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ON A GENERAL FAST.

"Let them turn every one from his evil way*."

THE exemplary humiliation and repentance of the people of Nineveh, our blessed Saviour recommended as a striking example to the perverse and stubborn generation of the Jews, who obstinately refused to hear the voice of reason and Religion. The people of Nineveh were arrived at such a heighth of wickedness, that the Almighty had prepared their overthrow in a most tremendous manner. They were allowed only forty days warning before their ruin was to be accomplished: "and the word of

* Jonah iii. 8.

"the Lord came unto Jonah, saying,

Arise, go unto Niveveh, that great "City and preach unto it the preaching "that I shall bid thee. The City of Nineveh was so extensive, that it required three days journey to travel through it; and Jonah had accomplished one day's journey, crying, "Yet forty "days and Nineveh shall be over"thrown;" when the people with one accord began to shake off that lethargic stupidity, which had so universally prevailed, and from the highest to the lowest humbled themselves before God, proclaiming a fast, and covering themselves with ashes. The distinction of birth and fortune was disregarded in the general repentance, and it was proclaimed, that neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, should feed or drink water. God saw that the humiliation of his people was sincere, and was therefore graciously pleased to save them, or their

outward ceremonies would have proved of little avail. Sackcloth and ashes are not the criterion of repentance; they, like the garb of mourning, may cover a deceitful heart: it is the renunciation of sin, the devout and contrite prayer, to give strength to every good resolve, arising from this our awful appeal to the Almighty! and may God see our sincerity as in the case of the Ninevites, and receive the deep humiliation of his people!

Oh that one spirit would influence the rich and poor, and that they would turn like this repentant nation from vice and folly, to virtue and Religion! How know we that forty days may be allowed to us! that even another day may add to the life of man! Now, then, is the appointed time to avert the sword of justice, which even the long forbearance of a merciful God may hold for our destruction. The assembling of ourselves together will

prove but a mockery of his power, if it do not lead every one of us to forsake the evil of our way" to amend our lives according to his holy word."

To paint human nature in the dark colours of depravity, is by no means a grateful task to any mind which shrinks from its contagion: but, it is to be feared, that this nation too nearly resembles that of Nineveh in every species of wickedness, which can justify the anger of God: undisguised impiety progressively leading to vices, degrading in their nature, and pernicious in their effects. If we survey the higher ranks of society, shall we see their conduct regulated by reason and Religion? are not their wants uncircumscribed, their pursuits irrational, if not decisively wicked, and the peace of individuals frequently broken, by these lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God? And even among those, who from policy or custom attend somewhat more

to the decencies of life, shall we not find, that this world and its allurements supersede every serious consideration; and that the gratifications of the present hour occupy the whole of men's thoughts, and will not permit them to reflect on a future state of existence? Shall we not also find their Sabbaths profaned by dissipation, gaming, promiscuous company, or by considering it as a day of indolence, rather than of rest and self-examination? And the habits of luxury counteracting every virtuous principle! These are lamentable truths: but if the uncertainty of life, and the boasted enjoyments of terrestrial felicity were considered as they ought to be considered; man would not live as if he were only the meteor of an hour; but the contemplation of immortality would turn him from every evil way, and the errors incidental to human nature could never reach the climax of vice and impiety.