398 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. of which was as followS :--" Glorious and holy majesty, in whose eyes all the nations of the world are only as the drop of a bucket, or as the small dust of the balance ; and there- fore, 0 Lord, this mighty concourse of people are as nothing in thy sight. Thy eyes are open to the ways of thy people, and thy ears are open to their cries, and thou wilt one day shew thyself strong inbehalf of them that fear thee. Sweet Father ! blessed be thy dear and holy name, that such a poor worm as is now before thee can call thee Father, and come and take hold of thee through thy dear Son. 0 Lord, what am I, or what was my father's house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ? This, 0 Lord, has been but a small thing in thy sight, but thou hast spoken thy servant's welfare, even to eternity. Dear Lord, in the audience of all this people, thy poor worm cannot but bless thee that thou didst ever call, him, and wert ever pleased to engage his soul to walk in thine owti paths ; and, blessed be thy holy name; thy paths do not seem in the eyes of thy servant ever the worse because of this thing : but he can bless thee ; he can rejoice before thee ; he can say, ' Bless the Lord, 0my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name.' Blessed be thy holy name, that thou hast hitherto been pleased to 'keep , the soul of thy poor servant, and that he does not suffer as an evil doer; yea, blessed be thy name, thy poor, worm can approve his heart unto thee even now at the very giving up of the ghost, that he is not guilty. Dear Father, thy poor worm can now with much boldness lift up his face unto thee, and is assured that he whom man bath condemned God hath justified : and now, for thy dear name's sake, give thy poor worm leave, in integrity and godly simplicity, to beg one request at thy hands for the poor witnesses. 0 Lord, pardon them in that very thing they have done, and shevv them as much grace as thou hast done to thy poor worm. As they have done their utmost to wash their hands in the blood of thy servant, 0 that thou wouldest thoroughly wash their souls in the blood of Jesus Christ. Be pleased, for thy tender mercy's sake, to deal graciously with every one, from the least to the greatest, from the first to the last, that bath had any hand against thy servant". Having finished his prayer, and being verymuch exhausted, he said he had done. The hangman'then said, " The Lord receive your soul." Mr. James replied, I thank you. A friend saying, " This is a happy day," he added, I bless the Narrative, p. s8-44.
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