Sovereign, and obedient to the laws; to keep your hands from acts of violence and plunder; your tongues from malicious slander and reviTing; and your hearts from all uncleanness and sinful lusts: in a word, let it be seen, that you are renewed in the spirit of your minds; and that you are desirous to atone for your past misconduct, by dedicating the remainder of your days to the practice of virtue, to diligence, and sobriety that, when you are summoned, as every one of us shall be, before the judgmentseat of Christ, that gracious declaration, long since delivered to the world, as the most powerful incitement to repentance, may be confirmed by the sentence which you then shall receive that "when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die eternally: all his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." In that awful day, if you should then be fit objects of Divine Mercy, you will find, to your unspeakable joy, that the all-righteous Governor of the world hath "no pleasure in the death of him that dieth in his sins:" His expostulation is, "Make you a new heart, and a new spirit; FOR WHY WILL YE DIE?" and He hath declared, in terms the most encouraging that can well be conceived, "That there is joy in heaven, in the presence of the Angels of GOD, over every sinner that repenteth."

May

May a lively faith and sincere repentance arm you with confidence in the hour of death; and may you experience, through the infinite merits of your Redeemer, the full accomplishment of that most gracious promise," that they who sow in tears" of penitential sorrow, "shall reap in joy" the harvest of a blessed eternity! Now to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, three Persons, and one GOD, be all honour and glory, thanksgiving and praise, world without end. Amen.

SERMON II.

USE OF SOLITUDE IN PRISONS.

PSALM CII. 19, 20.

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary: from heaven did the Lord behold the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner. WHEN We consider the infinite distance between the Creator of the universe and man, the work of his hands; when we reflect upon Him, who is perfect in goodness, and then turn our eyes upon ourselves, who are the children of sin as well as of misery, shall we not hide our faces in the dust, and desire the "mountains to fall

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on us, and the hills to cover us?" Luke xxiii. 30. The human condition, comes undoubtedly far short of perfection, and the words, men and sinners, are joined together, which should for ever have been kept asunder. This is sufficiently evident to the most inattentive observer of life; nay, this is a truth which the breast of every man will tell him, "when he sitteth in his house, when he walketh by the way, and when he lieth down, and when he riseth up.

But with how much greater force does this observation apply itself to you, my brethren, who have so manifestly offended against society, as not to be thought worthy to continue in it? I need not particularly mention the several crimes that have brought you hither. I trust in God, that you are now sensible of your offences, and that is the first step to amendment of life.

It shall be my business, at this time, to consider the advantages that may arise to you from your present seclusion from the world.

I

And here, I will refer you to the days you have spent in the pursuits of vanity, and in the haunts of dissipation. I would, for one moment, desire you to review the scenes, in which you have been engaged, the companions of your crimes, and the friends of your pleasures. would have you reflect upon the tumults of your minds, and the reproaches of your conscience. I would request you to trace back the fears of every moment; with how much apprehension you endeavoured to enjoy the plunder you had

SO

so much difficulty in obtaining; the suspicions and jealousies with which you beheld the partners of your guilt, the trembling and fainting of your hearts, and the constant dread you were in of being arrested by the hand of justice. And are these the pleasures of sin; for which you forfeited your liberty? Was it for these you consented to forego all the real satisfaction of honesty, of truth, of religion? For these did you renounce the tender sensations of domestic happiness, the wife that would have soothed your sorrows, the children that would have comforted your old age; for these did you let go your integrity, despise the love of God and all his favours, and bury yourselves in the deep solitude of a prison?

This, then, is the season and place for reflection; this, to all that now hear me, may be the accepted time; "this may be the day of salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2. Certain it is, that no dungeon is so deep, no solitude so remote, but that a ray of divine mercy may penetrate to its centre. God is good to all-to those more especially who call upon him for mercy out of the depths of the dungeon. "O let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before thee!" Ps. lxxix. 11. The prayer is heardthe Lord accepts their petition: for "he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary, out of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner."

Join with me in reciting a Psalm of the sweet singer of Israel, who could not only feel, but express his wants in language the most plaintive and pathetic." Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I will wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait for him, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning, I say more than they that watch for the morning. Let us hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem us from all our iniquities." Ps. cxxx.

Happy is the man that with piety of heart, and sincerity of spirit, joins in such petitions. He will feel an exultation of soul, which before he never knew, a composure of mind he never could have expected. He finds, that even in a prison, dark and dismal as it is, mercy may be found, that mercy which, under other circumstances, he would not perhaps so much as seek after. This happy change of thought, founded on the true spirit of devotion, inspires his soul with confidence, and with new hopes and new affections he looks up to Him that heareth the " groaning of the prisoners."

It has been recommended, both by the practice and precept of holy men, in all ages, some