"O Lord! though this miserable life has been "spared, though necessary food and raiment "have been provided for this wretched body, my "immortal soul has been left to perish through " lack of knowledge. I never till this day con"sidered how very miserable I am-I never "concerned myself about my everlasting in"terests, never reflected whether there was a "God or not, but have madly gone on in "a course of profaning his name, his sabbath, " and in boldly defying his power and authority: "I never reflected, till now, upon the danger I "am in, upon the dreadful consequences of of my "wicked courses. But my affrighted conscience "now begins to tell me, that, verily, I am in the "road to endless perdition, that God will by no " means clear the guilty, that my sins are too

many and too great to be forgiven, that I must "for ever suffer the punishment which they de"serve. I begin to wish I had never been, or "that I had perished from the womb; that the barbarity of my parents had indeed deprived me of life as soon as I was born. How much sin, how much misery should I thus have escaped! and through thy great goodness, O God, I should then have been delivered from "the terror and danger of eternal torments.

"But now, wretched creature that I am, what "shall become of me! I have lived but to offend "thee, my most kind benefactor; I have ren"dered God my enemy, and thus stand every " moment exposed to the stroke of his tremen"dous justice; I see nothing but hopeless ruin "before me; I am a terror to myself. God "be merciful to me a sinner! preserve, O pre" serve me from perishing for ever! Have I not "heard of thee, O my God, my father, my only "friend-that thou art good and long-suffering, "full of compassion, and plenteous in mercy? " and have I not the highest reason to be as"sured that it is so, seeing thou hast exercised "such wonderful patience toward an offender so "daring and so presumptuous? I must, I will

hope, that so much care and kindness has not "been bestowed upon me in vain: that it is a pledge of farther and greater goodness, of love to my immortal soul. Have I not likewise heard, "that thou has sent thine only son into the world, "to seek and to save that which was lost, to make

up peace betwixt God and man: and indeed I "have but heard of this, for I have been bred in

gross ignorance of every thing good; but O! my soul wishes, earnestly, anxiously wishes "that such joyful news may be true: with what

"delight would I welcome the glad tidings that "God himself had provided a saviour for such as "me! with infinitely greater satisfaction than "ever I did the calm light of the morning, after a " long and dark tempestuous night. I will believe "it, I will rest upon it, I will take comfort to "myself:---and O! what unutterable joy is this, "which now begins to spring up in my soul! Shall "I then, disowned, rejected, contemned by the "whole world, at length find a father? and will "God himself condescend to become that father? "will the great majesty of heaven and earth deign "to look with a favourable eye upon a poor helpless foundling child, and what is infinitely worse, an unthankful, thoughtless, graceless "rebel? How, O how can these things be! "who shall make the reconciliation? who shall "take away my manifold offences, my highly "aggravated guilt? who shall purify this sinful "heart from its filthiness? Will not that Jesus of "whom I have heard; whom, alas! I know not, "but with whom I desire above all things to be "acquainted; will not he teach me what I shall "do to be saved? will not he bring me unto "God? O Lord, enlighten my dark mind; "what I know not, that do thou teach me, givė "me the knowledge of the only true God, and

of Jesus Christ whom he has sent, whom to

"know is life eternal; make me what thou "wouldst have me to be. By thy grace, and

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depending upon thy aid, I am determined to "forsake my sins, to withdraw myself from my ungodly companions, and to love and serve "thee with my whole soul. When this evil "heart would betray me into vice, I will fly to "thee for deliverance from myself; when sinners "entice me, I will implore the direction of thy

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heavenly wisdom, and the protection of thy

almighty strength, that I may not be suffered "to consent; when I am in doubt and per'plexity, I will ask wisdom of God; when I fall "into sin, I will make immediate application to "the throne of thy grace for mercy to pardon; "and such is thy goodness, I know thou wilt not "forsake the work of thine own hands."

Were I but so happy as to prevail with you, in these or such like circumstances, to commit your case, whatever it is, unto God, by humble prayer and supplication, I should reckon my work very far advanced, for every thing good is to be expected of him, whom the feeling of distress has taught to pray :-consult then your own heart, your own necessities-they will furnish you both with matter and language; and the sooner this work is begun, the more successful it

will prove; it will be an excellent means of correcting bad habits; for if you are sincere in your addresses to God, you will see the necessity of immediately breaking off your irreligious courses -what a contradiction would it be to indulge yourselves in what you are earnestly begging divine assistance to resist and overcome; and the ceasing to do evil is the first part of learning to do well.

I will flatter myself that I may have prevailed upon some one or other dear young creature se, riously to consider what he owes to God, what he owes to his own immortal soul, and that thereby his country has gained one more valuable son, and a Redeemer's kingdom another happy subject. Suffer me to thank, with humble gratitude, the Father of mercies, upon your account, for the joy given to the angels in heaven and the saints on earth upon this blessed occasion: suffer me, with heart-felt satisfaction, to congratulate you as a child of the most high God and an heir of eternal glory, and to direct you to ascribe the praise and thanksgiving to the unmerited love of God, and to the compassionate Jesus, who loved the souls of men even unto the death. O! study to walk, even as he walked, and prove yourself to be his disciple by having