who, at all times, and in all places, has rendered the prominent pursuits of men, subservient to his great designs, will, doubtless, make the prevailing tastes of this our day, instrumental to the growth of knowledge, the advancement of civilization, and the progress of religion.

We cheerfully admit the value, then, of all secular pursuits, that do not trench upon the sacred principles of Christian virtue. But we cannot forget, and shame and woe must be our portion, if we do not remind our hearers, that "one thing is needful," indispensably needful. With this truth, therefore, in our view, and with its consequences in our apprehension, we do most seriously deplore, that numbers, who, in very important instances, contribute to the public welfare, are blind to their own true happiness; are devoting themselves, with more than Roman hardihood, and in a far more awful sense, and to no salutary purpose, when there is a sure and summary mode of attaining every real good that the heart of man can wish, or that his imagination can devise. For the voice of inspiration testifies, and multiplied experience strengthens our conviction, that "godliness is profitable to all things; having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

Truly, the children of this world, wise in their

own generation, are foolish in the estimate of comprehensive reason. They know not what they lose. Christianity is neither weakness, nor enthusiasm, nor superstition. It is the sublimest philosophy, realized by fact, and teaching by example. It is the unclouded perception of our ultimate end, and the vivid apprehension of the best means, through every stage of our earthly pilgrimage. It is a blessed communion with that Infinite Mind, which regulates, adjusts, and predisposes all things. It is a filial access to that Benevolent Parent, who withholds no good thing from the children of his love; who guides them with his counsel; who teaches them by his Spirit; who sheds his holiest influence around their guarded footsteps; and who, at the last, will receive them into heavenly mansions, prepared before the foundation of the world.

Yes; as Christians we are called to a high vocation. It is the happy peculiarity of our religion, to place its mature proficients on that serene and holy eminence (7), which philosophers and poets loved to figure to themselves, as the watch-tower of their ideal sage. Thence, the confirmed Christian surveys human nature, in its utmost height, and in its lowest degradation; from the glorious and benignant beings, that are stamped with God's own imperishable image,

to the blighted and self-ruined souls, that, even in this life, are but spirits in prison. And how does he behold them? Not with cold-hearted apathy, not with selfish pride; but, with the lively interest of a fellow-mortal, whose highest earthly bliss it is, to hold communion with the virtuous few; to strengthen the weak, to confirm the wavering, and, if possible, to rescue the victims that are rushing down the steep of ruin.

And is this the religion, and are these the dispositions, which the children of this world regard with supercilious scorn? Unhappy beings! They know not what they lose! But, if in this life they do not come to themselves, let them be assured, that, when its feverish dream is "over, they shall awake to a bitter sense of their delusion; to what they now shrink from, with horror; to what they now dread, more than death; to contempt, everlasting contempt. (8) This is the unqualified, the awful declaration of Scripture and reason and conscience bear testimony, that the record is true. For, what, indeed, can be more contemptible, than moral agents who have, all their life, been wasting infinite capacities, on objects, not merely finite in their nature, but which sages and poets (9), no less than prophets and apostles, have uniformly characterized as a shadow, a vapour, a smoke that vanisheth? What can be

more contemptible, than beings, fitted to trace the finger of God, in the benign magnificence of nature, and to experience the grace of God, in the renovation of their whole body, soul, and spirit, who, by a voluntary degradation, have not only neglected, but despised, those great things which angels desire to look into? And despised them for what? Why, for the straws and bubbles that are floating down the troubled waters of vanity. (10) What, in a word, can be more utterly contemptible, than spirits, formed for eternal union with their Maker, who have wilfully fixed their own doom; who are immortal, only in their pride, their pravity, their guilt, and their despair!

But, beloved, may I not hope better things of you, and things that accompany salvation? Yes; it is my hope, that there are those amongst you, qualified by obvious excellence, to shine as lights of the world; and it is my persuasion, that there are also those, whose modest, unobtrusive virtues, act upon society, like the secret sources of a great river, noiseless in their progress, but mighty in their confluence. But are these enough? No, my brethren; it is my heart's desire, that not only these, but all who hear me this day, were not only almost, but altogether Christians! That you were all ani

mated as with one heart, and with one soul, to renounce the wisdom which is earthly, sensual, devilish; which can only minister to your vanity, inflame your pride, and heap fuel on your worst and meanest passions! That you were all divinely taught, to substitute in its room, that wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated; which alone, can cheer you at the hour of death; which alone, can shield you in the hour of judgment; which alone, can protect you from shame and everlasting contempt, when they that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, and heaven and earth shall pass away! Then, how tranquil would be your enjoyment of this present life, how glorious your anticipation of the life to come! "They that be wise," it is God himself who declares it, "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever!" (11)

And does not this lovely picture of future blessedness awaken feelings within you, which outweigh an eternity of worldly pleasure? It surely must, if you know what it is to relish, the sublime and beautiful of nature: if ever you have delighted to look upon God's heavens, the work of his fingers, the moon and the stars which He hath ordained: if ever, in the silence of the