for the joy with which thou wert filled, when I was purified in the waters of baptism; and for thy anxious solicitude in watching over the treasures of my innocence. Thou knowest the numberless graces and favours which my Creator has bestowed on me through thee, and the many dangers, both spiritual and temporal, from which thou hast preserved me. Thou knowest how often thou didst deplore my sins, animate me to repentance, and intercede with God for my pardon. Ah! why have I so little merited a continuance of the zealous efforts for my salvation? Why have I so often stained my soul by sin, and thereby rendered myself unworthy of the presence and protection of an angel, of so pure a spirit as thou art, who never sinned? Still, as my ingratitude and thoughtlessness have not lessened thy charitable interest for my salvation, they shall not diminish my confidence in thy goodness, nor prevent my abandoning myself to thy care, since God himself has intrusted thee with the charge of my soul. Penetrated with sorrow for the little progress I have made in virtue, though blessed with such a Guide, sincerely determined to correspond in future with thy exertions for my salvation, I most earnestly entreat thee, O protecting Spirit, to continue thy zealous efforts for my eternal interest; to watch over my youth, to direct my inexperience, to fortify my weakness, to shield me from the innumerable dangers of the world, and rather to obtain, by thy powerful prayers, that my life may be shortened, than that I should live to commit a mortal sin. Remember, O most happy Spirit! that it was one act of profound humility, and one transport of ardent love for thy Creator, that caused God to establish thee for ever in glory; obtain that those virtues may be early implanted in
