all, who will cordially submit to the terms of the Gospel. The garden of the Lord, blooming in eternal spring, and filled with delights unknown in our earthly Eden, is now opened for the reception of perishing souls just on the verge of death and hell. Can you neglect this great salvation? Can you coldly turn from the cross, and slighting all the joys of heaven, press your way to the regions: of woe. O my friends, I beseech you act not so mad a part. Awaken from your guilty slumbers before you lift up your eyes in the torments of the bottomless abyss. You stand on a tremendous precipice, down which you are liable to be precipitated into the gulf beneath. Should you" die in your sin ;" should you perish, after all the invitations and warnings which you have received in this world, how awful must be your doom! how aggravated your condemnation! God declares, that all the finally in penitent shall have their portion in the " lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," where there is " weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." In that dark and bottomless pit, the sunshine of hope never disperses the rayless gloom; the life-giving sound of a Saviour's voice is never heard ; but all is interminable and ceaseless misery, remorse, and despair. Will you make this your dreary abode? Why, O why will you die? Why will you murder your ever-living souls for the worthless, short lived pleasures of this delusive world? Why wilk you continue to tread the broad and beaten road, when another step may plunge you in everlasting ruin? Wilk you not take alarm, and hide yourselves from the gathering tempest, in the pavilion of God? Delay not. "Your life is a vapour that appeareth but for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Your moments are inconceivably precious; and while you are busy here and there about the veriest trifles, they speed their flight never to return. Boast not of to-morrow; for ere to-morrow shall arrive,

the hand of death may blast your expectations, frustrate your schemes, and send your trembling spirit to its Maker. You are ever on the brink of the grave, on the threshhold of eternity. Death waits his commission to sever the brittle thread of life, and seal your retributive state unalterably.

"It is a serious thing to die." The moment which dissolves the union between the soul and the body, is big with everlasting realities, which the language of mortals cannot explain, nor the heart of man fully con-~ ceive. Then the fascinating charms of the world, and the deceitful pleasures of sin, which now engross your supreme attention, and for which you hazard the welfare of your immortal souls, will all vanish like a dream, leaving you to the pangs of unutterable disappointment. Were you possessed of all the honours, riches, and joys, which grow on earthly soil, they could not extract the sting of death, nor ward off his fatal shafts. Say, my dear friends, how can you meet that eventful period? how salute the universal conqueror? Shall you not want a religion which can pour heavenly light upon the dark and gloomy vale, and point you to mansions of bliss on high? Shall you not need a Saviour, whose presence can allay the swellings of Jordan, and whose hand can bear your departing spirit to the celestial Canaan beyond?

Let me entreat you, then, to make a good use of present opportunities, by laying up a treasure in heaven. Rest not till you are the subjects of that change of heart which is indispensibly necessary to a preparation for heavenly bliss. Repent of your numerous and aggravated sins, and seek vigorously and unremittingly for an interest in the atonement of Christ. Seek after true holiness, without which you can never see God, nor relish the employment of redeemed spirits. Withdraw your

affections from this dying world, and fasten them on things above. Thus you will be fitted for the inheritance of the saints in light, and your eyes will be strengthened for the unclouded vision of God. Thus will you possess peace and tranquillity amidst all the vicissitudes of life; and if the clouds of adversity shall cover your horizon, resignation shall nevertheless smile in your countenance, and your hearts shall swell with gratitude and joy. When you reach the end of your wanderings in the wilderness, and the vital lamp glimmers in the shades of death, you may confidently repose on the merey of your Saviour, and triumphantly look forward to the place, where Christian pilgrims shall mingle their voices in concert and sing. the praises of their great Conductor. To that upper re gion your departing spirit shall ascend, and, blessed with immortal youth and vigour, shall assimilate to the uncreated Fountain of light, making continual progression in felicity and excellence.

Can you, my dear friends, resist the united force of all these considerations? Be assured they are not the offspring of a wild imagination, but solemn truths upon which the signet of heaven is engraved, and therefore worthy your deep and constant attention. 0 O may they sink deep in your hearts, and have an abiding impression, and a salutary influence, upon your actions. May the Eternal Spirit seal instruction to your minds, lead you in the path of wisdom, and by his divine teachings and illuminations, prepare you for that rest" which remaineth for the people of God."

THE END.

ERRATA. P. 2, line 8, for Powers, read power...-P. 6, 1. 20, for perhaps, read perhaps have P. 19, 1. 21, for in all, read on all.-P. 24, 1. 28, for She carefully, read she had, carefully.-P. 239 should be p. 231, &c.

J. HAY & Co. Printers,

Edinburgh.