no eye shall see me, and disguiseth his face;" yet the "house" whither he goeth “is the way to hell, going down to the chamber of death." No; none can escape the eyes of the Almighty God, which slumber not nor sleep, but "are in every place, beholding the evil and the good:" "The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all his goings." Thy hope, then, now, thy only hope, is that, through the great mercy of God, the very name of so dark a sin be not mentioned in thine ears again: nay, not even the memory of it remain in thee; nor even the passing thought ever cross thy heart; that the very thought should be a hateful thing; that all remembrance of all connected with it should be covered and concealed in everlasting oblivion, as some foul thing of shame is hidden out of sight, in the darkness: that thou mayest now and for ever be enabled to live, through the great grace of God, as if such sin had never been, was not, could not be; as if thou wouldest die a thousand deaths rather than suffer the least stain of such a sinful thought to come over thy soul, to darken it in the sight of thy God, and make thee an abominable, an accursed thing. Let the sight of the last judgment be ever on thy heart. Feel that the holy angels are always looking on thee. Imagine that the whole world sees what is in thy heart, and what thou desirest to do; above all, that thy Creator, thy Redeemer, thy Sanctifier is close to thee, and seeth and knoweth all. Feel that on every thought, every look, and every wish, thy everlasting destiny depends. If thou wert to die even with the wish still lurking in thee, as a serpent lurketh in his hiding place, oh! what would thy end be; when nothing awaits thee but the "fiery indignation" of a despised God, "which shall devour the adversaries;" even "the vengeance of eternal fire." Those who are now so daring and so bold, will then tremble. They that laugh now, shall weep then. But they that now "sow in tears," shall then reap in purest joy, the sweetest endless bliss. Let the penitent, now lifting up her hands to heaven, deeply humbled, abashed, afraid, as she feels the eye of God, and the eyes of good angels upon her, make an earnest prayer to the Lord for pardon, for pity, and for a new, a pure, a blessed life; if the all-merciful God may yet look upon her with His great compassion. LORD, I confess unto Thee that my sins are heavy and great. How unlike am I to that image of Thine, wherein at first Thou madest man, and how far have all the powers of my soul fallen from what they should be! How have I degraded and defiled myself! I reflect on all this, O Almighty God, with inward reproach and shame. I am wearied with my own ways. I see and own, and lament my exceeding folly, my sinful weakness; my wanton carelessness, my wilful blindness; I indeed deserve to be cast away for ever from Thee, I abhor my own vileness and my shame; and I confess, most righteous God, that I have deserved the greatest of Thy wrath and indignation. Oh, that those sins had never been! Oh, that what I have done might now be undone! I knew not, O Lord, I knew not how guilty I was, how deep and deadly my sin; how terrible Thy judgments which Thou hast denounced against such sinners as I am. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up: they are more in number than the hairs of my head; as a sore burden, they are too heavy for me to bear. My whole body, soul and spirit, O God, is defiled in Thy sight. Thou who didst create me to be pure and holy, in my guilt and misery I appear before Thee, and I beseech Thee in Thy infinite pity, to pardon my deep dark sin, the lust of my flesh, the lust of my eyes, and my pride of life, and oh my God, take them utterly away from me; blot them out, and cleanse them away from me; hear me, O Lord, hear me. To whom can a wretch like me turn, but unto Thee, Who knowest all my weakness and my temptations, and the power of my enemies, and my ignorance and my folly; to Thee, Whose mercies are over all Thy works, and Who rememberest that I am but dust and ashes. Great God, receive me to the arms of Thy everlasting mercy, and let Thy pity and Thy great tenderness speak peace unto my soul, and heal me by Thy almighty grace. Lord God of my salvation, I cast myself before the throne of Thy grace; God, be merciful to me a sinner. Amen, Amen. Let the guide of the penitent then, kneeling by her side, plead for her, with earnest intercession, through the all-prevailing mediation of our blessed Lord and Saviour. HOLY and eternal God, behold, I beseech Thee, for Thy mercies' sake, and for the sake of Thy great Name, this woman Thy creature, whom Thou hast formed, and breathed into her nostrils the breath of life, behold her in Thy great pity and compassion; Thou, who didst give Thine only-begotten and beloved Son to suffer, even the death of the cross, for her, cast her not away. Let her great and crying sins, which she confesseth and bitterly lamenteth, be blotted out in that precious Blood shed for sinners, and never more be mentioned against her, nor in the judgment rise up to condemn her. Give her not over to despair and desolation of heart. Break not the bruised reed, quench not the smoking flax. Thou Who hast given Thy Holy Word for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope, give her now a right understanding of herself, and of Thy threats and promises, of Thy judgments and of Thy mercies; may she learn indeed to fear Thee, and in fear and trembling to work out her own salvation, if Thou, O Lord, wilt mercifully work in her to will and to do of Thy good pleasure; take away all pride, all self-sufficiency, all high thoughts, every thing that may hinder her receiving the outpouring of Thy grace and Thy love; draw her even to the foot of the cross, to learn the depth of her iniquity, and the price that was paid for her soul and her body: Thou, O blessed Jesus, Who wert there lifted up for her, may that look with which Thou didst look on St. Peter, look on her, piercing her whole soul, and making her to mourn bitterly, and to |