grave of Jesus, I may live to thee my Gad a life of righteousness, and grow in it, till I shall arrive at a state of glory.

- I have often begun to return to thee; but I turned short again, and looked back upon Sodom, and loved to dwell in the neighbourhood of the horrible regions. Now, O my God, hear; now let me finish the work of a holy repentance. Let thy grace be present with me, that this day I may repent acceptably, and to-morrow, and all my days; not weeping over my returning sins, nor deploring new instances; but weeping bitterly for the old; loathing them infinitely, denouncing war against them hastily, prosecuting that war vigorously; resisting them every hour, crucifying them every day, praying perpetually, watching assiduously, consulting spiritual guides and helps frequently, obeying humbly, and crying mightily, I may do every thing, by which I can please thee; that I may be rescued from the powers of darkness, and the sad portions of eternity, which I have deserved.

III.

O give unto thy servant intentions so real, a resolution so strong, a repentance so holy, a sorrow so deep, a hope so pure, a charity so sublime, that no temptation or time, no health or sickness, no accident or interest, may be able, in any circumstance of things or persons, to tempt me from thee and prevail. Work in me a holy and an irreprovable faith, whereby I may overcome the world, and crucify the flesh, and quench the fiery darts of the devil; and let this faith produce charity, and my sorrow cause amendment, and my fear produce caution, and that caution beget a holy hope: let my repentance be perfect and acceptable, and my affliction bring forth joy, and the pleasant fruit of righteousness. Let my hatred of sin pass into the love of God, and this love be obedience, and this obedience be universal, and that universality be lasting and perpetual; that I may rejoice in my recovery, and may live in health, and proceed in holiness, and abide in thy favour, and die with a blessing, the death of the righteous, and may rest in the arms of the Lord Jesus; and, at the day of judgment, may have my por

tion in the resurrection of the just; and may enter into the joy of my Lord, to reap from the mercies of God in the harvest of a blessed eternity, what is here sown in tears and penitential sorrow, being pardoned and accepted, and saved by the mercies of God in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Σωτηρία τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν καὶ τῷ ̓Αμνῷ.

DEUS JUSTIFICATUS;

OR,

A VINDICATION

ОР ТИВ

GLORY OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES,

IN THE QUESTION OP

ORIGINAL SIN:

AGAINST

THE PRESBYTERIAN WAY OF UNDERSTANDING IT.

IN A LETTER TO A PERSON OF QUALITY.

Sed neque tam facilis res ulla est, quin ea primum

Difficilis magis ad credundum constet

LUCRET. II. 1027. Eichstadt, p. 89.

』་

ΤΟ

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

AND RELIGIOUS LADY,

THE LADY CHRISTIAN,

COUNTESS DOWAGER OF

DEVONSHIRE.

MADAM,

WHEN I reflect upon the infinite disputes, which have troubled the public meetings of Christendom concerning original sin, and how impatient and vexed some men lately have been, when I offered to them my endeavours and conjectures concerning that question, with purposes very differing from what were seen in the face of other men's designs, and had handled it so, that God might be glorified in the article, and men might be instructed and edified in order to good life; I could not but think that wise heathen said rarely well in his little adagy, relating to the present subject; Εἰς παραδοξίαν ἔφυμεν. • Mankind was born to be a riddle,' and our nativity is in the dark ; for men have taken the liberty to think what they please, and to say what they think; and they affirm many things, and can prove but few things; and take the sayings of men for the oracles of God, and