misbelievers

and

and heathens that have not known thee. Thou didst hot suffer me to be strangled at the gate of the womb, but thy hand sustained and brought me to the light of the world, and the illumination of Baptism, with thy Grace preventing my election, and by an artificial necessity and holy prevention, engaging me to the profession and practices of Christianity. Lord, since that, I have broken the promises made in my behalf, and which I confirmed by my after act; I went back from them by an evil life and yet thou hast still continued to me life and time of repentance; and didst not cut me off in the beginning of my days, and the progress of my sins. Omerciful Father, pardon the errors and ignorances, the vices and vanities of my youth, and the faults of my more forward years, and let me never more stain the whiteness of my Baptismal robe: and now that by thy Grace I still persist in the purposes of obedience, and do give up my name to Christ, and glory to be a disciple of thy institution, and a servant of Jesus, let me never fail of thy Grace; let no root of bitterness spring up, and disorder my purposes, and defile my spirit. O let my years be so many degrees of nearer approach to thee: and forsake me not, O God, in my old age, when I am gray-headed; and when my strength faileth me, be thou my strength and my guide unto death; that I may reckon my years, and apply my heart unto wisdom; and at last, after the spending a holy and a blessed life, I may be brought unto a glorious eternity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

See Monday before the Sacrament, p. 128, and p. 134, O holy, &c.