His Prayer.

O God, that, like thy precious word, art hid to none but who are lost, and yet art found by all that seek thee with an upright heart, cast down thy gracious eye upon a lost sheep of Israel, strayed through the vanity of his unbridled youth, and wandered in the wilderness of his own invention. Lord, I have too much delighted in mine own ways, and have put the evil day too far from me. I have wallowed in the pleasures of this deceitful world, which perish in the using, and have neglected thee, my God, at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore: I have drawn on iniquity as with cart-ropes, and have committed evil with greediness: I have quenched the motions of thy good Spirit, and have delayed to seek thee by true and unfeigned repentance. Instead of seeking thee whom I have lost, I have withdrawn myself from

thy presence when thou hast sought me. It were but justice therefore in thee to stop thine ears at my petitions, or turn my prayers as sin into my bosom ; but, Lord, thou art a gracious God, and full of pity and unwearied compassion, and thy loving kindness is from generation to generation. Lord, in not seeking thee I have utterly lost myself; and if thou find me not, I am lost for ever; and if thou find me, thou canst not but find me in my sins, and then thou findest me to my own destruction. How miserable, O Lord, is my condition! condition! How necesis sary my confusion! that have neglected to seek thee, and therefore am afraid to be found of thee. But, Lord, if thou look upon the all-sufficient merits of thy Son, thy justice will be no loser in shewing mercy upon a sinner; in his name therefore I present myself before thee; in his merits I make my humble approach unto thee; in his name I offer

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up my feeble prayer; for his merits grant me my petitions. Call not to mind the rebellions of my flesh, and remember not, O God, the vanities of my youth: inflame my heart with the love of thy presence, and relish my meditations with the pleasure of thy sweetness. Let not the consideration of thy justice overwhelm me in despair, nor the meditation on thy mercy persuade me to presume. Sanctify my will by the wisdom of thy Spirit, that I may desire thee as the chiefest good: quicken my desires with a fervent zeal, that I may seek my Creator in the days of my youth: teach me to seek thee according to thy will, and then be formed according to thy promise, that. living in me here by thy grace, I may hereafter reign with thee in thy glory.

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THE HYPOCRITE.

His Prevarication.

THERE is no stuff to make a cloak of like religion! nothing so fashionable, nothing so profitable: it is a livery wherein a wise man may serve two masters, God and the world, and make a gainful service by either. I serve both, and in both, myself, by prevaricating with both. Before man, none serves his God with more severe devotion; for which, among the best of men, I work my own ends, and serve myself. In private I serve the world, not with so strict devotion, but with more delight; where, fulfilling of her servants' lusts, I work my end, and serve myself. The house of prayer who more frequents than I? In all Christian duties who more forward thanĮ? I fast with those

that fast, that I may eat with those that eat: I mourn with those that mourn : no hand more open to the cause than mine, and in their families none prays longer and with louder zeal. Thus, when the opinion of a holy life hath ́ cried the goodness of my conscience up, my trade can lack no custom, my wares can want no price, my words can need no credit, my actions can lack no praise. If I am covetous, it is interpreted providence; if miserable, it is counted temperance; if melancholy, it is construed godly sorrow; if merry, it is voted spiritual joy; if I be rich, it is thought the blessing of a godly life; if poor, supposed the fruit of conscionablé dealing ; if I be well spoken of, it is the merit of holy conversation; if ill, it is the malice of malignants. Thus I sail with every wind, and have my end in all conditions. This cloak in summer keeps me cool, in winter warm, and hides the nasty bag