teaches us, and I pray God to forgive me all my
sins: I have scrupulously sought to know them, to detest them, and to
humble myself in his presence. Not being permitted to make use of
the ministry of a catholic priest, I pray God to receive the
confession which I have made to him of them; and above all, my
sincere repentance for having put my name (though against my will) to
acts that may be contrary to the discipline and faith of the catholic
church, to which I have always been sincerely and faithfully united.
I pray God to accept my firm resolution, if he grants me life, to
make use as soon as possible of the ministry of a catholic priest,
that I may accuse myself of all my sins, and receive the sacrament of
penance. I beseech all those whom I may have inadvertently offended,
(for I do not remember to have knowingly given offence to any person)
and those to whom I may have given bad examples, or caused scandal,
to forgive the injuries they think I may have done them.

I implore all charitable persons to join their prayers to mine, to
obtain from God the pardon of my sins; I, with all my heart, forgive
those who are become my enemies, although I have not given them any
reason to be so; and I beseech God to forgive them, as well as those
who, through a false or mistaken zeal, have brought many misfortunes
on me.

I recommend to God, my wife and children; my sisters, my aunts, my
brothers, and all those who are attached to me, either by the ties of
blood, or in any other way whatever. I particularly beseech God to
cast a merciful eye on my wife, my children, and my sister, who have
long suffered with me, to support them by his grace, if they should
happen to lose me, and as long as they remain in this perishable
world.

I recommend my children to my wife; I never doubted her maternal
tenderness for them. I above all recommend to her to make them good
christians, and honest people; to make them consider the grandeurs of
this world (if they be condemned to possess them) only as dangerous
and perishable possessions, and to direct their attention to
Eternity, the only solid and durable glory. I beg of my sister to
continue her tenderness to my children, and to be a mother to them,
if they should have the misfortune of losing her who is such.

I intreat my wife to forgive me all the afflictions she suffers
for my sake, and the sorrows I may have given her in the course of
our union; as she may be certai