freely and graciously offered through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ upon the cross. We have been born and bred in a country where the gospel is preachedwe have been taught, from our cradles, to believe that there is a God: that a Saviour, His blessed Son, died to restore us to His love, which, by our sins, had been forfeited that there is a day of judgment to come, when every man that ever lived will be with justice, yet with mercy, tried; that all who shall come out clear from that great and fiery trial shall be received into everlasting joy with the holy angels and saints in heaven, and those who shall be found guilty, shall be cast into misery, which cannot now be thought of, with the devil and his cursed spirits: for this knowledge and belief we ought to be the better. God's providence has watched over us and protected us, from the hour of our birth till now, and we are here before Him this day, differing indeed from each other in some things, but alike in one. We differ age, in appearance-we differ in respect to what we have and what we know-but

in

we are alike in this, that we are sinners; and being so, we have all reason to search and try our ways, and turn again unto the Lord. For He is no respecter of persons: what little difference there may be between us now, will all be done away hereafter. Neither our riches, nor our poverty, nor our learning, nor yet our ignorance, will screen us from His wrath, if we have wilfully sinned against Him, and continued in our sins without repentance.

Some persons are too apt to be offended and displeased, if their sins are pointed out to them: but this the ministers of the gospel must not mind; for as there are often wounds in the body which cannot be cured till they have been felt and examined to the bottom, so likewise a sinner cannot know the real condition of his soul, its failings and its wants, without careful thought and inquiry: to lead men's minds to take this serious turn, is at all times our duty. I call, therefore, upon you (and God forbid that I should not at the same time feel it to be necessary for myself) to begin this inquiry without delay: I ask you to

consider in what manner the life which God has given you has been spent by you.

Can you say that neither in thought, word, nor deed, you have ever wilfully offended your Creator? Can you say, that, in early youth, when temptations to sin were strongest, you were never led away to break His commandments, and those solemn promises which were made for you at your baptism? My brethren, I dare hope, I dare persuade myself that there are some, a happy few, of those here present, who have the satisfaction of feeling in their own breasts, that of a wilful crime against Almighty God, they never, not even in thought, have been guilty. By no means would I encourage even them to suppose that they are without sin, for who is so good that there is not room for him to be better? But this, I But this, I say, that to have escaped those grievous crimes which others have committed, to be free from that heavy load of guilt by which some wretched men are weighed down, is cause for holy thankfulness and joy. Let then all such rejoice and be glad, let them

ever be giving of thanks to their Heavenly Father, whose grace has kept them free from crime; and let them, at the same time, make it their earnest endeavour to become still more worthy of that gracewhich they will be, for the sake of Christ, if they heartily repent of those lesser offences from which not they, not the best of men, are free, and by striving to become more perfect every day in all the ways of righteousness.

But if there are a few who have the comfort of feeling that the love of God has always so filled their hearts, that it has been their chief desire to live according to His laws blameless, I fear that there are not a few who must be sensible that, though they have borne the name of Christians, they have done but little to deserve it. Many who have been, perhaps to this moment are, altogether given up to the vanities of a world, the being too fond of which, the Bible tells us, makes us the enemies of God. Surely there are some who must acknowledge that, in youth at least, if not now, their thoughts have been

light, frivolous, vain, and trifling; that they have eagerly followed after pleasure and amusement, whilst they have scarcely bestowed a serious thought upon, or felt an earnest wish for, the eternal joys of heaven; in one word, that their Maker and Saviour has been too much forgotten, and the welfare of their own souls too little thought of. Surely, I say, there are some of us here present, who can by no means deny, unless we are determined to deceive ourselves, that this has been the case with us, if it be not now. God grant that as we get older we may come to a better mind; and, remembering that it is impossible for any man to serve two masters, and to have the same love for this world and the next, may make a wise choice between the two: taking our affection from things which cannot profit us, and cannot last, and placing it upon God, who is able to save and to destroy, and upon His kingdom and glory which fadeth not away. To give ourselves up to the vain pleasures of this world, is but a miserable way of preparing for the happiness of heaven: