nature induces the necessity of mutual assistance and support, out of which grow all those benevolent dispositions, those affectionate regards, those delights of social intercourse which attach us to this world, as by so many heart-strings. Hence that fond desire of life, and that fear of death which are predominant oftentimes in the minds of those who are best prepared to die. To be torn for ever from every tender connexion and virtuous friendship, must, to the steadiest christians, be a painful violence; and at their solemn departure out of this warm and busy scene of all their virtuous and useful labours, they must, as they are men, pay a last tribute to humanity, and cast a lingering look behind them. But the sting of death is sin. The proper terrors of a dying bed are the pangs of a conscience oppressed with guilt, and shuddering on the verge of eternity without any interest in a covenant of reconciliation, without any glimpse of a tribunal of mercy. The mere discovery of a future state is by no means of power to remove those dismal doubts and apprehensions which arise in the best of men, in contemplation of a retributive futurity. Strictly speaking, the better the man, the more should he be afraid of death, having a clearer view of infinite purity. But the gospel reveals the new co

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venant of mercy, it opens a new and living way for creatures conscious of unworthiness and guilt, to enter into the holiest. The lively hope of this incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven for penitent sinners, is the only anchor of the troubled soul, the only refuge from despair; it is rest to the weary, joy to the mourner, liberty to the captive, and comfort to the broken-hearted. This hope in Christ, enables his faithful people to use this world as not abusing it, to enjoy with moderation its pleasures and amusements, but at the same time to cultivate that purity of heart and life which must qualify them for that spiritual kingdom to which they are tending. Meanwhile, with ardent gratitude to the giver of all good, and with entire resignation to his holy will, they wait all the days of his appointed time until their change come. So looking and preparing for it, as often as the warning is given, and they are called to perform the last mournful office over the grave of a departed friend, they can devoutly pray that it would please God of his gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of his elect, and to hasten his kingdom.

And now, my brethren, let us prove ourselves. Is the second coming of our Lord Jesus the habitual subject of our wishes and prayers? It is

a question, I am aware, of much difficulty and delicacy. The evidence of feeling and imagination as to the state of our souls, may be deceitful and dangerous. There are many that say, "come, Lord Jesus," pretending to a divine intimation made to them of their being made free from sin and elected unto life eternal. But what mortal being can himself be sure, much less make others sure, of his having received such divine intimation? There are circumstances in the coming of our Lord to judgment, sufficient to alarm the most advanced christians, and to beat down all presumption, and to make us walk before God in humility and holy fear. But still it is certain that the better christians we are, the more emboldened shall we be against the day of judgment, the more will it be the habitual bias of our minds to be absent from the body, that we may be for ever with the Lord. As for that countless multitude who center all their desires and seek all their gratifications in the gross materials of the world they inhabit, they seek no better country; here would they gladly fix the tabernacles of their rest, anxious only to put far off that fatal moment, when the grave shall place between them and their idols the bar of eternal separation.

We, my brethren, are by baptism and profession, candidates for life eternal. We believe that Christ shall come to be our judge. In what posture then does it behove us to expect his coming? in that of trembling criminals waiting for the dread assize which shall pronounce their fatal doom? God forbid. Let our reconciliation to God through the death of his Son, let our trust in the merciful advocate whom the Father heareth alway, fill us with hope and comfort in believing that righteous judgment, which wicked men, and accursed spirits believe, and tremble. But let us at the same time remember, that before we can without presumption desire to be saints in heaven, we must be penitents on earth. Our loins must be girded and our lights burning, and ourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord in vigilance, and prayer, in continual attendance on all the ordinances of religion, and especially on that holy sacrament in which we commemorate his dying love who came into the world to save sinners. Let the approaching season, which reminds us of this great salvation, remind us also of our sacred engagements as his soldiers and servants, "to cast off the works of darkness, and put on us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life," the only time allotted for that

work for which we were sent into the world, the work of our salvation.

I shall conclude this discourse with that solemn preparative for death and judgment which our Lord himself has left us in his gospel. May the words of his divine exhortation sink deep into our hearts! They will teach us to govern by the dictates of religion those sensual appetites which captivate, defile, and destroy the soul; in the house of feasting they will guard us from the excesses of intemperance; and instead of that mirth of fools which shall end in heaviness, they will prescribe to us that true, that moderate enjoyment of the pleasures of this world which is consistent with its serious duties, and suited to our prospects of a glorious immortality. "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day may come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all those that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."