against thee; be merciful to my sin, for it is great. Thou hast promised to receive returning sinners, to blot out their iniquities, and to heal their backslidings. I desire, O Lord, to return unto thee; I hate and renounce my sin, and do here abhor myself in dust and ashes before thee. Wherefore, for, thy pity's sake, O try me this once more, and do not presently cast me away from thy presence, nor take thy holy Spirit from me, but restrain me by his grace from all presumptuous sins, and suffer them not to have dominion over me. And quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's sake, that for the future I may watch more carefully, resist more vigorously, and walk more circumspectly than I have hitherto done: and that from henceforth I may be entirely devoted to thee, and serve thee without interruption, do thou so confirm me by thy grace in my holy resolution, as that I may choose rather to die than to offend thee any more. And now, O Lord, though by my rebellion against thee this day I have rendered myself most unworthy of thy fatherly care and protection, yet I beseech thee to watch over me this night for good, and give me a safe repose in the arms of thy providence, that I may have yet a farther space to repent of mine iniquity. And grant, I beseech thee, that when I awake in the morning, I may be warned, by the woful remembrance of this day's fall, to take more care of my steps, and to shun or refuse those snares and temptations that lie all around me. All which I do most humbly and earnestly beg of thee, even for Jesus Christ his sake, in whose name and words I farther pray;

Our Father which art in heaven, &c.

Directions for the exercise of our private religion in the state of our progress and improvement in the Christian life, with forms of private devotion fitted for this state.

When you enter into your closet in the morning, endeavour to affect yourself with gratitude and thankfulness to God for his grace, by representing to yourself the danger and misery of that sinful state out of which you are recovered, and the great incapacity you were in to recover without his assistance; and then make this thankful acknowledgment to him:

O most gracious and most merciful Father, thou art a liberal benefactor to thy creation, a never-failing friend to mankind, and a most tender lover of souls, for whose everlasting welfare thou hast been always consulting, and hast left no method of love unattempted, to rescue them from sin and misery. O blessed, for ever blessed, be thy great name, for the experience I have had of this thy fatherly goodness. I am a monument of thy goodness, a living instance and wonder of thy mercy: for me hast thou quickened, who was dead in trespasses and sins, and who had long ago perished in mine iniquities, hadst thou not been infinitely patient and longsuffering: I had forfeited my soul to thee, and thou mightest justly have cut me off, and given me my portion with hypocrites; and, considering how I provoked thee to it by my daily rebellions, I cannot but admire thy forbearance towards me. But that thou shouldest not only forbear me, but follow me with thy kindness, and never cease importuning me to return to my duty and happiness, till thou hadst conquered me by thy gracious persuasions, O incomparable love! O amazing goodness! never to be sufficiently

admired and adored! Wherefore praised, for ever praised, be thy grace, which hath redeemed my life from eternal death, and my soul from the nethermost hell; which hath rescued me from the snare of the Devil, and the pernicious bondage of my lusts, and implanted in my nature these heavenly graces and dispositions, and hitherto improved and advanced them towards my eternal happiness. This, O my God, all this, I owe to thy free and undeserved goodness: that I that was dead am now alive; that I that was lost am found; that I that was a slave to my lusts am made free from sin, and translated into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, is purely the effect of thy free grace, and to be entirely ascribed to thy all-powerful goodness. Go on, O Lord, go on, I beseech thee, and perfect thine own work, that so the glory of it may be for ever redounding to thee; and that as I have been hitherto a signal instance of thy goodness, so I may be an happy instrument of thy praise to eternal ages. And grant, I beseech thee, that the sense of thy unspeakable kindness towards me may so captivate my soul and all my faculties, as that I may be most entirely thine; as that my reason and will, my fear and hope, and love and desire, may from henceforth be all resigned up to thee, and for ever devoted to the honour and worship of thy infinite glories and perfections; and this I most humbly beg for Jesus Christ his sake, to whom, with thyself and thy eternal Spirit, be rendered all honour, glory, and power, from this time forth and for evermore. Amen.

After this thanksgiving, consider briefly with yourself the indispensable necessity of your perseverance to the end, and how not only vain and fruitless, but

also hurtful and mischievous to you, all your past labour in religion will be without it; and then conclude your morning devotion with this prayer for perseverance :

O God, who art unchangeably holy and blessed, who art the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and dost never swerve or vary from the essential goodness and purity of thine own nature, look down, I beseech thee, upon me, a fickle, weak, and mutable creature, whom thou hast redeemed to thyself, and hitherto conducted by thy grace and Spirit. Thou knowest, O Lord, the weakness of my nature, and how unable I am, without thy strength and assistance, to finish the race which thou hast set before me; thou knowest what temptations I must struggle with, and what difficulties I must yet overcome, before I am seized of the blessed prize I am contending for: wherefore, since thou hast hitherto been my constant support and defence, forsake me not now for thy name's sake, but as thou hast begun a good work in me, so I beseech thee to finish and complete it; to uphold my feeble soul by thy free Spirit under all temptations and difficulties, that so by patient continuance in well-doing I may seek for and at last obtain honour and glory, immortality and eternal life. For which end, O Lord, preserve me from being over-confident of my own abilities, and inspire me with a holy jealousy of myself, that whilst I stand I may take heed lest I fall. And if at any time I should be so base and so unhappy as to offend thee wilfully, (which I beseech thee to prevent, for thy mercy and compassion sake,) O suffer me not to sleep in my sin, but recall me instantly by the checks of my conscience and the convictions D d

VOL. I.

of thy Spirit, lest, while I add sin to sin, and one degree of wickedness to another, my lusts should regain their dominion over me, and thou shouldest be angry with me, and reject me from thy covenant for ever. And that I may every day serve thee more freely and steadfastly, wean me, I beseech thee, more and more from those temptations to sin that are round about me, and give me such a true understanding of the nature of all the goods and evils of this world, as that neither the flatteries of the one nor the terrors of the other may ever be able to withdraw me from my duty. And lest, while I am mortifying my old sins, I should carelessly permit new ones to spring up in my nature, good God, do thou mind me to search and try my own heart, and take a severe account even of the smallest defects and imperfections within me; that so I may correct and reform them in time, before they are improved into inveterate habits. And grant that I may be always so sensible of my own imperfection, as that I may never rest in any present attainment, but may still be pressing forward to the mark of my high calling in Jesus Christ. Suggest to me, I beseech thee, frequent thoughts of my mortality, that so, while I have time and opportunity, I may be preparing for my departure hence, and making provision for a dying hour. In order whereunto, assist me, O Lord, I beseech thee, strictly to examine and renew my past sinful courses, that so if there be any remains of guilt abiding upon my conscience, I may purge them away by proper acts of repentance, before I go hence, and be no more seen. And grant that as I have formerly abounded in sin, so that I may now redeem that precious time I have lost, by abounding in the contrary virtues; that so, as far as