an opinion upon them for himself from the scriptures, can expect to escape the imputation, either of great weakness or great insensibility. Still the diffusion of pure morality, in which, of course, we must be understood to include our duties to God as well as those to ourselves and others, is the grand object proposed to be accomplished by the Christian religion in this world; and the man whose life would do honour to the purest faith, whatever may be his opinions, can never be excluded from the favour of God either here or hereafter. Let us, then, my beloved brethren, do all in our power to forward this great work of God amongst mankind. Let us be workers together with him. Let us implore his blessing upon his own workmanship. Let us derive encouragement from the thought, that every virtuous effort is an effort to accomplish the designs of God, and that the cause of omnipotence must ultimately prosper. "Now, unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us; unto him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end." Amen.

SERMON XXV.

THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIANITY.

MATTHEW xxi., 9.

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosannah in the highest.

SUCH were the triumphant acclamations with which the fickle multitude greeted our Lord, on his public entrance into Jerusalem. Hosannah, which is an abbreviation of two Hebrew words, signifying, "save now, I beseech thee," had become an expression of national enthusiasm amongst the Jews, similar to those so commonly employed in our own and other countries. This expression, as well as those immediately following it, in the psalm from which it was taken, was a customary form of acclamation at the feast of tabernacles. This great national festival, held in commemoration of the residence of their ancestors in tents in the wilderness, was celebrated by the Jews after harvest, and was a period of general rejoicing. It was customary with them,

during this feast, to live under green tents, or arbours, and to carry in their hands bundles, composed of the branches of palms, myrtles, willows, and other trees. The strewing of boughs and garments on the side of the road, and, perhaps, so far as was consistent with safety, under the feet of the animal on which our Lord sat, was a mode not unusual in eastern countries of paying homage to royalty. There can be no doubt that the multitude who accompanied Jesus, many of them probably Galileans, come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover, some of them possibly of the number of those who had formerly been disposed to take him by force and make him a king, meant, on this occasion, to declare their belief of his being the expected Messiah. This they clearly expressed by their exclamations of "Hosannah to the son of David."

sannah in the highest" mean,

The words "Ho

66 save us, we be

seech thee, O thou who dwellest in the highest heavens." The appearance of their expected deliverer was an event most earnestly looked forward to by the Jewish nation. It was constantly kept before them in the religious services performed at their great festivals, and particularly at the feast of tabernacles, by the public singing of that selection of psalms called the great Hallel, to which the twenty-fifth verse of the one hundred and eighteenth psalm was used as a

chorus. The multitude, therefore, very naturally had recourse, on this interesting occasion, to an exclamation at once so usual and so appropriate, and accompanied it with their customary demonstrations of joy and expressions of respect. Hosannah," said they, "Hosannah to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosannah in the highest."

Have we, my brethren, and has the whole Christian church good reasons for re-echoing these acclamations? Are the benefits which the mission of Jesus has conferred upon us so important and substantial, as to make it unreasonable for us to contemplate his appearance in the world with any other feelings than those of the liveliest gratitude? These questions are interesting to us as Christians. They are peculiarly interesting to us as Unitarian Christians. We profess opinions, of which it is said by the advocates of a more fanciful, and therefore more fascinating faith, that they include none of the peculiar and distinguishing doctrines of Christianity, and, consequently, that those who profess them are necessarily excluded from its benefits. It is our duty to examine candidly how far our personal experience justifies these assertions, in order that, if we have reason to believe

them true, we may lose no time in attaching ourselves to a more valuable system of faith, wherever we can find it. Our bitterest calumniators will hardly pretend that we have any great temptation to adhere to these obnoxious opinions. If, then, we can find others, which will more effectually advance our eternal interests, and are not likely to retard those which are temporal, let us lose no time in embracing them.

It will appear from what has now been said, that the questions which we are called upon to discuss are two in number: first, has the mission of Jesus Christ been the means of conferring upon us any substantial benefits? and, secondly, do the views of the objects and effects of that mission, taken by the generality of our brethren, really add to the number or magnitude of those benefits?

First, then, my fellow-Christians, has the mission of Jesus conferred upon us any substantial benefits? Let us not decide this question hastily. Let us not answer it in the affirmative as a matter of course. Let us rather deliberately and fearlessly apply the powers of our minds to the investigation. Let us, so far as we can, be on our guard, on the one hand, against mistak