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back his guilt to its corrupt source, a degenerate nature, declaring in penitential confession, that he was "conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity;" when an inspiredapostle, tracing, by his glowing pen, the frightful assemblage of vices which had brutalised mankind, pronounces the alarming declaration, that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,"-thou dost hear a truth, proclaimed, as it were, by the sacred lips of God himself, which the view of the world, which the history of man, which the testimony of conscience, irresistibly confirm.

Sayest thou, man is not a fallen being? trace then his perfection in the world which he inhabits. Is it decked with those celestial glories which render it a habitation worthy of the illustrious being for whose enjoyment it was created? Is the exalted strain of harmony and peace, evermore poured forth from this august temple, where man, pure and perfect, enjoys the enrapturing smiles of his Maker's love? Ah! scourged by war, pestilence and famine, the earth sends forth the rending sighs and groans of a wretched race; loaded with the pondérous guilt of human crimes, it trembles under the tremendous frown of the Almighty; riven and blasted, by the thunder and lightening of heaven, it seems to anticipate, in awful agony, the dread fiat, which, will whelm it in destruction, for the sin of man.

Sayest thou, man is a perfect being? Display then his resplendent virtues in the long records of his history? Alas! these boasted records are dyed in blood. They exhibit the portrait of human guilt in colours more deep and glaring, then even the boldest imagination would be willing to conceive. Do the fair forms of justice, benevolence, and mercy rise to view, and, extending their benignant reign. over the human race, pronounce that man is blest and happy? Does one soul of celestial love pervade the family of mankind, united by the strongest and most endearing ties, by common wants, by common feelings, by an exalted and eternal destiny?-Ah! oppression sweeps her relentless sceptre over her sullen victims; ambition rides her devastating course, erecting the trophies of triumph amidst the ruins, into which her merciless and insatiable spirit has madly swept the fairest works of man, the proudest boasts of human grandeur; the spectre of revenge, brandishing the steel streaming with human gore, urges guilty man to seal, with fell and remorseless fury, the purpose of vengeance, in his brother's blood.

Alas! the world groaning under the curse of God, and waiting, in awful despair, the final execution of the sentence of his wrath; the history of human nature, presenting the dreadful picture of crimes and misery, illumined only by some scattered and feeble rays of virG

tue and happinesss, force on my reluctant conviction, the degeneracy, the corruption, the guilt of man.

THE PRAYER.

ALMIGHTY GOD! who, at the firft, didft create man in thine own image, and impress on his foul the seal of immortality,-if by tranfgreffion he has forfeited his primeval glories, and funk his nature in fin and mifery,-on his own wilful folly, and not on thy decree, moft holy God, be the fhame and guilt. I acknowledge, that I perceive the fatal proofs of my degeneracy in my clouded underftanding, in my perverfe will, in my corrupt affections. I acknowledge, that every view which I take of the world around me and of the conduct of my fellow men, powerfully confirms the humiliating truth. Almighty God! let me not deceive myself in the estimate, which I form, of my fpiritual character and ftate. Let me not flatter, the vain glorious emotions of my heart, by falfe ideas of my purity and perfection. Let me not seek to caft a veil over the enormity of my fins; and thereby weaken the facred ardors of my repentance, the lively conviction of my need of the atoning merits and purifying grace of my Redeemer. Do thou, by the penetrating beams of thy Holy Spirit, fearch through all the folds of my heart; detect my fecret vices; bring to light my numerous errors and tranfgreffions; expofe, to my awakened confcience, all the deep aggravations of my guilt; that thus, humbled, convicted, and alarmed, I may fee no way of efcape from thy juft difpleasure, but through the merits and mediation of Jefus Christ, my blessed Lord and Redeemer.—AMEN.

[Then add your usual Morning Devotions.]

63

Tuesday Evening.

MEDITATION.

MAN IN HIS NATURAL STATE,

THE SUBJECT OF THE MORNING MEDITATION,

CONTINUED.

BOASTEST thou, that thou art exempt from the stains of guilt which pollute the rest of thy wretched race? Bring thy powerful pleas to the tribunal of conscience. Estimating highly the opinion of the world, perhaps, thou hast always sought to regulate thy conduct by the laws of honor. Calculating from motives of worldly prudence, thou hast been, in all thy dealings, honest and just, Desirous of the applause of men, or, from the impulse of a blind and undistinguishing sympathy, thou hast been generous and charitable. Are these then thy pleas, for exemption from the general sentence of guilt passed on mankind?

Carry thy claims to integrity and virtue higher. Allow, that thou hast been honorable, that thou hast been just, that thou hast been generous and liberal, from the best motives. Allow, that no gross crimes have marked thy conduct; that thy life, on the contrary, justly

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claims the reputation of being exemplary and upright. Allow, that thou hast not obtained, the homage due to virtue, by imposing on the world a correct and honorable exterior, while thy principles have been base and sordid. Allow, that when urged by interest, and restrained by no fear of detection, thou hast not secretly practised the arts of injustice and dishonesty, which thou dost affect openly to abhor. Allow, that while just and true in thy intercourse with others, thou hast not been regardless of the sacred duties due to thyself. Allow, that thou hast faithfully cherished the virtues of temperance, soberness, and chastity, and hast never indulged in the secret commission of vices which dishonored and defiled thy

nature.

Carry still higher thy pretensions in the scale of virtue. Allow, that thou dost cherish just and reverential ideas of the attributes, the providence, and the dispensations of God; that thou hast never wilfully profaned his name, or spoken lightly of his sacred word. Allow, that thou dost entertain a high esteem and reverence for this sacred word, resolutely and ably defending it, as an excellent code of religious and moral duties, against the libertine attacks of infidelity and scepticism. Allow, that from some sense of thy obligations to God, and regard for the order and peace of society, thou dost reverence the ordinances of religion, and attend on the ministrations of the sanctuary.

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