from a life so spent, when, in fact, " every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is evil, only evil, continually ! "
Of omission, too, as well as of commission, does he behold our sins. He tries us by the standard of his perfect law, which requires that we should love him with all our heart and mind and soul and strength ; and that we should live in an entire dependence on his care, and for the purpose only of ad- vancing his glory. But in our whole lives there has not been one single moment in which we have conformed to his law, or come near to the line which he has marked out for us. To his dear Son, also, what gratitude, what affiance, what devotion have we owed ! Yet have we been almost strangers to these holy feelings ; and, even at the present moment, possess them in no degree comparable to what his love to us requires. Nor have we obeyed the motions of his Holy Spirit, but rather have done despite to him every day we lived. What have the interests of our souls and of eternity demanded? Yet, in what way have we discharged the debt ?
Surely, if we put together these things, we must confess that our " transgressions" have been "manifold;" yea, more in number than the hairs of our head, or " as the sands upon the sea-shore innumerable."]
2. In all their heinousness and aggravations —
[Our sins have been committed against light and know- ledge. Though we have not known the extent of our duty to God, we have known far more of it than we have ever prac- tised. No one of us has been so ignorant, as not to see the importance of eternal things, when compared with the things of time and sense ; and, consequently, the duty of giving them a precedence, both in our estimation and pursuit. But have we felt the same ardour in relation to them that we have in prosecuting the vanities of this present world ? Alas ! If we had paid no more attention to our temporal concerns than we have to those which are spiritual and eternal, we should have had very little prosperity to boast of; or rather I should say, there would have been but one sentiment respecting us, among all who knew us.
Against vows and resolutions, too, we have proceeded in this mad career. I conceive there is not any one amongst us so obdurate, as not to have formed some purposes of amendment. At the death of a friend or relative, or in a time of sickness, when our own dissolution seemed to be drawing near, or per- haps after an awakening sermon, we have thought that to humble ourselves before God, and seek acceptance with him, was our duty : but the impression has soon worn away, and, like metal that has been fused, we have soon returned to our wonted hardness. Possibly we may have begun and made