FIFTH 
LETTER TO CONVICTS 
IN 
STATE PRISONS AND HOUSES OF CORRECTION, 
O R 
COUNTY PENITENTIARIES. 
“ Verily I say unto you, there is joy in Heaven over one sinner 
that repenteth.” 
PRINTED BET NOT PEBLISHED, 
November, 1850. LETTER. 
Boston, November 28ih, 1850, 
I find it convenient to adopt the general method of 
replying, to many letters from the inmates of prisons, 
by one to each and to all, which is at once an indication 
of the interest I take in the moral and mental improve- 
ment of every one, and a means of offering such plain 
suggestions to many individuals, as, if seriously ponder- 
ed, will assist their efforts in keeping alive and estab- 
lishing virtuous purposes, and determining right reso- 
lutions for adopting a correct mode of life. 
Arrested mid-way in your thoughtless career, borne, 
along on the strong tide of ruinous habits and 
vicious courses, enemies equally to yourselves and 
your fellow-citizens, doing but little if any good, but 
practising evil continually, what could you anticipate 
in the end here, but misery and ruin ? and, if to the 
solemn eternity your eye was ever turned, what prom- 
ises did it hold out for the bold, bad transgressor 
of the Divine laws ? In thankfulness you should re- 
joice that this downward career has been timely stay- 
ed; that your day of grace has not closed in the long 
night of utter destruction. 
To each and to all those whose repentance is sin- 
cere ; who, in discerning that the wages of sin are the 
death of the soul; to all who with honest minds de- 
termine that henceforth they will forsake the error of 
their ways, I say be of good courage, be of one mind, 
turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left, but, 
with faith in your power, by God’s assisting grace, 3 
and the use of right means, to build up a good charac- 
ter, and to lead a righteous and honored life; persevere, 
through evil report as through good report, and reach 
after the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus. 
God is great, and he should be feared ; he is merci- 
ful, and therefore may the contrite offender have hope, if 
he truly repent of his sins, and turn away from the 
iniquities of a corrupt life, that he shall find not on- 
ly forgiveness but joy and peace, and unmeasured 
help to assist his endeavors after a Christian life. 
Learn to believe the Commandments; and, remem- 
bering the precepts of Jesus Christ, learn to do them. 
Do not mistake transient impulses for sound repen- 
tance. Not only determine to abandon sins that allure 
you, and vices that corrupt; hut make the practice 
correspond with the intention. 
“ When brought into prison,” said a wretched offen- 
der, t£ oh how heartily 1 repented of the deeds of my 
life past ! but this repentance neither afforded me 
peace nor satisfaction, for I repented not till all the 
means of a criminal life were cut off ; I was ashamed 
that I was found out ; angry at being imprisoned, and 
disheartened on my trial and conviction. I did not so 
much care that I had committed an offence against 
God and my neighbor, as I did that I was punished. 
This sort of repentance put all comfort out of my mind, 
and my thoughts, whether I slept or was awake, were 
troubled continually. But now I feel differently ; I 
have had more time to see my evil ways, contrasting my 
bad life with the upright life of some of my early friends, 
who have done well in conduct, though all of them 
have not got rich and risen in the world. I begin 
to feel now as if the right sort of repentance was going 
to do me good. I do feel now sorry that I have said 4 
to evil and to folly, 1 Be thou my good — they have 
been no good to me.” 
This strain of expression is not uncommon. The 
majority of those, who allow themselves to fall into a 
low and corrupt life, have moments of reflection when 
the false charms of a base, a sinful, a criminal career 
vanish.—and the excellence, beauty, and value of 
a righteous and upright course of action are seen in 
their true light and value. 
Conscience is the last friend to the sinner, whose 
voice is silenced by neglect and derision. 
God opens many ways by which the sincere peni- 
tent may ascend out of darkness into the blessed light 
of a redeemed life. But first must the erring know of 
a certainty that it is necessary to forsake, not only 
great sins and sinful indulgences, but also to avoid 
steadily all temptations that have led the mind and 
heart astray. 
“ Pray, plead that, in temptation’s day, 
You with true heart may humbly say, 
Thanks to the Heavenly Father’s care, 
It is no more than I can bear.” 
Outward changes are almost as important to assist 
the soul’s renovation, its conversion to, and adherence 
to a renewed and holy life, as are the purifications 
wrought by a conviction of sin, and an inward pur- 
pose of obedience to God’s laws. The force of habits 
is absolute and tyrannical ; the influence of old asso- 
ciations is imperious and pertinacious. To remove 
from scenes where sobriety, honesty, industry, and 
steady habits have been broken up and perished ; 
where the heart has grown callous to all that was 5 
manly and upright ; where the fear and the love of 
God have alike been extinguished, and vicious com- 
panionships, unbridled passions, and lawless indul- 
gences have taken the place of all that is respectable, 
respected, pure and good; to remove from these scenes is 
surely wise. Go where new associates and sounder prin- 
ciples can be gained; and where fewer temptations will 
beset your as yet infant resolves : get interested in 
what is honoured and honourable : watch well your 
speech, and acts ; frame thoughtfully and with 
discretion your daily occupations ; persevere in the 
straight and narrow path against all that may interrupt 
your onward and upward advances. 
The reforming man has truly to pass through fiery 
trials on his way to the Heavenly City ; but each step 
forward, rightly planted, adds new force for making 
the next, and by and by the fearful rocks and preci- 
pices of the Hills of Difficulty are surmounted ; the 
glittering gardens of sensual indulgence are passed, 
and the way becomes smoother, the airs purer, the 
frame is braced to new efforts, and the thankful heart 
finds peace and exceeding joy in serving God, and in 
believing and doing his commandments. 
Outward changes are expedient, in assisting to the 
attainment of a reformed life ;—but the means em- 
ployed by the mind and soul are of vital consequence ; 
and without these assistants to aid the work of repen- 
tance, vain will be the work, and the labour in vain. 
Do you then, in all sincerity, ask how you shall find 
out the Way, the Truth, and the promised Life as it is in 
Christ ?—how, when temptations assail, and hinderan- 
ces interfere, you shall resist, and hold out to the end ? 
I say, “ Watch and pray.” By meditation and prayer 
shall you be strengthened and enlightened, and your 6 
soul shall drink at the fountain of Living Waters 
which fail not. The very act of Prayer assures a 
benefit, and brings down a blessing. No one can sin- 
cerely enter into the retirement of his own room, 
and “ call home all wandering thoughts,” fasten his 
reflections upon the soul’s condition, and kneeling ask 
of the Supreme, and All-merciful Father, the gifts of 
his grace ; can pour out the soul in penitence ; can 
implore help in weakness ; can offer thanks for daily?' 
and hourly unmeasured benefits, and not rise from his 
knees a better man, and fortified with that armour 
of faith which is a safeguard amidst the distur- 
bances and dangers of the world and the world’s fol- 
lies and sins. 
The Scriptures, both of the Old and the New Tes- 
tament, inculcate prayer. Christ especially, through 
example and precept, enforced this duty, and made it 
of daily obligation when he said, “ Give us our daily 
bread.” We are to remember our dependence upon 
God always, at all times, under all circumstances. 
We are to watch as well as pray. We are to keep the 
heart with all diligence—we are to be fervent in spirit, 
serving the Lord. 
Prayer brings the soul into a peaceful, serious, sol- 
emn state ; it reveals man’s nearness to God, and 
calls down the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spi- 
rit, leading, cheering, directing the life and thoughts 
aright. 
“ ’Tis prayer supports the soul that’s weak, 
Though poor and broken be its word ; 
Pray if thou canst, or canst not speak ; 
The breathings of the soul are heard !” 7 
Even while a devout thought rests upon the mind, 
a holy fervour, an elevated, spiritualizing influence 
pervades the heart, and the kindled affections offer the 
incense of reverential love to the Supreme Deity ; 
while the purpose is made resolute to assist that which 
is good. 
Your present situation, shut away from many 
temptations and enticements that bode the soul’s sure 
destruction, should be regarded as provided by a mer- 
ciful Providence to assist or afford opportunity for the 
work of self-reclamation, which it is always difficult 
to commence, and difficult to pursue with steadiness 
and fidelity. Imprisonment has its great trials ; its 
unmixed evils ; but its humiliations, its privations, its 
restraints, all may he made profitable in preparing 
for an upright and well-ordered life when release 
comes. “ As a man soweth, so also shall he reap”— 
The good and the evil were placed before you which 
to choose : the distant consequences of your choice 
were both known : if you chose that which was evil, 
if you grasped at the pleasures of sin for a season, and 
forsook the way which led to the true and everlasting 
joys, why complain ? none can live in sin, and possess 
the peace of mind which gives joy to life. Choose ye 
this day, saith the Lord, whether ye will obey my 
laws, and go in the way of my commandments ; or 
whether ye will sacrifice to Mammon, and worship 
the false gods of this world. 
And even as the choice was made, so has been the 
end. But let the past suffice, to have wrought the 
deeds of the flesh ; henceforth say—“ As for me and 
my house, we will serve the Lord.” 
When these prison-walls shall no more detain you, 
determine to go forth not only free men, free to walk 8 
abroad through the land, unfettered and unwatched, 
but free in the mind’s liberty ; in the soul’s freedom ; 
free in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you 
free : free from sin, and its enthralments ; free from 
crime, and its sharp stings of remorse ; free from 
the Pestilence,—that Gorgon-headed Vice,—Intempe- 
rance ! 
Intemperance ! who shall tell the woes this scourge 
of society heaps upon its victims ! Intemperance! 
who shall paint the miseries, the mental torture, the 
bodily sufferings this dread foe inflicts ! Intempe- 
rance ! it not only kills the body, swallows up fortune, 
reputation, every earthly good, but it is the great 
principle of Evil, which carries down the soul to de- 
struction ; it is the worm, that dieth not ; it kindles 
the consuming fires, which are never quenched ! 
Beware of the use of intoxicating drinks : who can 
touch pitch, and not be defiled ? who can say to the 
tempter, So far shalt thou come and no farther, and 
here shall thy proud waves be stayed ? a little more, 
and a little more ; so day by day, and hour by hour, 
the invader forces himself over the weak defences of a 
weak will, and the moderate drinker becomes a 
drunkard. 
“ Yes, he may hug the joys of vice, 
Of vice without control ; 
But ah, at what a fearful price,— 
The price must he his soul !” 
Listen to the voice which warns you from the poi- 
sonous draught. “ Slavery and Death the cup con- 
tains touch it not, taste it not : flee the Tempter, 
stand not to sip and tamper with the offering ; let 
Total Abstinence be your watchword : Strictest Tem- 
perance your rule. 9 
As a secondary, but very important aid to the indi- 
vidual who desires to lift himself from the slough of 
vice, and abandon crime, beside the means already 
urged in this letter, is to adopt a course of reading. 
In all situations such a habit offers high advanta- 
ges. To you, who are shut out from the excitements 
and various occupations which engage hours not given 
to labor, it is highly important to break up the mo- 
notony of your prison life by acquainting yourselves 
with the thoughts of others, that, through their aid, 
your own ideas may be quickened and directed im- 
provingly. But let your reading always be selected 
with a view, not to entertainment so much as to the 
acquisition of various and useful information and 
instruction. 
One book, the Bible, especially the Psalms, Prov- 
erbs, and the Scriptures of the New Testament, sh uld 
engage your study. I have before dwelt on the great 
value and importance of Bible study : Make your 
minds familiar with its great truths : dwell often upon 
the precepts inculcated in the Sermon on the Mount ; 
in that you will find rules and commands which, 
if observed and obeyed, will lead you steadily and 
surely to a righteous life and secure a happy and 
Chistian death. Search the Scriptures, for in them ye 
have the words of eternal life. 11 The entrance of 
these words shed light, and to the simple and unlearn- 
ed they reveal the way of life.” 
Books of general information, perused at right times, 
will invigorate and elevate your thoughts ; they will 
teach you to think, to reason, to compare ; to search 
into cause and effect ; and they will help you to bear 
the burthens of your lot submissively and patiently. 
These burthens, which you have gathered upon your- 10 
selves, can be cast off by the use of the means of 
grace. 
“ Awake my soul, with zealous care, 
Thy true condition learn ; 
What are thy hopes, how sure, how fair, 
And what thy great concern. 
“ Now a new space of life begins ; 
Set out afresh for heaven ; 
Seek pardon for thy former sins, 
Repent, and be forgiven. 
“ Jesus, the well-beloved Son, 
Will help thy purpose weak, 
His bright example lead thee on, 
If thou his precepts keep !” 
Sir William Jones, a good, great, and learned man, 
made for himself the three following rules,—and they 
may with fitness be adopted by those who keep im- 
provement and a good life in view :— 
“ First. Never neglect any opportunity of self-im- 
provement. 
“ Second. Believe that whatever others can accom- 
plish, I too can do if it is right, and no real difficul- 
ties shall ever oppose any undertaking that is just and 
fit to be undertaken. 
“ Third. Never allow myself to throw aside any 
useful work, nor to abandon any high purpose which I 
have once determined on and commenced.” 
Method, order, diligence, and courage, added to 
unconquerable perseverance, were brought into exer- 
cise by this upright man in all the higher and lower 
purposes of life. All temporal and spiritual underta- 
kings were prosecuted with vigour. He reverenced 
the laws of God, and made religion and virtue 
leaders of his daily life. 11 
Every good habit, acquired and confirmed, is as a 
golden-winged angel, deputed from the heavenly 
Avorld, to stand a perpetual sentinel over the avenue 
by which sins, and vices, and criminal practices seek 
to force an entrance. 
“ Up then, sinner ; from thee shaking 
Off the bonds of sloth, be brave ! 
Give thyself to prayer and watching ; 
Toil, still toil, thy soul to save !” 
And now I must conclude this letter. If I have of- 
fered any suggestion, or opened any thoughts to your 
minds which shall assist your endeavours after a 
higher life, I shall be truly thankful. I would that 
you all were free from the weary bonds by which you 
are detained, if you at the same time could be made free 
from the dominion of sin ! If you could go forth 
and lead lives of usefulness, blameless of offence 
against your fellow-men, and of transgression against 
the Almighty Lord. 
I pray for you, that God’s mercy and his grace may 
be sufficient for you in all times of distress and of 
temptation ; may his revealed Word be as a light to 
your feet, and a lamp to your path ; may you draw 
near to your Maker by devout meditation and prayer ; 
may you make Jesus Christ your Guide and Teacher ; 
and, forsaking the things which are behind, press for- 
ward to the mark for the prize of the high cal- 
ling of God. 
“ Finally, whatsoever things are true ; whatsoever 
things are honest ; whatsoever things are just,—if 
there Be any virtue, if there be any praise, think of 
these thingsand the God of peace sanctify you 
wholly, through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
Your sincere well-wisher, D. L. Dix. 12 
PROFANE SWEARING. 
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,— 
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name 
in vain.”—Exodus, xx. 7. 
The worse than vain use of words, as mere exple- 
tives, ejaculations, or even combined into declarations, 
appears to be regarded as less a sin thap a mark of 
ill-breeding by many individuals, and if not more gen- 
erally tolerated in decent society than formerly,—cer- 
tainly not made subject to the just rebuke it deserves. 
Christ, the divine Teacher, distinctly forbids the use 
of vain oaths ; indeed the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament contain numerous injunctions against 
this abuse of the voice and speech. 
. “ Profane swearing,” says an old writer, no other 
indeed than the quaint and celebrated Daniel De Foe, 
who well understood human nature, u is, of all vices, 
the most foolish and senseless. It makes a man’s 
conversation unpleasant, his discourse fruitless, and 
his language nonsense. 
“ 1st. It makes conversation unpleasant, at least to 
those who do not use the same foolish way of dis- 
course, indeed it is an offence to all the company who 
swear not as he does ; for, if I swear and curse in so- 
ciety, I either presume that all like it, or I affront 
those who do not. 
“ 2d. It is fruitless ; for no man is believed the 
more for all the vain repetitions and asseverations 
which he makes. Those who are addicted to it them- 
selves do not the more believe a man, for they do not 
signify to bind a man’s intention ; and they, who 
practise them not, have so poor an opinion of those 
who do, as makes them think they deserve no belief. 13 
“ Discourse interlarded with oaths becomes non- 
sense ; words without signification are only noise, and 
mere noise any brute can make as well as man, and 
birds much better. 
“ Swearing is nonsense by its unmeaningness, and 
impertinent for its nonsense ! 
“We do not find that the merest slaves to swearing 
undertake to teach it, or have it taught to their chil- 
dren ; that would be indeed monstrous. 
“ Swearing is a means without an end : folly enac- 
ted for the sake of folly : Idiots can do the like.” 
Generally all vices have some previous cause, some 
visible tendency, but this has none : it is a tongue 
mania ; and it is not only a gross social offence, but it 
outrages the express command of the Almighty ; and 
sets at naught the precepts of Christ. 
“ I have done those things I ought not to have done, and 
have left undone those things which I should have done.” 
“ Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay, 
Though I have done thee such despite ; 
Nor cast the sinner quite away, 
Nor take thine everlasting flight. 
“ Though I have steeled my stubborn heart, 
And still shake off my guilty fears ; 
And vexed, and urged thee to depart 
For many long rebellious years ; 
“ Though I have most unfaithful been, 
Of all who e’er thy grace received ; 
Ten thousand times thy goodness seen, 
Ten thousand times thy goodness grieved ; 14 
“Yet O, the contrite sinner spare, 
Upraise me with thy gracious hand, 
Nor in thy righteous anger swear 
T’ exclude me from the “ promised land.” 
Most gracious and justly offended Lord ! be merci- 
ful to me a sinner : spare me to reach a more en- 
tire repentance, and to prepare for the Life Eter- 
nal, Amen. 
“ Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” 
“ Come to the living waters, come ! 
Sinners, obey your Maker’s call; 
Return, ye weary wanderers, home, 
And find my grace is free for all. 
“ See from the Rock a fountain rise ; 
For you in healing streams it rolls ; 
Money ye need not bring, nor price, 
Ye lab’ring, burthened, sin-sick souls. 
“ I bid you all my goodness prove ; 
My promises for all are free ; 
Come, taste the manna of my love, 
And let your souls repose in me.” 
Oh, thou All-merciful ! I kneel to praise thee, and 
to give thanks for sparing mercies. Thou hast been 
gracious unto me ; evil and unthankful as I have 
been ; thou hast not rewarded me according to my 
iniquity. Cleanse me from that which is evil, and 
accept me, through Jesus Christ, Amen ! 15 
Awake, thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give thee light !’ 
“ Sinner, rouse thee from thy sleep,— 
Wake, and o’er thy folly weep ; 
Bouse thy spirit, dark and dead, 
Jesus waits his light to shed. 
“ Leave thy follies, cease from crime, 
From this hour redeem thy time ; 
Life secure, without delay, 
Evil is this mortal day. 
“ Be not blind and foolish still; 
Called of Jesus, learn his will ; 
Jesus leads from death to life ; 
Jesus waits to shed his light.” 
Oh, most great and merciful Lord God ! to whom 
sinful man may draw near by the prayer of faith, 
through and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Saviour 
and Redeemer ! hear, I beseech thee, of thine infinite 
goodness, the supplications of me, a contrite sinner. 
Thou art good, and wise, and great ; I am sinful, and 
ignorant, and poor. Oh, wilt thou graciously assist 
me to become a better man ; grant the inspiration of 
thy holy Spirit, that I may become a wiser man ; and 
give to me a sincere desire to do thy will, so shall l 
come to possess the true riches ! Amen. 
“ The Lord is nigh unto those that call upon him.” 
u The errors of my heart I know, 
I feel my deep infirmities, 
For often virtuous feelings glow, 
And holy purposes arise, 
But like the morning clouds decay, 
As empty, though as fair as they. 16 
“ Forgive the weakness I deplore, 
And let thy grace abound in me, 
That I may trust my heart no more, 
But wholly cast myself on thee. 
Oh let my full obedience prove, 
The perfect power of faith and love !” 
Our Father, who art in heaven ! hear my imperfect 
petitions, and give answer to my prayers. I ask for 
help to resist the temptations which beset me ; I ask 
for grace to bear patiently all griefs and trials ; I ask 
faith to lay hold on the promises of the Scriptures ; 
and I do humbly beseech of thee, that thou wilt not 
reject and cast away so great a sinner. By thy aid, I 
purpose hereafter to lead a godly life. 
O Lord ! I beseech of thee* accept my prayer. 
Amen. 
“ To whom should we go but unto thee ? thou hast the words 
of Eternal Life.” 
“ In Heaven above, in earth below, 
Where, save to thee, Lord, could I go ? 
Where could I take my heart’s despair, 
Where could I pour the fervent prayer ? 
“ Where could I whisper all my fears, 
And show my anguish and my tears ? 
Where fly for strength ’mid mortal strife, 
Where but to Him whose words are life ?” 
Great and merciful Lord God ! I feel that I am a 
sinner : I have trampled on thy laws, and have forsa- 
ken the right life : I am unworthy to come unto thee, 
and to take thy name upon my lips. My sins cry out 
against me, and my crimes are arrayed against me ; 17 
but thou hast sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the 
lost. In his name, confessing my unworthiness, I 
implore for mercy and forgiveness. O hear my pe- 
tition, and let my cry come up unto thee. I will, by 
thy assisting grace, try to be led by Christ and his 
blessed word. I will try to become a true Christian. 
I will try to speak the truth; to swear no more ; I will 
try to be just and honest, and to live by thy laws. 
This I earnestly determine. Help me, O Lord ! I be- 
seech thee, coming unto thee by Jesus Christ, the only 
•Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. 
•“ Will ye also go away ? ” 
“ Deny thee ! when thy blood was shed 
To avert destruction from my head ; 
Deny thee ! when thy pitying eye 
Shed tears for man’s infirmity! 
Deny the love that came to save, 
And triumph o’er the dismal grave ! 
Deny the blessed lips, whence poured 
Pardon for sin confessed, deplored ! 
■“ Deny the Cross, to which I cling ! 
From my lost soul its succour fling ; 
Deny thee, helper of my need, 
Support of every broken reed ! 
“ No, I too long have left thee, Lord ! 
Too long have trampled on thy Word : 18 
Repentant, humbled in the dust, 
I own thee as my only trust ! 
“ Oh, wilt thou condescend to take 
The only offering I can make; 
My heart, my all, my life, I give, 
Be thine henceforth alone my will !” 
All-merciful Lord ! I have transgressed thy just and 
holy laws ; I have abandoned myself to sinful courses 
and to base companions ; I am sorry, and humbled on 
account of my evil life ; I truly purpose to reform my 
ways, and henceforth to live in conformity with thy 
commands, and to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
my study, and the subject of devout meditation. The 
Lord Jesus taught that the great Creator is merciful 
and gracious ; that, like as a father pitieth his chil- 
dren, so the Lord pitieth those that fear him ; for he 
knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are 
dust, as said the Psalmist; so did thy blessed Son, 
and the chosen Apostles, teach all sincere and faithful 
converts. I have done evil and not good, and, bowed 
down with shame, I pray for assistance in the new 
life I mean to lead. Oh, let thy sparing mercy forbear 
to cut down the fruitless tree ; thou hast come many 
years, seeking fruit, but the barren branches have re- 
turned nothing into the Lord’s store-houses. Spare 
me yet a little longer that I may redeem the past, and 
be saved with the saints who shall be gathered to the 
kingdom of Heaven. I ask most humbly that thou 
wouldst hear and answer my imperfect prayer, offered 
through Jesus Christ the Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. 19 
“ Humble yourself before the mighty power of God.” 
“ The proudest heart that ever beat 
Hath been subdued in me ; 
The wildest will that ever rose 
To scorn thy word, and aid its foes, 
Is quelled, my God, by thee ! 
Thy will, and not my will, be done ; 
My heart be ever thine : 
Confessing thy beloved Son, 
Saviour, Messiah, Holy One, 
Thy Cross shall be my sign !” 
Oh, Lord ! thou who searchest the hearts of all 
men—who knowest every secret thought, and word, 
—I humbly beseech thee to assist my weak desires 
and imperfect efforts after an amended life. 
I confess my sins before thee ; I have erred from 
thy truth, and shut out the light of thy righteousness 
from my understanding. I have wearied myself in 
the way of wickedness, and the profit thereof has been 
the wages of sin. Alas, many troubles have come upon 
me, and the hope of my youth has failed ! but thou, 
O Lord, of thy great mercy, hear my prayer, pardon 
and restore me to thy favor and to a Christian life of 
piety and virtue. This I implore in the name of Jesus 
Christ. Amen. 
“ Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : 
for God cannot he tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any 
man : but every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his 
own perverse desires, and enticed.”—Epistle of James. 
“ O God of infinite power, to-night 
Humbly before thy throne I bow ; 20 
For all my weakness, and my sins, 
Rise up in fearful judgment now. 
“ And feeling how my feet have turned 
Aside from righteousness and thee, 
I tremble lest I may not reach 
The palace where thine angels be 3 
“ I feel that I have not subdued 
The strength of my rebellious will ; 
' And that my stubborn heart resists 
The pleadings of thy spirit still 3 
“ 0, open to my blinded eyes 
The way from darkness into light, 
Before thy spirit, urging me, 
Shall take its everlasting flight. 
u To-night, to-night, O gracious Lord 3 
Let the reforming work begin ; 
My burthened heart before the cross 
Is broken with its weight of sin !” 
Father of mercy ! God of grace ! grant to me, a 
sinner all unworthy thy care, a spirit of earnest peni- 
tence for sins and follies past. Give to me that divine 
strength which alone can aid my endeavors after a 
new life. Oh, may I reach thee, through the life, 
and example, and precepts of Jesus Christ ; may I 
walk in the way he made, whereby all sinners, who 
truly forsake their sins, may reach thee. Hear my 
prayer, O God ! and let my petitions be accepted, in 
the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 21 
“ Now is the accepted time : now is the day of salvation ! ” 
• “ Beneath our feet, and o’er our head, 
Is equal warning given ; 
Beneath us lie the countless dead, 
Above us is the heaven. 
“ Death rides on every passing breeze, 
And lurks in every flower ; 
Each season has its own disease, 
Its peril every hour ! 
“ Turn, mortal, turn ; thy soul apply 
To truths divinely given : 
Thy sins forsake, O haste and fly, 
Search out the path to Heaven !” 
Thou, O Lord ! hast promised that those who re- 
pent and turn to thee shall find pardon. Through 
Jesus Christ I come, asking spiritual gifts, and all 
needed blessings. Withhold all that will hinder my 
growth in grace ; give me pardon,peace, and joy in be- 
lieving. Amen ! 
“ If we deny Him, he also will deny us.” 
“ Deny thee ! what, deny the way 
Which leads to heaven’s eternal day ? 
Deny the Shepherd who will keep 
Within the fold his wandering sheep ! 
“ Deny thee ! who alone can give 
The hope which bids the sinner live ! 
Can bid him burst the galling chain, 
And bless him with thy peace again ! 22 
“ Deny the Lord ! then who will bear 
My sins, my burthens, and my care ? 
Thou, thou alone, canst calm my breast, 
And bid its weary throbbings rest.” 
By and through Jesus, thy Son, and through whom 
only the sinner can be saved from the death of sin, I 
come to thee, all-merciful and long-suffering Lord God 
Almighty. I do not deserve thy compassion nor thy 
pardon, but thou hast promised not to reject those who 
truly repent of and confess their sins, and who resolve 
to make thy will the rule of life, and who come to 
thee by the Saviour. Forsake me not, reject not my 
supplications, O Lord ! I am frail and erring : grant 
me strength from above ; and as I prove my sincerity, 
help thou me to walk in the way of thy command- 
ments, and save me from death in sin. All which I 
ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 
Lift thou upon me, 0 Lord, the light of thy countenance !” 
“ O, God ! mine inmost soul convert, 
And deeply on my thoughtless heart 
Eternal things impress : 
Give me to feel their solemn weight, 
And tremble on the brink of fate, 
And wake to righteousness. 
“ Be it my one great business here, 
With serious industry and fear, 
Eternal bliss t’ ensure ; 23 
Thine utmost counsel to fulfil, 
And suffer all thy righteous will, 
And to the end endure.” 
O thou, who art great and infinite ! who hast 
created man for good, and wouldst not that any should 
perish, but rather that the sinner turn from the evil of 
his ways to life everlasting, forgive me now for the 
past misdeeds of life : aid me in serving thee for time 
to come. I offer my prayer as a humble disciple of 
Jesus Christ. Amen. 
“ The Lord is gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in 
mercy.” 
“ Rise, oh my soul, the hours review, 
When, awed by guilt and fear, 
To heaven for grace thou durst not sue, 
And found no rescue here. 
“ Thy tears are dried, thy griefs are fled, 
Dispelled each bitter care ; 
For heaven itself has lent its aid 
To save thee from despair. 
“ Hear then, oh God ! thy work fulfil, 
And, from thy mercy’s throne, 
Vouchsafe me strength to do thy will, 
And to resist my own : 
“ So shall my soul each power employ 
Thy mercy to adore ; 
While heaven itself proclaims with joy, 
One pardoned sinner more.” 24 
Most merciful Father ! whose long-suffering has 
spared me, a reckless sinner, who have disregarded the 
way of righteousness, and who have wandered into the 
paths of sin and criminal indulgence,—I devoutly thank 
thee for arresting my downward career ; for sparing 
my guilty life ; for awakening in me a repentant spirit, 
and reviving the guardian voice of conscience. Help 
me now that I strive to repair the errors and the evils 
of the past, and raise me to a new and righteous life. 
May I serve thee by obedience and watchful care, 
keeping the heart with all diligence pure from offence. 
May I learn of Jesus Christ to please thee more per- 
fectly. 
I thank thee, Gracious Father! for the exam- 
ple of the Saviour : for the teachings of thy Belov- 
ed Son ; and I implore of thee grace to help my weak 
endeavors to learn of Jesus the Way, the Truth, and 
the Life of the Souk Hear my petitions, O Lord of the 
universe ! and grant me,and all who devoutly seek thy 
mercy, peace and joy in believing. 
Bless, and comfort, and aid my family : spare them 
from poverty, and great misery : make them objects of 
kindness to others : impart to them the consolations of 
religion, and save them from the sin and evil that is in 
the world. 
I offer these my prayers, and beseech acceptance in 
the name of Jesus Christ the Redeemer. Amen.