the extent and depth of the wickedness into which, by my transgressions, I have fallen,—yet, oh! let not the thought drive me to despair;-and forbid, O God, that I should ever so far deceive my own spirit, and prove unfaithful to my own best interests, as to offer any apology for offences, which thou hast declared are, in all instances, an abomination in thy sight,-and which, by the courses of thy providence, lead invariably to misery and shame.

O Lord, hear now my confession, and grant me a token of thy forgiveness, in the humble hope with which thou mayest deign to inspire me,— that even on me, sinful and guilty as I am, the riches of thy forgiving and paternal grace may yet abundantly descend.

"My childhood and youth have been vanity,and this hath been my manner from my youth up, that I have not obeyed thy voice." "Lord, remember not the sins of my youth,"-nor the many errors and vanities which have possessed my heart.

O pardon my thoughtlessness, and my waste' of precious time, and of my invaluable opportunities of improvement, and, for my Redeemer's sake, blot out my manifold transgressions.

In maturer years I have run into all manner of excess with greediness;-I have yielded to youthful lusts, even those deadly lusts which war against the soul, and have not kept myself as a Temple of the Holy Spirit. O Lord, pardon my great iniquities, and my presumptuous sins,—and "take not thy Holy Spirit from me." "Cast me not away from thy sight. Create in me a clean heart, O my God, and renew a right spirit within me,"— and as I have done iniquity, enable me, by thy grace, to do so no more.

I have never been sufficiently attentive to my religious duties, or set a proper value on those great privileges which belong to me as an intelligent subject of thy moral administration. Thou hast permitted and invited me to approach thee by prayer and supplication,-and hast encouraged me to this high service, by the assurance, that thine ear would be at all times open to my requests, and that thou wouldst grant me all necessary aid;-and yet, O Lord, I have despised this

privilege, and have lived as if I had no need of thy pardoning mercy or supporting grace. Lord, shut not thine ear to the voice of my requests,and mock not at my calamity, in this the day of my humiliation, but, for Christ's sake, have pity on me, and hear now the requests which, with a broken heart, I venture to present at the footstool of thy throne of grace.

I have not perused as I ought thy blessed word, -it has not been to me as 66 a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,"-" nor have I delighted to meditate therein by day and by night."

I have not been sufficiently attentive to the solemn ordinances of piety,-nor considered them as "wells of salvation," at which the weary soul might drink in its pilgrimage of life,—and from whose refreshing streams it might draw strength and alacrity to pursue with vigour its journey heaven

ward.

I have not communed in secret with my own heart,—but have run headlong in the way that leadeth to destruction,-and have not reflected that eternity, with all its awful scenes, was about to be unveiled to the view of my spirit, and to

fix me for ever in my place, according to the course which I have run in time.

O Lord, pardon these my great offences,shut not the ear of thy compassion against me,but, for Christ's sake, "cast all my sins into the depths of the sea."

I have failed to manage to the best purpose the trust committed to me by my situation in life,— and have forgotten that the place I occupy in this world, the duties it has given me to fulfil, and all my relations to those with whom I am connected, constitute that talent which I am bound to occupy as thy servant,—and that it is by my wise and successful discharge of this small trust, that I must show my fitness for a higher station, and a more important charge in thy heavenly kingdom.

I have nourished many evil and ruinous propensities and feelings,—I have been angry with my brethren without a cause,-I have envied those who have prospered in the world,-I have carried the indulgence of the bounties of thy providence

to excess, I have been full of pride and of vainglory, and have foolishly imagined that "my mountain stood strong, and I should never be moved;"—I have not conducted myself like a follower of Christ,-of Him who was meek and lowly in heart, and who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for sinners. I have not cherished feelings of charity to all men,—have not made it my meat and my drink to do the will of God,—have not been patient when thou hast chastised me,-nor said in all things, "not my will but thine be done.” Instead of all these graces, I have cherished pride, and anger, and worldly-mindedness, and vainglory, and impatience,—and have been in all things a rebellious and froward child. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint,-and if thou should enter into judgment with me, I could not answer thee for one of a thousand of my transgressions."

But blessed, O Lord, be thy name, that "this is thy name and thy memorial to all generations, the