we must either be saved or lost. It will not do to say: I shall be satisfied with not going to hell; I shall not be concerned at being deprived of heaven. No; either heaven or hell; either forever happy with God in heaven in an ocean of delights, or forever trampled upon by devils in hell in an ocean of fire and torments: either saved, or lost; there is no alternative.
O Jesus! I have hitherto chosen hell, and for years past I should have been suffering there, if in pity Thou hadst not borne with me. I thank Thee, O my Saviour! and I am sorry above every evil for having offended Thee. I hope, for the future, with the assistance of Thy grace, to walk no more in the way that conducts to hell. I love Thee, O my sovereign good! and I desire to love Thee forever. Grant me perseverance in good, and save me through that blood which Thou hast shed for me. O Mary, my hope! intercede for me.
MEDITATION XVIII.
The Sinner's Disobedience to God.
I. Pharaoh, when Moses announced to him the orders of God for the liberation of the Hebrews, insolently answered, Who is the Lord, that I should hear His word? . . . I know not the Lord. It is thus that the sinner replies to his own conscience when it intimates to him the divine precepts, which forbid him to do that which is evil: "I know not God; I know that he is my Lord, but I will not obey him."
Thus have I too often addressed Thee, O God! when I have committed sin. If Thou hadst not died for me,
O my Redeemer! I should not dare to crave Thy pardon; but Thou hast offered me Thy pardon from the cross, if
