Such, my brethren, is the life of what is called the world, a repetition of the same childish conceptions, a perpetual round of the same trifling amusements. If you had been sent on earth to play the fool; if your pilgrimage through life were merely a jaunt of pleasure; it would be cruel and injurious to awaken you from the delusion. But as you profess to be Christians, and believe this life to be a state of moral discipline and probation for the next, it will be proper and seasonable to warn you of the folly of such a course, and to point out a nobler and a happier path, where at once you may see the world, and may adorn it; where at once you may improve your time, and enjoy life.

In order to this, I shall, in the first place, give you some directions for redeeming, or improving the time; and, in the second place, set before you the obligations to the practice of this duty.

We begin with directions for redeeming the time. In the first place, treasure up in your memory a storé of useful knowledge, as a proper foundation of employment to the mind.

It has been the complaint of discontented men in all ages, that life is a scene of dulness, not worth a wise man's care, where the same things come over and over like a tale that is told, which, however entertaining it may appear when it is new, yet, by frequent repetition, at last becomes tedious and insipid. The consequence of which has been, that many, viewing the picture in this disagreeable light, have been inclined to throw of all serious concern about their duty, to give themselves up to habits of indolence and languor, and to make no other use of their time, but to study how to trifle it away. True it is, indeed, that the days of many have thus been spent in vain; that their life has been a barren circle, within which they have been enchanted, going round and round, ever in motion, but never making any advances. But although many have made life a dull round of insignificant actions, yet no man had ever occasion to make it so. It is in

deed so to the brutes, who soon arrive at that pitch of perfection which is allotted to their natures, where they must stop short without a possibility of going farther. Sense, which is their highest power, moves in a narrow sphere; its objects are few in number, and gross in kind, and therefore not only come more quickly round, but also grow more insipid at every revolu

tion.

But man is endowed with nobler faculties, and is presented with nobler objects whereon to exercise and employ them. The contemplation of all divine truth to engage his understanding; the beauties of the natural and moral world to attract and captivate his affections: the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God, manifested in the works of Creation, of Providence, and of Redemption, to exalt his admiration, and call forth all his praise. What employment can be more worthy of a rational being, or better adapted to the faculties of an immortal spirit, than thus to search out the order, the beauty, and the benevolence of nature; to trace the Everlasting in his works, and to mark the impression of his creating hand, yet recent on a beautiful world? Or if we turn our eyes towards the moral system, to observe a higher order of things, and a greater exertion of Divinity, in adjusting the plan of providence, in bringing light from darkness, and good from evil, in causing the most unconnected and contrary events co-operate to one great end, and making all to issue in the general good. Here is a noble path for a rational creature to travel in. Whilst day unto day thus teaches wisdom, night unto night will increase pleasure. The man who is thus trained up to the admiration of the works of God, and who has tasted the spirit of these sublime enjoyments, will not complain of the insignificance and languor of life. These studies will afford an occupation at all hours. They will make your own thoughts an entertainment to you, and open a fountain of happiness at home. They will diffuse somewhat of heaven over the mind; they will introduce you beforehand into E

VOL. I

the society of angels and blessed spirits above, and already prepare you to bear a part in that beautiful hymn of heaven: "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are all thy ways, thou King of Saints."

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Secondly, Have some end in view; some object to employ the mind, and call forth its latent powers.

In devising, or in executing a plan; in engaging in the whirl of active life, the soul seems to unfold its being, and to enjoy itself. Man is not like the soil on which he lives, which spends its powers in exercise, and requires repose, in order to recruit its wasted strength, and prepare it for new exertions. Activity is an essential attribute of mind. Its faculties. exist only when they are exercised; it gains a new accession of strength from every new exertion, and the greater acquisitions it makes, it is enabled to make still greater. It is not a brook formed by the shower; it is a living fountain, which is for ever flowing, and yet for ever full. This will account for an observation that we have often occasion to make in life, that none have so little leisure as those who are entirely idle; that none complain so much of the want of time as those who have nothing to do. The fact is, they want that energy of soul which is requisite to every exertion, and that habit of activity which applies to every thing. Indolence unmans the faculties; impairs and debilitates the whole intellectual system. Those who, under its influence, become a kind of perpetual sleepers, degrade themselves from the honours of their nature, and are dead while they live. A habit of activity is a most valuable acquisition. He who is possessed of it, is fit for all events, and may be happy in every situation. This habit is only to be acquired by pursuing some great object that may agitate the mind. Think not that your labour may be spent in vain. Nothing is in vain that rouses the soul: nothing in vain that keeps the etherial fire alive and glowing. The prospect of something coming forward ; the pleasure and the pride which the mind takes in

its own action, beget insensibly that habit of industry which will abide through life.

Thirdly, Set apart fixed and stated hours for the important duties of life.

It is the misfortune of great part of men, that they have no fixed plan of acting. They live extempore. They act at random. They are always led by instantaneous impulse, and are driven to and fro as inclination varies. Their life rolls on through a course of misspent time, and unconnected years, and appears upon review, like the path of a cloud in the air, which leaves no trace behind it. It was the custom of the great Alfred, one of the English kings, to divide the day into three parts, which he measured by the burning of tapers. One part he employed in the cares of the government; another part he dedicated to the cultivation of the liberal arts; the third he devoted to religion. It would be happy for you, my brethren, if, in this respect, you would imitate such an illustrious example. Let, at least, one part of your time be devoted to the service of God. When the morning ascends from the east, let it be your first care to offer up your earliest thoughts as incense to heaven; to add your praises to the hymns and hosannahs of the angels in light, and spirits of just men made perfect. When the shades of the night fall a

round

you, let it be your constant care to implore the pardoning mercy of God for the errors of the past day, and to commit yourselves to the protection of His Providence who slumbers not nor sleeps. In particular, let this day, which is sacred to the memory of a Saviour's resurrection from the dead; which is a memorial of the full accomplishment of our redemption; let this day be set apart for holy contemplation on the wonders of redeeming love, on the height, and depth, and breadth, and length of the love of Jesus to our race, which passeth all understanding; which prompted him to forego the glories of his divine nature for a time, to take upon him the robe of humanity, to lead a life of sorrows upon earth, and to suffer

a cruel, and ignominious, and an accursed death. Let us contemplate this amiable and divine love, till we are changed into the same image, and feel within ourselves an earnest and anticipation of that everlasting Sabbath of joy which is reserved for the righteous in the world to come, when time shall be po more.

In the fourth place, endeavour to distinguish your days by some good deed.

As those who are intent to amass a fortune, attend to small sums; in like manner, if you would wish to improve your time, you must take care not to lose a day. Many are the ways, and frequent the occasions, which daily present themselves, of adding to your true happiness, of improving your natures, and promoting the interests of society. You have all the world before you where to act, and the whole of human life as a theatre of virtue. Through the assistance of divine grace, conquer the excess of passion, correct some irregular desire, and obtain a victory over the vices that war against the soul." Let your goodness extend to society, and spread over the land, like the light of the morning. Can there be Can there be any employment so agreeable to a benevolent mind, and so congenial to the spirit of Christianity, as to assuage the boisterous passions, and reconcile the jarring interests of men; to open the eye which prejudice has shut; to charm down the spirit of party, and to unite all your neighbours in one great family of love? Is not the employment god-like: is not the joy divine, to brighten up the face that was overcast with sadness; to wipe the tears from the cheek of sorrow; to turn the voice of mourning into the notes of joy; to make misery and woe vanish before us like darkness before the sun; to refresh with showers of blessings the dry and barren land wherein no water is, and, cooperating with a beneficent Providence, to watch for the happiness of the world? Where is there any one so destitute of the gifts of grace, of nature, and of fortune, as to have no mite to throw into the public treasury ? He who cannot pretend to enlighten or re