the shortness and vanity of all things in the world, inspire me with due contempt of all enjoyments here below; and make me ever fly these hinderances to a life of holiness and virtue, that I may with the greater freedom enjoy thee, O my God! in meditating on thy perfections, and thy glories: Let me, dearest Jesus, have those influences of thy blessed Spirit in my retirements, that I may at last grow wholly weary of the world, and then fix my thoughts upon that heavenly kingdom, where true pleasures, fulness of riches, and lasting honours, are only to be met withal; whither let thy mercy speedily bring me, that I may be satisfied with the fulness of thy presence, and meditate for ever on thy great per

fections, joining with all the glorious attendants on thy throne in endless songs of thy eternal praises. Amen.

OF OUR SAVIOUR'S LOVE TO US.

SINCE, then, my soul, thou hast left this world, and settled thy delight upon the heavenly solitude, let us now contemplate on thy Saviour, and consider the wonders of his adorable love. For what can be more apt to raise my aspiring thoughts above the world, or add to the delights of this dear retirement, than the contemplation of divine charity, and the immense love by which I have been redeemed, and hope here

after to be saved? Sure such love as this is worth thinking on, and gratitude as well as pleasure should inflame my soul with a desire to meditate on the astonishing love of the Saviour of the world. But where shall I begin? I doubt I have undertaken a task too mighty for me, for his love was from eternity, and had no beginning. However, I will venture to contemplate the dear affection of my Lord, who will pardon the defects of my grovelling thoughts; for they can never reach the least act, much less the eternity, of his love.

See, O my soul! the fatal effect of the tempter's malice! Lo, the forbidden fruit is down, it is eaten, "and we are past recovery!" See the

pale, the ghastly look of thy undone parents, how the guilty rebels fly the face of their offended Maker! What hast thou done? says their angry God, and then denounced their dismal sentence, which condemns them first to banishment, and then to death. But is there not a remedy, is there not a reprieve? must the doom be irreversible, and the death eternal? Is there no favourite in the court of heaven to intercede and stave off the anger of their offended Lord? Must our blood, must our lives, pay for this offence! And must the justice of God be satisfied for this contempt and violation of his great command ? There must, I see there must, be a bloody sacrifice; but then where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?

See

yonder, O my soul! turn thy eyes to the great court of heaven, see there the Deity itself suing out thy pardon ! "Behold the Lamb there that taketh away the sins of the whole world!" The very King himself whom thou hast contemned, the King whose command was violated, will not only seal thy pardon, but, to redeem thee, and satisfy offended justice, will subject himself to sufferings and death. It is determined, O my soul, that the second Person in the glorious Godhead should leave his throne and kingdom, to take upon him both the guilt and dreadful punishment of thy sins. O my God! O sacred Trinity! O mercy itself, unbounded mercy! will God himself come down

and die?

Will no meaner an offering