REPENTANCE.

TRUE repentance is that saving grace wrought in the soul, by the spirit of God, whereby a sinner is made to see, and be sensible of his sin, is grieved and humbled before God on account of it, not so much for the punishment to which sin has made him liable, as that thereby God is dishonored and offended; his laws violated, and their own soul polluted and defiled: And this grief arises from love to God, and is accompanied with a hatred of sin, a fixed resolution to forsake it, and expectation of favor and forgiveness through the merits of Christ; this is evangelical repentance. The insensibility of a sinner, the want of regret and penitence, after having sinned, provokes God more than the sin itself.

When God is angry with us, it is not thro' a principle of hatred, that he shows his anger, it is to draw us to him, even in the time of anger. Salvian gives the following ingenious description of repentant sinners, who far from conversion are always relapsing into sin.

They act every thing in such a manner, that one may say, they do not so much repent of their sins, as they afterwards do of that repentance. They seem by their behavior, not to be so sorry for their ill life, as that they have promised to live a good one.-How terrible is convision and guilt, when they come too late for repentance!

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To prayer, repentance, and obedience due, (Tho' but endeavor with sincere intent) Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut, And I will place within them as a guide Mine umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear,

Light after light well us'd, they shall attain; And to the end persisting, safe arrive.

This my long suff'rance, and my day of grace, They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste; But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more ; That they may stumble on, and deeper fall: And none but such from mercy I exclude.

It is better to be affected with a true penitent sorrow for sin, than to be able to resolve the most difficult cases about it.

The time present is the only time we have to repent in, to serve God, to do good to men, to improve our knowledge, to exercise our graces, and to prepare for a blessed immortality.

We may strike up bargains, and make contracts by proxy, but all men must work out their own salvation in person. How irration al is a late repentance! Must the body be besieged with sickness, before the work be done on which eternal life depends?

Who sets about, hath half perform'd the deed,
Dare to be wise, and-if you would succeed
Begin. The man who has it in his power
To practice virtue, and protracts the hour,

Waits till the river pass away; but lo!
Ceaseless it flows-and will forever flow.

He who repents truly, is greatly sorrowful for his past sins; not with a superficial sigh or tear, but a pungent, afflictive sorrow; such a sorrow as hates the sin so much, that the truly contrite man would rather choose to die than act it any more. A holy life is the only perfection of repentance, and the firm ground upon which we cast the anchor of our hopes, in the mercies of God through Jesus Christ. A true penitent must all the days of his life pray for pardon, nor think the work completed till he dies.

In ev'ry storm, thy safety to secure,

These two great anchors of thy soul secure-
Faith & repentance; firm supports are they,
When ev'ry other fancied prop and stay,
The more thou lean'st, sinks & slides away.

RICHES.

RICHES cover a greater number of faults than ever charity has done.

Riches cannot purchase worthy endowments; they make us neither wiser nor healthier. None but intellectual pleasures are what we can properly call our own.

A fine coat is but a livery, when the person who wears it discovers no more sense than a footman.

A great fortune in the hands of a fool, is a great misfortune. The more riches a fool has, the greater fool he is. All the treasures of the earth, are not to be compared to the least virtue of the soul.

Eating and drinking, vain mirth, news, play, and the like, are their constant entertainment; who know no other pleasure, than what their five senses furnish them with.

It is an insolence in the wealthy to affix, as much as in them lies, the character of a man to his circumstances.

Think not, O man! that thou art truly great,
Because thou hast, perhaps, a large estate,
Or may'st the greatest earthly honors bear,
For too-too many thus mistaken are ;
But let your virtuous actions daily prove
You truly merit universal love.

Greatness alone in virtue's understood,
None's truly great, but he who's truly good.

Riches have no real advantage except in the distribution.

SABBATH.

THIS
HIS day the Deity to man has giv'n,
By just decrees to plume his soul for heav'ni,
And publicly to join in grateful praise,
For all the blessings of their other days;
This small return he surely may expect,
And will as surely punish its neglect.
On this, his day, necessity alone,
For absence from the temple can atone.

Upon the Lord's day we must abstain from all servile and laborious works, except such as are matters of necessity, of common life, or of great charity. The Lord's day being the remembrance of a great blessing, must be a day of joy, festivity, spiritual rojoicing, and thanksgiving therefore let your devotions spend themselves in singing, or in reading psalms, in recounting the great works of God, in remembering his mercies, in worshipping his excellencies, in celebrating his attributes, &c.

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SENSIBILITY.

SENSIBILITY of mind, and fineness of feelings, are always the attendants of true genius. These, which by themselves constitute a good heart, when joined to a good head,