;

your attachment is required? Do ye reflect, that this is the masterpiece of infinite wisdom that here the Almighty made bare his holy arm, and put forth all his strength? The introduction of this religion was the object of all the dispensations of the Deity upon earth. This is the centre in which terminates every line in the great circle of Providence. If one nation was victorious, and another put under the yoke; if war was commissioned to ravage and lay desolate the earth, or peace to make the joyful inhabitants sing beneath the vine; if kings were crowned, or were dethroned; if empires rose or fell, all was preparatory and subservient to this grand event. narchies which prevailed in the world, whether Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, or Roman, were erected as introductory to the Messiah, whose kingdom was to be without bounds, and whose reign was to be without end. That great image which the Monarch of the East beheld in his dream, whose head was of gold, whose breast was of silver, whose thighs were of brass, and whose feet were of iron, was set up by Providence, to prepare the way for the Stone which was cut out without hands, which was destined to smite the image, become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth. All

The mo

events, whether prosperous or adverse, whether malignant or benign, have co-operated towards the advancement of our religion. Saints have established it by their lives: martyrs have confirmed it, by their deaths: hypocrites have added strength to it, by their dissimulation: tyrants have purified it, by their persecutions: infidels have corroborated it, by their opposition: the arrows of its enemies have served for its protection: the resistance which it has met with, from the combined wit and genius and malice of mankind, have brought forth those illustrious and immortal defences, which establish its truth upon the basis of demonstration.

Shall we not, then, reckon ourselves eternally indebted to the infinite goodness of God, and stir up all that is within us to bless his holy name?—saying in the language of true fervour of spirit, "We will praise thee, O "God! we will praise thee with our whole "heart! our lives shall be thy sacrifice! we "will adore thee in death, and through eter"nity!"

God, from his throne in heaven, doth not behold an object more noble, and more worthy of his view, than a pious man; a man who, conscious of the dignity and immortality of

his nature, employs himself with fervour and zeal, in those devout exercises which assimilate him to the Divinity, who, measuring time by his improvements in devotion and virtue, never loses a day. He is the favourite of Heaven. The arm of the Almighty is stretched out in his behalf. The Lord loves him, and keeps him as the apple of his eye; he gives his angels charge concerning him, to preserve him in all his ways, lest at any time he should dash his foot against a stone. He delights to speak his praise in the assemblies of his saints and angels above: he writes his name in the book of his remembrance, and gives him the honourable title of the friend of God. He makes all things work together for his good in this world, and, in the dark vale of death, opens his eyes to discern the dawning of heavenly day. In fine, he holds his very ashes sacred; and, raising him up at the last day, carries him to his throne in heaven above, with the glorious company of the redeemed, to be made partaker of his own happiness.

These are thy palms, O piety! thine is the kingdom prepared above, thine the power with God and with man, and thine the crown of glory that fadeth not away!

SERMON III,

ON EARLY PIETY.

ECCLES. xii. 1.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy

youth.

WHEN Solomon, in early youth, had ascended the throne of Israel, the God of his fathers appeared to him in a dream. The Almighty was graciously pleased to condescend thus to visit his creature. He put in his offer all the pleasures of the world, and desired him to ask, and he should receive; to wish, and he should enjoy. The young king possessed a wisdom beyond his years, and a great

ness above his crown. He did not ask to have his palace filled with the beauties of the East, to have his treasury stored with the gold of Ophir, or to wear the laurel of victory

than all these.

over the nations. He asked a greater boon "Give thy servant, O Lord," replied the wise prince, "Give thy servant ❝ wisdom and understanding." What he then made the object of his own choice, he recommends to you under another name, in the words of the text: "Bmember now thy “Creator in the days of thy youth."

This is the last chapter of the works of Solomon, and these words may be regarded as his dying advice to the young. The philosophers of antiquity, who held out the lamp of the same advice to their followers. But between them and Solomon, there is this remarkable difference; they, from the obscure retirement of the schools, declaimed against pleasures which they had never tasted, and affected to despise honours to which they never had it in their power to ascend. But Solomon, a great and powerful prince, in the pleasurable time of life, had in his own person tried the experiment. He made the tour of the sensual world. He went in quest of happiness through all the scenes of life. He extended his search over the broad and flowery way, as well as in the narrow path, as it should seem by a particular permission of Providence, to save the

Wism to the heathen world, gave