lie dormant the precious seeds of faculties which are one day to astonish, instruct and bless mankind. These infants, a few years hence, are to be the pillars of the state, the bulwarks of their country, the glory of the church of Christ. That young one shall by and by burst through the obscurity of his birth, and the meanness of his condition; shall become eminently useful, and purchase a name which ages to come shall pronounce with respect and esteem. But what is it to be known and distinguished among men? The period ap proaches, when God himself shall in the face of the universe acknowledge the least of these as his sons, and seat them on heavenly thrones.

It is natural for a man to wish his family built up, and for a good woman to wish the name and virtues of the husband of her youth preserved and propagated, even though she has not the fond desire, the flattering hope, of being a mother in Israel. But the determinations of Providence do not always accord with the, innocent propensities of the human heart, much less with the insatiate demands of pride, avarice and ambition. Even the wise, the amiable and the virtuous are visited with this sore evil, the want of children. It is sometimes the calamity of those who have no other calamity. It demonstrates the imperfection of human bliss; it spreads a field for the exercise of resignation to the will of God; it furnishes both a motive and a subject for prayer: for we can carry with confidence, to the throne of grace, many a petition which we should be afraid or ashamed of preferring to a man like ourselves. Happy is the man, happy the woman, who can deposit this and every other care in the bosom of a Father in heaven. She may sit down with Hannah, and "eat" and drink," and be no more sad."

We are this evening presented with the history of the birth and infancy of one of those illustious children whose fame is universally known, and shall be had in everlasting remembrance, namely, of Samuel, the pro

phet of the Lord, the judge of Israel, the setter up and the terror of kings; the glory of his own age and country; and the morning star of a brighter day. The gift of this precious child was long withheld, that it might be more devoutly acknowledged, and more highly prized. Men overlook the ordinary appearances of nature, however stupendous and striking. In order therefore to rouse them to attention, and constrain them to observe the finger of God, the fiery comet is made to glare through the sky, and the earth shakes to the centre.

The blessing was sweetened to Hannah by every circumstance that can affect the fond maternal heart. A child to one who had long been afflicted with barrenness, and cruelly insulted on that account; a manchild, the answer of prayer; the power of performing for her darling infant the sweetest, and one of the most important, maternal duties; and the cordial concurrence of the father in all her prudent, affectionate and pious purposes; present enjoyment, and blossoming prospects! If there be pure and perfect bliss on earth, it is the portion of such a woman, in such a situation.

"The Lord remembered her." Was be ever unmindful or unkind? No, he delayed, and he granted in love. How much it concerns thee, O man, O woman, to know and to believe this! What can reconcile thee to the hardships of thy lot, but the persuasion that the good thou desirest is denied in wisdom, and the load that oppresses thee laid on by the hand of a Father? Trust in the Lord and be of good cheer; the time to favor thee will come; "the Lord will provide,"" the Lord will remember thee,"

"She bare a son, and called his name Samuel." Gracious is the correspondence between a devout spirit and approving, assenting Heaven. Behold the prayer of faith ascending as on eagle's wings, and resting on the footstool of yonder radiant throne; be

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hold the good and perfect gift coming down in retura from the Father of lights. Thus the vapours exhaled from the briny deep, fall back in copious showers to refresh and fertilize the earth. What a holy contention is here presented to us! The pious soul striving with God in supplication, in praise, in obedience, in faithfulness; the God of mercy striving with the meek and humble one in shewing kindness, in heaping favor upon favor. Samuel, "asked and given of God," shall bear to the last Lour of his life the memorial of his mother's fervent importunity at the throne of grace, and of God's hearing her in the time of need. It shall serve forever to remind himself that he was a gift obtained of God by prayer, and devoted to God in gratitude. Every tongue that pronounces, every ear that hears the sound, shall be admonished of the union which devotion forms and maintains between earth and heaven. The mother names, the father assents, God approves, and time confirms the nomination.

son.

We find Elkanah and all of his family, who were fit for the journey, again on the road to Shiloh, to celebrate the great yearly festival, after the birth of his The bounties of Providence bind more powerfully the duties of the law upon the heart as well as apon the conscience, and thereby render religion not only a reasonable, but a pleasant service. The pleasure of waiting upon God, in the ordinances of his appointment, was greatly heightened to this good man, by the company of those whom nature had endeared to him. The length and inconvenience of the road were relieved, and sweetened, and shortened, by friendly conversation, and mutual offices of attention and kindness. The bitterness of strife is heard no more. The sacrifice is offered up with greater ardor, when one flame of affection meets another in presenting it; and the feast of peace acquires a higher relish from its being eaten in the spirit, and in the bonds of love. Social worship, as has been observed, has a most blessed

effect in producing, supporting and improving social
affections. The tie of duty is strengthed between hus-
band and wife; the bond of nature between parent
and child, between brother and brother, is fortified and
ennobled by going together to the house of God, and
returning in company from thence. The eye of a
stranger is caught and pleased with the sight of a de-
cent family on their road to the temple. Your pray-
ers arise with increased ardor from seeing your children
around you, in the house of prayer; your hearts glow
with a holier gratitude when you hear their voices join
in the praises which you sing. Offence has been given,
behold it lost, and forgotten forever, because the
parties have bowed their knees together before God,
and pronounced together the petition of reconciliation
and peace.
Heavenly Father, forgive our trespasses
as we forgive them who trespass against us." Com-
mon mercies have been received; see how they m
crease and multiply, see with what additional satisfac-
tion they are felt and enjoyed, while the notes of
thanksgiving ascend from hearts and lips in unison....
Common distress presses; lo, the burthen is already
made light, the mourners have been together before
the Father of mercies, the refuge of the miserable;
they have poured out their hearts before God, and are
lightened; they have cast all their care upon bin, and

are at rest.

Christians, you have no painful and expensive journey to undertake, in order to present yourselves before the Lord. Your Shiloh is at home. Of you no costly sacrifice is demanded;" Offer unto the Lord thanksgiving and pay your vows unto the Most High; and call upon him in the day of trouble." Christian parent, Providence has made thee priest to that little church and congregation; bear them, as Aaron did the twelve tribes of Israel, engraven like jewels upon thy heart, to the most holy place; to the altar of in

cense.

E

"But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, Not until the child be weaned." Every duty of life and of religion has its proper place and season. God hath said, and the great Teacher sent from God, hath by both precept and practice established the word, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice." The religion which makes light of relative duty, which teaches carelessness or neglect in our lawful worldly concerns, and withdraws men from their place and station in society, is mistaken and erroneous; it is not the religion of the Bible; it has neither authority nor example to support it. That man is doing God service, who labors in his vocation, that he may have wherewith to do justly, and to shew mercy; not he who is slothful in business, but eager in argument, and who gives himself to speculating, when he ought to be working with his hands. That woman is performing a religious service, who is looking well to her household; giving suck to one child and instruction to another, practising industry and economy; not she who is forever rambling after favorite dogmas or favorite teachers; aiming at shining in the church, when she ought to be shining in her most honorable sphere, her own house; and engaging warmly in matters of doubtful disputation, while the food and cloathing of her family are neglected. Who can call in question the piety of Hannah? And surely her absenting herself from the feast at Shiloh, on so just an occasion, will not be deemed an impeachment of it.

But though the history has led me to make these re marks, perhaps, in our own day, they might have been spared. Have I not been combating a mistake into which neither the men nor the women of the present age are greatly disposed to fall? Ought I not rather to caution my hearers against the prevalency of a worldly spirit, to the extinction not only of the soul, but to the neglect of the very form of religion? What, warn this generation against "the danger of being religious over