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yield up for me! It is but a few false vanities that I resign, when resigning the world for thee; and while I part with a little dross, in thee I shall find inestimable treasures. Blessed Jesus, thou didst part with real happiness on my account. Brighter glories, than thy angels wear, thou didst resign for me. Thou didst forego on my account, nobler joys than those to which I aspire in thy presence. Take then my youth. Too much of it has already been lost; but, Lord, accept its remains; and let not another of my days be spent in the service of a world, that murdered thee; or of thy great enemy and mine. "Love so amazing, so divine," as is thy love, demands my youth, "my soul, my life, my all."

Thus, my young friend, if true piety is yours, must you renounce all that religion opposes; thus change your object, your master, and your way; and thus devote yourself altogether to him, who died on your account. Without this, to hope for heaven, is as distracted as it would be, if you threw yourself from the top of a precipice, to hope that you should not fall. It is hoping against hope. The word of God is plain, that, without conversion, there is no salvation.

§ 16. Many persons eminent for piety, when devoting themselves to the Lord, have done so in a written form of solemn self-dedication; and many pious divines have recommended this practice. The following is a short form of this kind, a copious and excellent one is given in Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul.

Great and ever blessed God, I humbly approach thee, to engage myself to thee in a covenant that I hope shall never be forgotten. Feeling that everlasting salvation is of more conse

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quence to me than a thousand worlds could be, and knowing that I am under infinite obligations to yield up myself to thee, I solemnly declare, that I take thee as my God.

I sincerely renounce this present evil world: I will not seek my portion in it; and its sinful customs, vanities, and delights, I give up; while in the world, it shall be my part, to live as not of it, but as a traveller to a heavenly country.

I solemnly take thee as my Father; in thy favour and love I will seek my happiness, and in thy presence my rest. I yield up myself to thee, to be disposed of according to thy will, and to be governed by thy laws.

I receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour; I confess myself an unworthy and miserable sinner; I look upon thee, O Lord Jesus, as sent by God to suffer for me; as my atoning Saviour I receive thee, and would rest all my hopes on thy atoning death and perfect righteousness; and I give up myself to thee, to be thy disciple and to follow thee.

As solemnly would I give up myself to the Holy Spirit as my Sanctifier; praying that his divine illuminations may enlighten my mind, and his powerful influences completely change my heart. By his teaching I would be taught, and his influence I will seek.

Thus I give up the world for thee, O my God: and solemnly yield up myself, body, and soul, and spirit, to thee, O Father, as my Father; to the Son, as my Saviour; to the Holy Spirit, as my Sanctifier: and now, with thee for my witness, I confirm this holy engagement.

And, O blessed God, I enter into it solemnly; for, I do it as in thy sight.

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Fully; for, I make no secret reservation, but would be entirely thine.

Freely; for, no constraint compels me, but it is the choice to which thy grace has led me.

Deliberately; for, I have considered what I am now doing.

And for ever; for, this is the choice to which, by thy help, I will adhere till death removes me to meet my God.

A PRAYER FOR A YOUNG PERSON, DESIROUS OF COMING TO GOD AND CHRIST FOR HAPPINESS.

Blessed and glorious God, thou art the happiness of heaven; and saints and angels find eternal good in thee. All thy family, in those mansions above, are satisfied in thy likeness, and drink of the river of thy pleasures. Thin is the veil which separates me from the eternal world; but, wide the gulf that would have divided me from their society, their pleasures, and their praise. A guilty child of man, I knew thee not. Corrupt and averse to good, I sought thee not. Ignorant and blind, I walked in darkness; and, yet, I thought I saw. Enslaved as the wretch that is bound in fetters of iron, and helpless as he who has lost every limb, I still knew not my captivity, and felt not my helplessness. Thus, gracious God, I might have continued, till the flames of hell had flashed before my departed and trembling spirit, if thy mercy had not interposed. But, O, eternal praises to thy name! that thou hast pitied, that thou hast helped a creature lost like me! Glory be to thee, that I hear of mercy! Glory in the highest, that thy Son has brought it to the world! For this shall thy praises be prolonged, through successive ages, till the last

trumpet shall summon thy children to the worship of a better world. Surely the praises of eternity will be too few for compassion like thine; and the glowing offering of the hosts of heaven. cold, compared with the fervour of thy love, Great God, I praise thee for mercy! I praise thee for thy Son! Thou hast marked out the way of life. Thou hast shown the path of peace. Thou hast assured me, that by thy grace he tasted "death for every man;" that "he was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities."

Now, O my God, let this blessed Redeemer be my way to thee. Without thee, earth is but a wilderness; and heaven, without thee, would be no longer heaven. Thy presence can cheer the darkest gloom; change night to day; and pain to ease: sorrow to delight; poverty to riches; and death to life. Thy presence can make the martyr's dungeon fairer than the monarch's palace; and the sad stillness of the chamber of death more pleasing than the voice of melody. Thy love can make the dismal grave a more welcome habitation, than the most cheerful dwelling where harmony and affection abide. Thy love is a treasure, compared with which the wealth of worlds were poverty; and, O, a treasure, which the enmity of worlds could never take away! Thy presence darkens all terrestrial glory, and makes earthly beauty charm no more. To know thee, to love thee, and delight in thee, is a heaven below, a heaven even in the midst of conflicts and pain; but, O, what a heaven is theirs, who know thee, and love thee, and rejoice in thee in heaven itself! Great God, may this happiness be mine! May I, a sinful child

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of sinful man, a worm, a leaf, a shade, aspire so high! May I presume to call thee, the eternal JEHOVAH, mine! Ah! Lord, I may. Years ago I might; but, I slighted thee, and this unspeakable blessedness. O! well might my heart sicken, and my head grow dizzy, with shame and horror, to think of having slighted thee! But, now no more, O gracious Lord! I would act the prodigal's part no more. I come to thee; be thou my blessedness, or none will ever be mine. I come to thee; teach all my heart to bow before thee. Let love draw me to thy throne. Let faith repose on thy promises. Let submission make thy pleasure mine. Let me be a wanderer no more. Take the remainder of my youth, and let my life, longer or shorter, be all thy own.

And thou, O blessed Saviour, thou art revealed to me as the way to happiness, to heaven, and God. To thee I come for life, and help, and every good. Thy precious blood was shed for me. Thy righteousness is sufficient to clothe my guilty soul. I am nothing. I have nothing to present to thee, but what is unworthy of thy notice. My prayers, my praises, my holiest actions, need to be sprinkled with thy atoning blood. But, didst thou not come to save the lost! and I am lost. Art not thou the way, the truth, and the life! Be thou my life. Wash me in thy allcleansing blood. Form me to thine image. Come, possess my heart, and by thy Spirit dwell in me. Guilty, let me flee to thy blood. Helpless, let me lean on thy arm; and worthy of destruction only, let me plead thy death before thy judgment throne. Act as my intercessor above; and make me thy humble friend