carried a hell within me; I believed myself to be encompassed by demons and flames of fire; I became my own executioner, when I called to remembrance that wretched time which I had lavished on the world and its lying vanities; and I would have sacrificed my life a thousand and a thousand times to redeem it, had God put it in my power; I would have given the whole world to bring back but one poor moment of that precious time which I had so prodigally squandered away : and God, in mercy ineffable, is still prolonging that day of visitation."

6. Finally, we farther deduce a sixth conclusion Creatures in whose favor God is pleased still to lengthen out the day of grace, the economy of long-suffering, which they have improved to so little purpose, ought no longer to delay, no not for a moment, to avail themselves of a reprieve so graciously intended. Creatures who stand on the brink of the grave, and who have too just ground to fear that they should be thrust into hell, were the grave immediately to swallow them up, ought instantly to form a new plan of life, and instantly to set about the execution of it. I conjure you, my brethren, by the gospel of this day, I conjure you by all that is powerful, all that is interesting, all that is tender, in the solemnity which we are now assembled to celebrate, and in that of last Lord's day; I conjure you to enter in good earnest into the spirit of this reflection, to keep it constantly in view through every instant of the years which the patience of God may still grant you, to make it, as it were, the rule of all your designs, of all your undertakings, of all your exertions. Without this we can do nothing for you. The most ardent prayers which we could address to heaven, on your behalf, this day, would be as ineffectual

as those which Moses formerly presented in behalf of the children of Israel, to obtain a revocation of that awful doom: I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest, Psa. xcv. 11. But if, on the contrary, you are wise to admit the word of exhortation, we are warranted to hold up our wishes for your salvation, as so many promises sealed, with that seal of God which standeth sure, and immediately emanating from the mouth of that God, the Lord who changeth not.

APPLICATION.

I have embraced with avidity, my dearly beloved brethren, the opportunity of contributing to the present solemnity, to come to you at a juncture so desirable, and to bring to you the word of life, at a season, when I am at liberty to unfold to you a heart which has ever been penetrated with a respectul tenderness for this city, and for this church. Deign to accept my affectionate good wishes, with sentiments conformable to those which dictated them.

Venerable magistrates, to whose hands Providence has committed the reins of government, you are exalted to a station which our devotions contemplate with respect! But we are the ministers of a Master whose commands control the universe; and it is from the inexhaustible source of his greatness, of his riches, of his magnificence, that we draw the benedictions which we this day pronounce upon your august heads. May God vouchsafe to inspire you with that dignity of sentiment, that magnanimity, that noble ambition, which enable the sovereigns to whom he has entrusted the sword of his justice, to found on the basis of justice, all their designs, and all their decisions! May it please

God to inspire you with that charity, that condescension, that affability, which sinks the master in the father! May it please God to inspire you with that humility, that self-abasement, which engage Christian magistrates to deposit all their power at the feet of God, and to consider it as their highest glory to render unto him a faithful account of their administration! This account is a solemn one. You are, to a certain degree, responsible, not only for the temporal, but for the eternal happiness of this people. The eternal happiness of a nation frequently depends on the measures adopted by their governors, on the care which they employ to curb licentiousness, to suppress scandalous publications, to procure respect for the ordinances of religion, and to supply the church with enlightened, zealous, and faithful pastors. But magistrates who propose to themselves views of such extensive utility and importance, are warranted to expect from God, all the aid necessary to the accomplishment of them. And this aid, great God, we presume to implore, in behalf of these illustrious personages! May our voice pierce the heavens, may our prayers be crowned with an answer of peace!

Pastors, my dear companions in the great plan of salvation, ye successors of apostolic men in the edifying of the body of Christ, and in the work of the ministry! God has set very narrow bounds to what is called, in the language of the world, our advancement, and our fortune. The religion which we profess, permits us not to aspire after those proud titles, those posts of distinction, those splendid retinues, which confound the ministers of temporal princes with the ministers of that Jesus whose kingdom is not of this world. But whatever we lose with respect to those advantages which dazzle

the senses, is amply compensated to us in real and solid blessings; at least if we ourselves understand that religion which we make known to others, and if we have a due sense of that high vocation with which we are honored of God. May that God, who has conferred this honor upon us, vouchsafe to endow us with that illumination, and with those virtues, without which it is impossible for us to discharge the duties of it in a becoming manner ! May he vouchsafe to bestow upon us that courage, that intrepidity, which are necessary to our effectually resisting the enemies of our holy reformation, nay those too, who, under the name of reformed, do their utmost to thwart and to undermine it! May he vouchsafe to support us amidst the incessant difficulties and opposition which we have to encounter through the course of our ministry, and to animate us by the idea of those supereminent degrees of glory, which await those who, after having turned many to righteousness, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever!

Merchants, ye who are the support of this Republic, and who maintain in the midst of us prosperity and abundance, may God vouchsafe to continue his blessing upon your commerce! May God cause the winds and the waves, nature and the elements, to unite their influence in your favor! But above all, may God vouchsafe to teach you the great art of placing your heart there where your treasure is; to make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness: to sanctify your prosperity by your charities, especially on a day like this, on which every one ought to prescribe to himself the law of paying an homage of charity to God who is love, and whose love has spared us to behold the light of this day!

Fathers and mothers, with whom it is so delicious for me to blend myself, under an address so deeply interesting, may God enable us to view our children, not as beings limited to a present world, but as beings endowed with an immortal soul, and formed for eternity! May it please God to impress infinitely more upon your hearts the desire of, one day, beholding them among the blessed in the kingdom of heaven, than going on and prospering on the earth! May God grant us the possession of objects so endeared, to the very close of life, objects so necessary to the enjoyment of life! May God vouchsafe, if he be pleased to take them away from us, to grant us that submission to his will, which enables us to support a calamity so severe !

My dearly beloved brethren, this reflection chokes my utterance. May God vouchsafe to hear all the wishes and prayers which my heart has conceived, and which my lips have uttered, and all those which I am constrained to suppress, and which are more in number than the tongue is able to declare! Amen.