fpring of their Care and Solicitude, and unshaken Fidelity in the Cause of God, and of his Chrift!

Fifthly, The great Measure of Folly and Vanity and Self-love there is in the best of our Actions is what feldom falls under our Notice; and yet from fuch fecret Errors who is free? We hardly know our own Hearts well enough to answer at all Times for the Integrity of our Intentions. How much of our Virtue and Religion is mere Refpect to common Decency, and arifes from no higher Spring than a Regard to our own Credit and Reputation, is more than we can certainly tell. When we are most eager in pursuit of fome good End, could we stop short, and examine ourselves fairly, we should find perhaps that we were only gratifying fome private Paffion, and that none of the best, perhaps Malice and Revenge, or fome other inordinate Defire.

To this Account we may add the many vain Imaginations which are conceived in the Heart, though never brought to Life by Action, but die in the Womb, and are out of Remembrance. Such are the ambitious Man's imaginary Scenes of Honour and Glory, formed and wrought up to a kind of

Life in a mere Delufion of Thought; which, fantastical as they are in themselves, do arise from real Pride and Vanity. Such the vifionary Enjoyment of fenfual Men, when the Thoughts traverse all the forbidden Paths of Luxury and Wantonnefs; where, though the Phantom be airy and bodilefs, yet does this Dream of Senfuality derive itself from no imaginary Corruption, but from a real Diftemper in the Mind, from inordinate Defires and Affections. Such is the fecret Anger, fuch the Malice, of the Heart, which fits brooding over envious or revengeful Designs, which it contrives within itself, and feems to execute upon its Enemies; and, for want of Power or Opportunity for real Revenge, feeds itself with viewing the Execution of its Wrath, though only expreffed in the Images of Fancy. Harmless and innocent as this Revenge may feem, which spends itself in imaginary Mischief only, yet it fprings from the Root of Bitterness, and is too plain an Evidence that we hate one another.

Laftly, When we come to repent of our Sins, many of them may be fecret to us merely through the Weakness and Imperfection of the Memory, which cannot recollect all the various Paffages of a vicious Life.

Thefe

Thefe Sins, however confcious we have been of them heretofore, with respect to our Repentance are as fecret as if we had never known them, and can only be confessed and bewailed in general Terms.

Thus have I fet before you the several Kinds of our fecret Sins. One general Character there is which belongs to them all, namely, that they are fuch as we cannot, not fuch as we will not remember: For though the Mercy of God will cover our Defects, when they are unavoidable, and such as arise from our natural Weakness and Infirmity; yet we have no Reason to expect any Allowance, where we are wanting to ourselves through Laziness and Indifpofition; where, to avoid the Trouble or the Anguish of Repentance, we cover our own Sins deceitfully. Such Hypocrify will be no Plea in His Prefence, who trieth the Heart and Reins, and Spieth out all our Ways. But,

Secondly, We are to confider what Guilt we contract by our fecret Sins, left it should be thought that the Sins which escape our Knowledge ought not to burden our Confcience. Where there is no Guilt, there needs no Remiffion; and if we cannot in Juftice be charged with our fecret Sins, there

is no Senfe in the Pfalmift's Petition, Cleanfe thou me from fecret Faults. In another place he has told us, That God fets our Iniquities before him, and our fecret Sins in the Light of bis Countenance: And the Day approaches, when for all these things he will call us into Judgment.

In the Inftances already fet before you, you may observe, that our most secret Sins are sometimes the most heinous. Thus it is in the Cafe of habitual Sins; we are too well acquainted with them to take particular Notice of them; they are the involuntary Motions of a fecond Nature, and we are as little concerned to count their Number, as we are the Beatings of our Pulfe. But hall this plead their Excufe? Shall only fearful Sinners and modeft Beginners be punished? and fhall the Height of Iniquity, because it takes away all Shame and Senfe of Sin, take away likewise all Danger of Judgment? This can agree with no Rule of Juftice or Equity; for by this means the fame Man will stand chargeable with the Guilt of his early Sins, fuch as he committed before his Confcience was quite hardened, and yet not accountable for the more enormous Crimes of finful Wickedness:

Wickedness: As if the only Sin we could commit, were to be fenfible of our Faults.

The fame might be made appear in the other Inftances: For every idle Word, how foon foever it flips out of our Memory, for every vain Imagination of the Heart, how foon foever it vanishes away, we fhall give an "Account at the Day of Judgment. For the Guilt of Sin does not arife from the Power of our Memory, nor is it extinguished by the Weaknefs of it: If it were, Forgetfulness would be the fureft Repentance; and want of Thought and Reflection, which is fe often reprefented in Scripture as the Aggravation of Sin, would be the Sinner's beft Security. But, alas! though we forget, there is One who cannot, before whom our Iniquities are ever prefent; who will enter into Judgment with us, as well for the Sins which we cannot remember, as for those we cannot forget.

The Confequence from the whole is this: That fince many of our Sins are fecret to us, they can only be repented of in general; and fince many of our fecret Sins are very heinous, they must seriously and folemnly be repented of. By general Repentance you are not to understand then a flight or fuper