But O! what reason have I of thankfulness to thee, Almighty Saviour, that I have not been sent to endless destruction long before this time; and that I may yet hope to escape this infinite evil, and obtain eternal salvation, by thy boundless, sovereign grace, who hast done so much for me, and waited so long upon me! If I be not utterly deceived respecting the exercises of mine own heart, I do most sincerely and sensibly approve of, and am pleased with thy character, as a suffering and reigning Saviour, and with the way of salvation for sinners which thou hast opened, and with all thy revealed works and designs. I place all my desire and hope of salvation on thee: on thy merit, righteousness, and infinite worthiness, and on thy power, wisdom and goodness. I desire no other Saviour; no other salvation, than that which is by thee, which thou givest. If it were possible for the gospel not to be true and from heaven, and for me to know this, I should immediately give up all hope of happiness, and sink into absolute despair of all good; nor could entertain the least hope, or wish for relief and happiness in any other way. I know that "he,” and he only, " is blessed,” "who trusteth in thee;" and that "this is eternal life and happiness to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" to be the Saviour of sinners.

I know thou dost invite and command me to come to thee, and that whoever cometh to thee, thou wilt not reject," but will give him eternal salvation. And I know that "none will come to thee unless they are drawn by the Father," with Almighty power and irresistible grace, and that none are subjeets of this power and grace but those who were chosen and given to thee from eternity, by the purpose and decree of God. So that it has from eternity, been fixed by the determinate counsel of God, who shall be saved, and who shall not, and whether I shall be saved or not. And in this I do as sincerely acquiesce and rejoice, as in any thing whatever; because all this is unalterably fixed by infinite wisdom and goodness, and therefore so as to answer the best end in every instance, what will be most for the glory of God and the general good. And if I be not included in the number of them who were given to thee, O thou incarnate Son of God! and my name were not written in thy book of life before the foundation of the world, I shall not be saved: nor, on this supposition, can I have the least desire of it. But as the glory of God will be promoted in the salvation of sinners, and as I may hope it will in mine, though I do not know it, in regarding thy glory in the highest degree, and in the fulfilment of my personal duty, it is incumbent on me to desire

and strive for salvation, with concern and earnestness, and, without delay, come to Christ for it, and it will be wholly mine own fault, if I neglect this great salvation and perish forever. Of all this, O Lord, thou hast convinced me, so that I am as sure of it, as of mine own existence, or of any truth whatever.

I know, O Lord, that the sentiments and exercises which I have now expressed, and of which I have no doubt, have the appearance of friendship to thee, so that it may be inferred from them, I do come to thee according to thine invitation, and am interested in thy promises. This is, at times, a strong ground of hope, that I am a Christian, and, in some seasons, my exercises of this kind are so strong and sensible, and my mind is so illuminated, that all doubt subsides, and I have a degree of assurance, that I am a Christian; but my mind is great part of my time so dark, and my exercises of the right kind, if I have any, are so low and languid, and I see so much of the contrary in my life and practice, and I have such a conviction of the deceitfulness of my heart, that I often have no confidence that I am a Christian and friend to thee, but am diffident and doubtful, suspecting and fearing there is some fatal deception at bottom. And I know, O Lord, that without the powerful operations of thy spirit, exciting strong, lively, and constant exercises of grace, and illuminating my mind in the knowledge of the truth, giving me sensible and clear discoveries of what passes in my heart, so as clearly to distinguish between good and evil, I cannot have and sensibly enjoy the witness of thy spirit, that I am a child of God. Nor do I desire any other evidence and assurance that I am a Christian, and shall be saved, than what may arise from the exercise of true holiness, of which thy holy spirit is the author, and the latter is more the object of my attention and most ardent desires than the former. Lord, thou knowest I may be deceived. I know, O Lord, thou hast given all the encouragement to call upon thy name I can desire, and I have often said, "I will call on the name of the Lord as long as I live." But I know I am wholly dependent on thee for a heart and skill to do this; for "I know not what to pray for as I ought," unless thy spirit be given me, to help mine infirmities, whom thou hast promised to all who ask for him. But even for a heart to ask for the spirit, and all those good things which are implied in this gift, I am wholly dependent on thy sovereign will. Of this thou hast convinced me, and I hope thou hast given me a heart to seek thee with some degree of sincerity, and to ask for the Holy Spirit.

And now, O most gracious God, I look and cry to thee for the Holy Spirit, to convince me of sin, and thoroughly reprove me for it, to form my heart to true and clear discerning of spiritual things; as a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind," to enkindle and keep in lively and strong exercise that holy love by which I shall be drawn to Christ, and he dwell in me, and I in him; by which mine awfully depraved polluted soul shall be purified, and selfishness, pride, worldliness, unbelief, stupidity, and every evil propensity shall be subdued and mortified, and I shall be led to the constant exercise of true holiness in every branch of it, in piety towards God, and good will to men, seeking the glory of God, and the greatest possible good of creation, in the exercise and practice of pure disinterested benevolence towards God and man, always seeking first the kingdom of God and his right

eousness.

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And, O mighty God and Saviour! how long shall satan reign and triumph in this world, whose power and kingdom among men Jesus Christ came to destroy? When shall he, who died on the cross, is risen from the dead, and exalted to the throne of the universe, take to himself his great power and reign, cast satan into the bottomless pit, that he may deceive and destroy the nations no longer? and draw all men unto himself, causing all the ends of the earth to look to him and be saved? In the painful view of the sin and misery of mankind, which have prevailed and do now prevail on the earth, to such a dreadful degree, I do rejoice in the assurance that thou dost reign and wilt accomplish all the wise and benevolent purposes of thy heart, and thy revealed designs, in the best time and manner, and by instruments most fit for the purpose: that thou art able, and wilt turn all the evil which has been, now is, and shall exist, to thine own praise and glory, and the greatest good of all thy friends.In this confidence and assurance I rest and rejoice with joy unspeakable. Even so come Lord Jesus." "Be thou exalted above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth.” In this beloved Saviour, may I now be accepted. And glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, forever,-AMEN.

A PRAYER.

FATHER of light and life, Thou Good Supreme!
O teach me what is Good: teach me thyself!

Save me from folly, vanity, and vice;

From every low pursuit; and feed my soul

With Knowledge, conscious Peace, and Virtue pure,
Sacred, substantial never-fading bliss."

From the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine.

An Historical View of the first Planters of New-England.

No. II.

(Continued from Page 7.)

THE reign of Queen Elizabeth was an eventful period in the history of the Puritans. The accession of this great princess to the throne of England, diffused the highest joy among all her protestant subjects, and added new vigour to the cause of the Reformers through Christendom. While the plains of Smithfield had scarce ceased to smoke with the fires of martyrdom, a princess, whose former character had inspired the most animating hopes, who was believed to be firmly attached to the protestent religion, appeared at the head of the realm, the lawful possessor of the sceptre. With the exception of a few of the most servile devotees of the papacy, all orders of men rejoiced that the government of the nation was now to be administered by a sovereign, possessing a vigour of mind, a firmness of character, and an unalterable attachment to the true interests of her own country. And whatever might have been their hopes, in no prince, were such anticipations more fully realized. But while the reign of Queen Elizabeth was distinguished with as able an administration, with as wise counsels, as ever managed the government of England, by an unaccountable error in her policy, the Puritans, than whom no class of her subjects were more deserving of royal favor, were oppressed and abused during the whole period of her government. During a reign of forty-five years. which was equally steady in its errors and its wisdom, the Puritans were incessantly harrassed with oppressive laws, with the tyranny of the prelates, with the resentment of the court, and, so far as it could be excited, with the odium of the populace. These measures compelled the Puritans, after a long endurance of oppression, with great reluetance, to separate from that Church, in whose bosom they had been born and spent their lives, in whose communion they hoped to die, and to commit their cause to the holy protection of God their Saviour.

After an unfortunate reign of five years, Queen Mary died in the year 1558, and was succeeded in the government of the kingdom by her half sister, Elizabeth. On the news of the peaceable succession of Elizabeth, the English Exiles on the continent, who had fled from the persecutions of her bigotted predecessor. generally, determined to return to their native country. The rise of the Puritans at Frankfort and

Geneva, with the dissentions which arose in consequence, were briefly stated in our last number. As they were preparing for their return, letters of condescension and mutual forgiveness passed between the different parties, and there was every appearance of a cordial reconciliation. They determined to return to their own country, and unite their efforts to banish all the institutions of Popery, and to establish the English Church on the true foundation of the Gospel of Christ. And there is still reason to believe, had the Divines been properly supported by the government, though there might have been some minor differences of sentiment, the English Church would have received the best constitution which the light of that day could have produced, which would have prevented that fatal separation, which finally issued in the overthrow of the monarchy.

The different sentiments which had been imbibed by the Exiles, on the subject of ecclesiastical discipline and divine worship, during their residence among the foreign Reformed churches, they brought with them on their return to England. As the ferment of the public mind, occasioned by the death of the late princess and the accession of the present, began to subside, and the banished sufferers for the cause of truth, were returning to the embraces of their friends, it soon appeared that the sentiments of those who were for disburdening the services of religion from all the impositions of Popery, were generally popular. In some churches the service book of King Edward was restored, and the popular preachers addressed the people without reserve, before any law had been passed to set aside the old religion, which had been established in the late reign, by which all worship and preaching by Protestants had been prohibited. The forwardness of the Reformers to improve the liberty which they now expected to enjoy, was not pleasing to the government; and a public proclamation was issued, by which, the most of those exercises were prohibited, till the meeting of Parliament. At the first meeting of the Parliament, the laws of the late reign for the establishment of the Catholic religion were repealed. But the nation soon learned that while the government were equally ready with the people to take the supremacy of the church from Rome, the Queen was determined to hold and exercise it herself.

At an early period of the session, the Parliament passed an Act of Supremacy, by which the supreme power of all matters Ecclesiastical and Spiritual was vested in the Crown. By this Act, the Queen became the supreme head and governor of the church, through the realm, as Henry VIII. and Edward VI. had been before her. "By this Act," says Mr.

M