seek God, or if in youth we have found the pearl of great price-or in manhood's riper state are laying up treasure in heaven, then it is of very trifling moment whether we have many or few years to pass before we go hence-for we have the promise of God that when absent from the body, we shall be present with the Lord. This is that good hope through grace, which like an anchor of the soul, is sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil; which binds fast the soul to that glory which Christ has in reserve to bestow upon us when our few years are ended. Happy, indeed, are they who are thus fitted to go the way whence they shall not re-a way, which the true believer, when he has once passed it, would not wish to return.

turn

But do you inquire into the nature of that connexion which exists between our character in time, and our state in eternity-let it be observed, as it regards wicked men, God has made a decree that they shall receive the fruit of their doings; and as it regards good men, his grace has promised them the gift of eternal life. The connexion, in the former case, consists in the immutability of the divine counsel and threatening, and the moral and responsible character of every human being :-in the latter it consists in the relation there is between faith in Christ, as the principle of a new and holy life, and the promise of God in the Mediator, which secures a state of life and bliss, to all that thus do the will of God. Let all remember there is an indissoluble connexion between the guilt of man, and the punishment which God has annexed to it. "The wages of sin is death”—not here, but hereafter. It is a downward road which the sinner treads; it leads straight and manifestly to destruction. But "the path of the just is as the shining light." God has esta

blished the connexion in both cases. Every thing about us evinces its reality; and it is the extreme of folly and of wickedness to disregard it. Oh that men could see, or when they are told, would but believe, that the life of sin they are now living, must, from the very nature of things, lead to a state of condemnation and eternal death. Every day brings them a step nearer. He has said it, who can never deny Himself, "the wicked shall be turned into hell." But let it not be forgotten, even by the wicked, that God has established a connexion not less clear, not less certain, between true repentance of sin, and a state of forgiveness here, and of perfect, holy, and blissful existence, beyond the sphere of earth, and the bounds of time.

IV. The words of the text may be improved to shew the ground there is to awaken the fear of some and animate the hopes of others.

1. If the sentiments already advanced are scriptural verities, and that they are so, we may appeal to the sacred record, then how precious a gift is time. It is bearing us all onward to eternity, and in a few years we shall all be gone the way whence we shall not return. We must all appear at the judgment seat of God, and time to us is only the measure of that space of being which is between us and eternal happiness or misery; and this space of our earthly being we are spending variously, yet it is of infinite value: shall we then waste it in trifling and in sin, in offending our God? That very gift which he bestows, and repeats every day, that we may be more fit to meet him-shall we bestow this more lavishly to unfit us for his presence, because his forbearance is SO great?

2. If it is uncertain when we shall go the way whence we shall not return, then should we be always ready, and learn every day

to watch. The best use, and the highest profit we can make of time, is to prepare for its end, and to be always ready to go the way which cannot be repassed. Let this thought shame such as are still living without having found the true hope of glory. Let the wicked remember the day is nigh at hand, when they must quit their present courses to return to them no more for ever. You must bid a final adieu to earthly gratification, the joys of sin and of sense will leave you together, and what resource will then remain ?

3. Let this subject inspire joy into the heart of every true Christian. "Now is your salvation nearer than when you believed." Your joys shall abound in that world, where they shall not be measured by hours, sabbaths and years. In a few years, at furthest, these trials, tears, and afflictions, shall end in joy eternal and perfect. You shall go the way whence you shall not return to a burden of flesh-to a world of changes to a bitter persecuting enemy, who never remits his

temptations. When once you have passed the verge of heaven and seen the glories of the place, and found the inheritance assigned you there, it will be a matter of joy, that there is no way to pass back to a sinful, suffering, dying state. None that are there can ever return to misery or guilt; and none that are in misery and guilt, can ever pass that glorious verge, Luke xvi. 26.

4. As to all who are in anticipation of this state of blessedness, let them give more diligence to be found ready to enter into the joy of their Lord, for in such an hour as they think not he cometh. Let their joy abound as the reality of that state increases, and as their hope is confirmed of finding in it an eternal weight of glory. How blessed are those means, those days, those years which bring you to the bosom of a dear Saviour, and to the full measure of spiritual bliss. Now is the gate of the kingdom of heaven set open before you all, and blessed are they that enter into it.

OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC
MORALITY.

I HOPE I am on my guard against that very offensive species of queru lous egotism, which delights in going back to the periods of youth, and contrasting the worthier past with the degenerate present. Different sections of the world's his tory are marked with their own distinct and distinguishing character, and there is some difficulty in separating the moral and intellectual estimate of life and character, from that fantastic shape which it assumes, when distorted by our wayward impulses and imaginations. But with every allowance for this common perversion, I can

not resist a conviction which has taken strong hold upon my mind, that there are going forward at the present time, the schemes and the actings of a fell conspiracy against the happiness and improvement of mankind. I do not mean to affirm, that there is a regularly organized association for this desperate object, I am not, like the moonstruck Robison, armed with a bewildering medley of facts, and rumours, and inventions, in support of a favourite phantasm; but I would crave a brief and patient hearing, while I endeavour to put the unwary on their guard against some of the detestable artifices which a low and selfish rapacity

is practising for its own despicable ends.

I can now look back through considerably more than half the allotted term of human existence, and though I have been much conversant with the world in various aspects of society, I cannot recollect any period when the loathsome business of corrupting the youthful mind, and of gratifying the malevolence, the impiety, and the sensuality of maturer years, was so impudently obtruded in the face of day, as at the present moment. The press and the graver seem the favourite weapons of the enemies of God and man, and from the abominations of Lord Byron to the importations of foreign nuisances, all the stimulants to vice are paraded before the public eye. From some of the more gross exhibitions of this kind, we have been delivered by the interference of the police, but much still remains to be swept away, and much vigilance is required to guard against the intrusion of unholy suggestions, and the heedless indulgence of unholy pursuits.

It may be expedient at some future time to point out the sources and the windings of that tainted stream, which runs through nearly the whole field of human literature, but a more limited view of the calamity is better suited to present convenience. First then there is Lord Byron sending into our moral atmosphere, the poisonous exhalations of his splendid, but corrupted genius. To say nothing of other delinquencies, his Juan-I want language to express my disgust at the hypocrisy of the real publisher -found a printer, at least, willing to set his name as a colophon to that classic of the stews. Since then it has been printed in a cheap form, and editions have been mul tiplied at a price, which brings this wretched provocative within the purchase of the apprentice and the school-boy. Moore has fur

nished the boudoir and the worktable with his lascivious anacreontics; we have seen, with deep dismay, this man's book of scarcely veiled obscenities lying on the desk of a wife and mother. Magazines of no equivocal purport, with engravings expressive of the base entertainment provided in the typographical portion, lie openly in the windows of unprincipled tradesmen, who would infect the world with ruinous depravity, for dirty gain. French works, too, of nauseous character are translated, and publicly sold; and this very morning (May 18,) I saw with astonishment and dismay, lying on the show board of a respectable bookseller, a translation of the most infamous work of the infamous Voltaire.

I state these facts as a small part only of the deplorable case, which I have undertaken to make out. For obvious reasons, I have confined myself to the illustration of that part of it, which must be familiar to every one who walks the streets of London; I would be cautious not to supply dangerous information to irritated curiosity, while I appeal to day-light testimony in support of my complaints and warnings.

What then is to be done in this lamentable case? Men of decency and piety have sat too long with folded hands, and averted `eyes, while the plague has been diffusing around its mischievous influence, and it becomes them to put in activity those laws which protect the morals of the nation. Between persecution for opinion, and interference in defence of public decorum and the purity of the rising generation, there is no point of resemblance; and while I deprecate the former, I warmly urge the latter. No man can use his eyesight in the streets of London for a single half-hour, without encountering objects which call for legal restraint, and penal visita

tion; the weapons of self-defence are within our reach; and we are wanting to ourselves, our families, and our associations, if we hesitate to use them.

To this direct coercion, I would add a more active system of moral counteraction. It is unhappily the case, that a certain description of efforts against these offences serve only as the means of giving them attractive publicity, and it hence becomes expedient to avoid all such controversy as tends either to specify the peculiar contents of known works, or to announce the existence of such as are less extensively circulated. But if the enemies of the general happiness are arraying against us the perverted powers of a mighty and salutary engine, let us bring into vigorous and beneficial exercise the same energies to repel their injurious exertions. On our side, we have talent, right feeling, the laws of man, and the word of God; against these, our antagonists have no holding ground; and if the press be brought in aid, by a diligent dispersion of better and more attractive food, for the head and heart, we shall occupy a position too favourable for defence, and too advantageous for assault, not to give us victory. Add to this, what indeed is necessarily included in this, the blessing of God on right motives and a righteous cause, and there is no possibility of failure.

And let us not forget to furnish our youth, our dependants, with the armour of good principles, enforced by steady exhortation and consistent example. If corrupted morals enter our families, there is a canker at the very roots of society. Watch, my Christian friends, watch with dragon vigilance, the domestic circle: see that no disguised poison gain admittance there exercise a close inspection over the tendencies of imagination and feeling, and resolutely exclude the seduction which, under the

mask of literature and science, would relax the strength of principle, and mar the work of educa tion, by impairing moral and religious sensibility.

ON THE COVENANT OF WORKS.

WHEN the Creator of all things had fitted this world to be the residence of human beings, he made a man, and called him Adam, probably as being formed of red earth. But Adam though made partly of earthly materials was not composed entirely of such. When God said, "Let there be light, there was light." When he said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters""and it was so, the fiat of the Creator produced all things animate and inanimate at his pleasure: but when man was to be created," God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness."-" And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.". "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and, there he put the man whom he had formed. The Almighty Maker placed him as lord over the new creation, "and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them, and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." The condition of human nature was then one of honour, beauty, and happiness. Man in his primitive state was clothed with a degree of glory, and crowned with honour now almost inconceivable. He was wise, holy, and happy, blessed in communion with his Creator, and enriched with every benefit which tended to ennoble his nature. How little can we conceive of his pleasures, when he dressed the garden, and meditated on the power that made him, and more especially, when in the

cool of the evening some sensible tokens of Jehovah's presence were given, and our venerable progenitor, then in all the vigour and glory of manhood, having performed the rural duties of his situation, probably engaged in yet more delightful acts of worship, and offered to the Deity the sacrifice of praise upon the altar of a pure heart. A healthy body, a vigorous and well instructed mind, a devotional spirit, circumstances of ease and enjoyment, connected with perpetual expressions of divine beneficence, all tended to shew, that God had made man but "a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honour." In these circumstances, that covenant was made with Adam of which we are now about to treat. In ordinary covenants, the compact is perfectly mutual; but when the covenant is between God and the creature, it comports most with the dignity of the former, and the safety of the latter party, that it should assume a character of authority. covenant, therefore, was established under the form of a positive prohibition, an implied promise, and an expressed denunciation.

This

What we are to understand by the tree of life, cannot with certainty be determined. Some have supposed, that it was no more than a pledge of life to Adam, on condition of obedience, One learned writer has endeavoured to prove, that it signifies all the trees in the garden; and another, that the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge were the same. But without specifying any other objections to these notions, it may be sufficient to cite the words of the holy record; "And the Lord God said, behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil, and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever; therefore, the Lord sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground,

from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." As the views already adverted to are at variance with the literal and obvious meaning of the sacred text, in the original as well as in our version, we shall be on the safer side, if we adhere closely to the commonly received opinions. Many divines have supposed, that the fruit of the tree of knowledge contained a slow poison, which vitiated the fluids of the human body, and in time, tended to the extinction of life in the persons of the first transgressors, and that by corrupting the whole animal economy of the human frame it has been perpetuated through all generations. It has also been conjectured, that our first parents in their state of innocency were clothed with a visible glory, and that the departure of this glory, as soon as they transgressed, constituted that nakedness of which they became so distressingly sensible. But it is plain, at least, that the original state of man was one of great glory and honour, and that the economy under which God placed him, was mild and equitable.

"God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions," and so man being in honour continued not. Here we can speak with certainty: but, alas, it is the awful certainty of a state of general ruin in which human nature groans out her four score years. Eve, our mother, took of the forbidden fruit, and gave unto her husband, and he did eat. By this act sin entered into the world, and its ravages have been dreadful from that day to the present.

"Earth trembled from her entrails, as again In pangs, and nature gave a second groan, Sky lower'd, and mutt'ring thunder some Wept at completing of the mortal sin sad drops Original."