Thus have I subscribed to thy gracious proposals, and engaged myself to be the Lord's; and now let the malice of men, and the rage of devils, combine against me. I can defy all their stratagems; for God himself is become my friend, Jesus my allsufficient Saviour, and the Spirit of God, I trust, will be my sanctifier and my comforter.

O happy day! transporting moment! the brightest period of my life! heaven with all its lights smiles on thee; what glorious mortal can now excite my envy? what scene to tempt my ambition could the whole creation display? let glory call me with her exalted voice; let pleasure with a softer eloquence allure me; the world in all its splendour appears but a trifle, while the infinite God is my portion. He is mine by as sure a title as eternal veracity can confer; the right is unquestionable, the conveyance unalterable. The mountains shall be removed, and the hills be dissolved, before the everlasting obligation shall be cancelled.

VIII. A Thank-offering for saving grace.

"BLESS the Lord, O my soul, and all that is with"in me, bless his holy name: bless the Lord, and "forget not all his benefits, who redeemeth thy "life from destruction, and crowneth thee with "loving kindness, and tender mercy;" who brought thee out of the mire and clay, and set

thy foot upon a rock; who broke thy fetters, and freed thee from the miserable bondage of sin. I lay, a wretched slave, pleased with my chains, and fond of my captivity, fatally deluded and undone, till love, almighty love, rescued me. Blest effect of unmerited grace? I shall stand for ever an illustrious instance of boundless mercy: to that I must entirely ascribe my salvation, and through all the ages of eternity I will rehearse the wonders of redeeming love, and tell to listening angels what it has done for my soul.

I'll sing the endless miracles of love;

For ever that my lofty theme shall prove.

My glorious Creator, why did I employ thy thoughts before I had a being? why from all eternity was an immortality designed me, and my birth allotted me in a land illuminated with the rays of sacred light? I might have been invoking the powers of hell with detesable ceremonies, instead of adoring the omnipotent God. But when thousands are lost in these delusions, why am I thus graciously distinguished? Instead of being born among the shameful vices of impious parents, and an heir to their curses, why am I intitled to the blessing of religious ancestors! Why, when I was incapable of choice, was I devoted to the God that "keeps covenant and mercy to a thousand gene"rations of them that fear him?"

Why, when I knew thee not, didst thou sustain me? But oh why, when I knew thee, and rebelled against thee, why didst thou so long suffer my ingratitude? Why did thy watchful providence perpetually surround me, crossing all the methods I took to undo myself? Why was I not cursed with my own wishes, and left to the quiet possession of those vanities I delighted in; those toys which I foolishly preferred to all the treasures of thy love? Why didst thou pursue me with the offers of thy favour, when I fled thee with such aversion, and had fled thee for ever, if thou hadst not compelled me to return.

Why did thy Spirit strive so long with an obsti nate heart, which resisted all its motions, and turned thy patience and long-suffering into provocation and guilt? Why am I not undone by those pleasing snares in which I have seen so many deluded wretches perish? Like them I despised the unsearchable riches of thy grace; with them I had been content to share the sorry portion and pleasures of this world, if thou hadst let me alone, and I should never have inquired after thee; but why wast thou found of one that sought thee not? O why, but "because thou wilt be merciful to whom "thou wilt be merciful?”

Therefore, again with astonishment and delight, I look back on the methods of thy grace; and again I consider myself lost in an abyss of sin and misery; when there was no eye to pity me, no

hand but thine to assist me, thou madest it then the time of love. Never was grace more free and surprising than thine is; never was there a more obstinate heart than mine; and never such unconquerable love as thine. How glorious has it triumphed over my rebellious faculties? how freely has it cancelled all my guilt?

. Could I have made the least pretence to merit, or have challenged any thing from thee, the benefit had been less exalted; had there been any foundation for human pride, my corrupt heart would soon have taken the advantage, and have robbed thee of thy honour, by ascribing the glorious work to the strength of my own reason, or a natural tendency to virtue; but here my virtue is for ever silenced. I am lost in the boundless abyss. O height! O depth! O length and breadth immeasurable! How unsearchable are thy ways, almighty Love, and thy paths past finding out!

Let me here begin my eternal song, and ascribe salvation and honour, dominion and majesty, to him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb for ever, who has loved me, and ransomed me with his blood; ransomed me from a voluntary bondage, from the most vile and hopeless captivity; a captivity from which nothing but that invaluable purchase could have redeemed me.

"Infinite love! almighty grace?

Bring hither your celestial harps, ye beneficent beings, who, amidst the height of your happiness, express a kind regard for man: teach me the language of paradise, the strains of immortality. But oh! it is all too feeble; the tongues of seraphims cannot utter what I owe my Redeemer. From what misery, my adorable Saviour, hast thou rescued me? From error, from sin, from snares and death, from infernal chains, eternal horror, and the blackness of darkness for ever.

Nor here my glorious Benefactor staid; but still went on to magnify the riches of his grace, and entitled me to an endless inheritance, and an immortal crown; to the fruition of God, and the unutterable joys that flow from his presence.

Mysterious depth of boundless love

My admiration raise :

O God, thy name exalted stands

Above my highest praise.

IX. Evidence of sincere love to God.

IF I love thee not, my blessed God, I know not what I love: If I am uncertain of this, I am uncertain of my existence: If I love thee not, what is the meaning of these pathetic expressions, MY GOD, MY ALL! Thou spring of my life, and fountain of my happiness! my great reward, and my exceeding joy! the eternal object of my love, and supreme felicity of my nature! Does not my