In speaking without thinking,
In acting without consideration,

In resenting where resentment was not due,
In striving to do mischief to another's cause,
In propagating uncertain rumours recklessly,
In losing the occasions of doing good,
And multiplying the ways of evil,

Good Lord, I have sinned.

In entertaining unholy doubts,
In cherishing a rebellious will,

In storing memory with things unprofitable,
In finding no time for things needful,
In neglecting the study of Thy Word,
In building up myself with vanities,
And by folly separating myself from Thee,

Good Lord, I have sinned.

And I am before Thee in my sins, O Lord, in these and many more! But what is this my confession after all! how small! how short! how far below the list of my transgressions! Alas! "who can tell how oft he offendeth? Oh, cleanse Thou me from my secret faults." * For how can I recall the unwitting sins of my ignorance and

* Ps. xix. 12.

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frailty, or all those unnumbered errors of a mispent or unsanctified life? Truly if Thou wert extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who might abide it? * But there is mercy with Thee!

III.

AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE.

BEHOLD we are "dust and and ashes,"† and our time passeth away like a shadow! Corruption is our mother, and the worm of earth our sister. But as for Thee, from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God alone! We are before Thee in our sins, the shame of our iniquities is around us-and our evils have taken such hold upon us that we are not able to look up.

What mediator is there then, O my God, between Thee and this worm of earth? Whom have I in heaven to intercede for me, and plead my cause? By whom shall I ascend unto the throne of Thy mercy, and cast down my sins and my

* Ps. cxxx. 3.

Ps. cxliv. 4.

+ Gen. xviii. 27.

sorrows there with my penitence and my tears? Behold, my Advocate is before Thee; nay, He is in the bosom of Thy paternal love, Thine only, all glorious, and blessed Son. He is my Intercessor, and He will plead my cause; He the great High Priest, who needeth not to be sprinkled with the blood of others, but is able with His own blood to wash away the sinfulness of this wicked world; He the holy victim, well-pleasing in Thy sight, most holy Father; He the spotless Lamb, slain in Thy decrees from the foundation of the world; He who bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows, took upon Him the burden of our iniquities, and healed us in the blueness of His wounds. Look on Him then, Holy Father, on Him Thy Holy Son, who has suffered so much for me so vile and worthless. Look on Him, most merciful God, Thy own most merciful Son; see Him in all His sufferings, shameful, agonizing, heart-rending as they were; and remember in Thy goodness one, for whom He suffered, for whom he endured to die.

Is not He, O Lord my God, that Innocent One and Just One, whom thou deliveredst up, Son though He were, to redeem us servants? Is not He the absolute Lord of life, who as a sheep was led to the slaughter, and became obedient

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unto death, even the death of the Cross? member, O Fore-ordainer of our Redemption and Master of our Salvation, that this is He whom from all eternity Thou hast begotten of Thine own glorious substance, and yet madest to be born in time a partaker of man's weak and fallen nature. Truly there is with Him Thine own Divine nature, and withal my nature also, fallen though I be and mortal.

Look back, my God, through the past ages of mankind, and behold that work of suffering which Calvary once saw, that work of unspeakable mercy, of love unutterable! Thou seest, for to Thee all things are ever present. Rest then Thine eye upon Thy well-beloved Son, stretched at length. upon the tree. See His innocent hands flowing with rich streams of blood, and forgive the sins which these hands of mine, unbleeding yet, have perpetrated. Behold that tender side pierced by the cruel lance, and renew me in the sacred fountain of the life-blood which flows from thence. See those pure feet, which never walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, but kept the way of Thy commandments always, see them stuck through with iron nails, and forgive the waywardness of these feet of mine, and turn my steps into the ways of Thy laws

and teach me to love the path of Thy peace. I entreat Thee, O Father of the Ages and Lord of all Eternity, by this dear Redeemer's love, make me to run the way of Thy Commandments, that my soul may cleave to Him, who clave to us through His human flesh.

Dost Thou not even now consider, O Holy Father, that glorious head of Thy beloved Son as it drops on his languid shoulder in death so precious? Look, gracious Maker of the world, on Thine own dear Son, made flesh; and pity for His sake, and in His love, the weakness of Thy creatures of clay. How white is that bared bosom, and red that bloody side, how strained those limbs in agony! His gracious eyes drop wearily, His royal face is pale, His shapely arms are stark and stiff; His fair limbs hang in torture; the blood is oozing from His bored feet! Look then, O Father of Glory, on the shame of Thy blessed Son, see His torn limbs, and remember that their substance is as mine-yea, remember and forgive.

What voice is that which comes over all my soul? It seems to be the voice of suffering, which pleads in love from the Saviour's cross, and says, "Was ever grief like Mine?"