SERMONS ΤΟ MINISTERS OF STATE. BY THE REV. JAMES MURRAY, Preach the gospel to every creature."—MARK, xvi. 16. have called you gods, and all of you the children of the Highest; but ye shall die like inen, and fall like one of the princes."-PSALM 1xxxii. 6, 7. PRINTED BY AND FOR W. HONE, 67, OLD BAILEY, THREE DOORS FROM LUDGATE HILL. 1817. TO LORD NORTH, ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S SECRETARIES OF STATE. MY LORD, YOUR office in the State has rendered you as conspicuous to the people of this nation, as the achievements carried on under your administration have made you famous over all Europe. Your name and transactions will stand recorded in history, with a peculiar emphasis. It is on account of this, my Lord, that I have taken the freedom of inscribing this volume of SERMONS to you, that, under the sanction of so remarkable a name, these Discourses might be more generally received in the world than they would have been were they published under the mere signature of the Author. For though, my Lord, the name of MURRAY, us times go, is far from being a name of little consideration in many special respects, for, as the Author has never figured in any public walk of life, he was afraid to trust to a name without first doing something that might be worthy of it. Under the patronage of your name, Exigit monumentum ære perennius, regalique situ pyramidum altius; for your Lordship's name, my Lord, will not soon be forgotten. These Sermons may serve for an amusement when your Lordship retires from the weighty and fatiguing studies of the State; when you divert your mind from the hurry of business by enjoying the sweets of the country. They may suggest some useful hints to refresh your memory concerning things that are past, and inform you of what is yet to come. All the reward the Author desires for this Dedication is, that your Lordship will be pleased to read these Sermons, and recommend them to your friends. SERMONS ΤΟ MINISTERS OF STATE. SERMON I. MARK, XVI. 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. AS S the words that follow are a little uncourtly, I have left them out, lest my audience, by being disgusted in the beginning of my discourse, should not be disposed to give attention to what I have to say in the following parts thereof. The words of the text are the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who had lately risen from the dead, and was declared to be the Son of God with power. He had now finished a work which all the hosts in heaven, and men upon earth, by their united wisdom and power, could not have performed. He had given a greater display of the divine attributes than had hitherto been seen in all the works of creation and providence. By fulfilling righteousness, and pleasing God,-by magnifying the law, and making it honourable, and by shewing the harmony between justice and mercy in the forgiveness of the ungodly, he had now laid a sure foundation of preaching peace to the worthless of all ranks and degrees in the world. He had laid the foundation of publishing mercy to mankind in his own blood, and has thereby fully shewn, that, without shedding of blood, there would have been no remission of sin. Perhaps it may appear strange to my noble audience, that a personage of so mean a visible character in the world should have pretended to perform Buch extraordinary works, and claim such prerogatives, as Jesus of Nazareth did, and still doth. It is, my Lords, exceeding strange and wonderful, beyond even the comprehension of all the cabinets in Europe. It is amazing that a God, who can make a world by his word, should have been at so much pains with this guilty and corrupt world, as to send his beloved Son to die for it. Your Highnesses and your Reverences must remember, B and |