evil to a good disposition." When that change is made, repentance is compleat. God will consider that life is amended, which would have been amended if he had spared it. Repentance in the sight of man, even of the penitent, is not known but by its fruits; but our Creator sees the fruit, in the blossom, or the seed. He knows those resolutions which are fixed, those conversions which would be permanent; and will receive them who are qualified by holy desires for works of righteousness, without exacting from them those outward duties, which the shortness of their lives hindered them from performing.

Nothing therefore remains, but that we apply with all our speed, and with all our strength, to rectify our desires, and purify our thoughts; that we set God before us in all his goodness and terrors; that we consider him as the Father and the Judge of all the earth: as a Father, desirous to save ; as a Judge, who cannot pardon unrepented iniquity: that we fall down before him self-condemned, and excite in our hearts an intense detestation of those crimes which have provoked him; with vehement and steady resolutions, that if life were granted us, it should be spent hereafter in the practice of our duty: that we pray the Giver of grace to strengthen and impress these holy thoughts, and accept our repentance, though late, and in its beginnings violent: that we improve every good motion by diligent prayer; and having declared and con

firmed our faith by the holy communion,-we deliver ourselves into his hands, in firm hope, that he who created and redeemed us will not suffer us to perish. Rom. v. 8. viii. 32.

The condition, without which forgiveness is not to be obtained, is that we forgive others. There is always a danger lest men, fresh from a trial in which life has been lost, should remember with resentment and malignity the prosecutor, the witnesses, or the judges. It is indeed scarcely possible, that with all the prejudices of an interest so weighty, and so affecting, the convict should think otherwise than that he has been treated in some part of the process, with unnecessary severity. In this opinion he is perhaps singular, and therefore probably mistaken. But there is no time for disquisition: we must try to find the shortest way to peace. It is easier to forgive than to reason right. He that has been injuriously or unnecessarily harassed, has one opportunity more of proving his sincerity, by forgiving the wrong, and praying for his enemy.

It is the duty of a penitent to repair, so far as he has the power, the injury which he has done. What we can do, is commonly nothing ipore than to leave the world an example of contrition. On the dreadful day, when the sentence of the law has its full force, some will be found to have affected a shameless bravery, or negligent intrepidity. Such is not the proper behaviour of a convicted criminal. To rejoice in tortures

is the privilege of a martyr; to meet death with intrepidity is the right only of innocence, if in any human being innocence could be found. Of him, whose life is shortened by his crimes, the last duties are humility and self-abasement. We owe to God sincere repentance; we owe to man the appearance of repentance. We ought not to propagate an opinion, that he who lived in wickedness can die with courage. If the serenity or gaiety with which some men have ended a life of guilt, were unfeigned, they can be imputed only to ignorance or stupidity, or, what is more horrid, to voluntary intoxication:if they were artificial or hypocritical, they were acts of deception, the useless and unprofitable crimes of pride unmortified, and obstinacy unsubdued.

There is yet another crime possible, and, as there is reason to believe, sometimes committed in the last moment, on the margin of eternity.Men have died with a stedfast denial of crimes, of which it is very difficult to suppose them innocent. By what equivocation or reserve they may have reconciled their consciences to falsehood, if their consciences were at all consulted, it is impossible to know. But if they thought, that when they were to die, they paid their legal forfeit, and that the world had no farther demand upon them; that therefore they might by keeping their own secrets, try to leave behind them a disputable reputation; and that the falsehood was harmless, because none were injured;—they had very little considered the nature of society.

One of the principal parts of national felicity arises from a wise and impartial administration of justice. Every man reposes upon the tribunals of his country, the stability of possession, and the serenity of life. He, therefore, who unjustly exposes the courts of judicature to suspicion, either of partiality or error, not only does an injury to those who dispense the laws, but diminishes the public confidence in the laws themselves, and shakes the foundation of public tranquillity.

For my own part, I confess, with deepest compunction, the crime which has brought me to this place; and admit the justice of my sentence, while I am sinking under its severity. And I earnestly exhort you, my fellow prisoners, to acknowledge the offences which have been already proved; and to bequeath to our country that confidence in public justice, without which there can be neither peace nor safety.

As few men suffer for their first offences, and most convicts are conscious of more crimes than have been brought within judicial cognizance, it is necessary to enquire how far confession ought to be extended. Peace of mind, or desire of instruction, may sometimes demand, that to the minister whose counsel is requested, a long course of evil life should be discovered:-but of this every man must determine for himself. To the public, every man, before he departs from life, is obliged to confess those acts which have brought, or may bring unjust suspicion upon others; and to convey such information,

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as may enable those who have suffered losses to obtain restitution.

Whatever good remains in our power we must diligently perform.-We must prevent, to the utmost of our power, all the evil consequences of our crimes. We must forgive all who have injured us. We must, by fervency of prayer and constancy in meditation, endeavour to repress all worldly passions, and generate in our minds that love of goodness, and hatred of sin, which may fit us for the society of heavenly minds. And, finally, we must commend and entrust our souls to HIM, who died for the sins of men with earnest wishes and humble hopes, that he will admit us with the labourers who entered the vineyard at the last hour, and associate us with the thief whom he pardoned on

the cross!

To this great end, you will not refuse to unite with me on bended knees, and with humbled hearts, in fervent prayer to the throne of grace ! May the Father of mercy hear our supplications, and have compassion upon us!

"Oalmighty Lord God, the righteous JUDGE of all the earth, who in thy providential justice dost frequently inflict severe vengeance upon sinners in this life, that thou mayest by their sad examples effectually deter others from commiting the like heinous offences; and that they themselves, truly repenting of their faults, may escape the condemnation of hell:-look down in mercy upon us, thy sorrowful servants, whom

thou