“My sins have been chiefly, though far from exclusively, against God, and with many aggravations.  That I was born in a Christian land, of pious parents, who gave me religious instructions; brought up under faithful, lively ministers, and in religious society; exposed to few temptations but what arose from the corruptions of my own heart, are aggravations, which, perhaps, many are mourning over, as heightening the sin of unbelief in their unregenerated state.  But the aggravations—­the painful remembrance of which mars my comfort and covers me with shame and confusion even now, though I know that God is pacified with me—­are as far above these as the heavens are above the earth.  For in that Christian land, under those Christian parents and faithful pastors, while yet young and tender, I was enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, was made a partaker of the Holy Ghost, tasted of the good word of God and the power of the world to come.  I was taken from the fearful pit and miry clay; my feet set upon the rock, and a new song put into my mouth, even to the amount of, O death, where is thy sting?—­of redeeming love, pardoning grace, new covenant mercy, I had ‘joy and peace in believing,’ But forgetting my natural character, the extreme volatility of my spirits, my taste for gayety; forgetting the danger of smothering the heavenly spark by indulging to the utmost bound of lawful pleasure; forgetting my continual need of fresh supplies of grace to preserve and feed that new life which could not live on earthly food; forgetting the deceitfulness of my heart, the injunctions of my Bible, I became cold, negligent in the use of means, distant in prayer, lost enjoyment, and my heart, naturally carnal and madly fond of pleasure, got entangled.  ‘The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life’ regained their power; other loves usurped the place of that Beloved who had bought me with his blood, and betrothed me to himself; ’that which came into my mind was, that I would be as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.’  Blessed be his name, he said, ’It shall not be.’  He brought me into the wilderness and pleaded with me, caused me to pass under the rod, brought me again into the bond of the covenant.

“O how often hast thou wrought with me, for thy name’s sake.  One self-willed step brought with it a train of consequences dangerous to spiritual life, filling even the path of duty with pits and snares, cutting me off from ordinances, pastor, parents, church, country, and Christian society; placing me at the same time in the midst of carnal delights; and every thing in my natural temper and dispositions was congenial to them.  What saved me?  What in heaven or earth could save me, but thy covenant?  Truly thy covenant standeth fast; therefore I was not lost in the vortex.  But ’the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,’ kept his eye upon me; many a time