share in the dreadful doom denounced against "the families that call not on God's name?"-O, then, resolve now, “As FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD." Let your prayer henceforth go up as the morning and the evening incense before Him. Let his word be your constant guide. Seek not perishable riches or vain distinctions; but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and such blessings as God only can give, shall cheer your dwelling, and enrich you for ever

FATHER of all, thy care we bless,

Which crowns our families with peace;
From thee they spring, and by thy hand,
They have been, and are still sustain'd

To God, most worthy to be prais'd,
Be our domestic altars rais'd;

Who, Lord of heav'n, scorns not to dwell
With saints, in their obscurest cell.

To thee may each united house,
Morning and night present its vows;
Our servants there, and rising race,
Be taught thy precepts and thy grace.

Oh, may each future age proclaim
The honors of thy glorious name;
While pleas'd and thankful, we remove
To join the family above."

SERMON LXVII.

BY JOSIAH W. CANNON, A. M.

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.

THE GUILT AND FOLLY AND PREVENTIVES OF BEING IN DEBT. ROMANS, XIII. 8.-" Owe no man any thing, but to love one another.

THE Bible gives directions concerning the life that now is, as well as that which is to come. The field of the gospel preacher, though limited by Scripture, is wide and extensive. The subjects mostly occupying his attention, because most important, are those immediately connected with the future well-being of the soul. Other topics, however, more secular in their nature, must be occasionally discussed. Whatever tends to ameliorate the condition of human life, to free the mind from oppressive care, to extend the range of its useful exercise, and enlarge its sphere of doing good, seems appropriate to the sanctuary. And God's word, surely, is not wanting in topics of this nature. It teaches us particularly, as to the regulation of human life, the wise improvement of time, and the suitable direction of all our endeavors. It inculcates diligence and industry, prudence and economy. It enjoins on us the duty of providing for our own, and warns against profligacy and extravagance. Among other precepts deemed worthy of divine inspiration, is the one just read::-"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another."

This direction is built on the principle of equity, is calculated to prevent much evil, and is intimately connected with mental improvement,

and spiritual peace.

I shall attempt,

I. To illustrate the propriety of the direction in the text; and,

II. Offer some considerations to secure a compliance with it.

The propriety of the direction will be seen, if we consider,

1. That to be in debt will expose us to defraud others of their just due. Numerous are the casualties of human life. We know not what a day or an hour may bring forth. Death may seize us unexpectedly, before we can cancel the claims which lie against us. Sickness may consume our substance; or a train of adverse circumstances may completely prostrate our worldly affairs; or the dread of bankruptcy may lead us to obtain, on trust, beyond all reasonable probability of ever making payment. In such cases, creditors are wronged. What they

were expecting in the arrangement of their business, or in making provision for their families, is withheld from them. A presumptuous venturing on their forbearance, and on our own hope of gain, has perhaps defrauded them of what was essential to a subsistence.

2. For an individual to be involved in debt is injurious, so far as his weight is felt, to the general interests of society. The condition of any society must ever accord with that of the individuals belonging to it. It will be prosperous or embarrassed, in proportion as they are flourishing or straitened. The individual, involved as to his private concerns, will of necessity be less attentive to public interests, and less liberal for their encouragement. He will feel himself unable to patronize objects or support institutions, however indispensable to the respectability and welfare of the community. He may be tempted entirely to withdraw his support, from what is of vital consequence to the very existence of society.

This is not all. The common habit of plunging in debt, necessarily produces incessant changes in society. Individuals scarcely become domesticated in a place, ere they must leave it to make room for others. Churches are scarcely organized, ere they are separated. Congregations but just become acquainted with their pastors, ere strangers occupy their places.

3. To owe, exposes us to involve our families in trouble and suffering. Comforts, collected for their subsistence, must be torn from them as the inevitable consequence of vexing and costly suits. What wives have, by industry, made, to clothe their household; what children need, to supply the calls of hunger, or defend them from the inclement season, or to furnish them with the means of useful instruction, is taken away from before their eyes. Often the very utensils of industry are seized, and thus the means of future acquisition precluded. Children, accustomed to mingle in the family circle, and bound together by a thousand domestic endearments, must scatter abroad, as opportunity may present, or occasion require. Husband and wife must be separated, and the limits of a prison-yard set bounds to their intimacy.

4. To involve ourselves in debt, is almost certain to subject us to great and expensive sacrifices.

Those sufferings, enumerated under the foregoing particular, may not, in every instance, be realized. Circumstances may not always combine to reduce the unfortunate debtor to distress, so complete and overwhelming. His substance may not be seized, his family may not be broken, himself may not be arrested. Yet still, to maintain his credit in some degree, and prevent the consequences to which his debts expose him, he must, unavoidably, be driven to perplexing straits. To meet payments according to promise, he must incur new debts by borrowing, and perhaps with the addition of use far beyond the lawful rate; or he must

dispose of his property at a hasty sale, and make large sacrifices in the conveyance. Besides, he must be racked with anxiety, and exhausted with fatigue; must spend time, make journeys, incur expense, neglect his business, and sink deeper and deeper in the calamity of embarrassment. And often, alas! does he rue the day, that he launched himself so readily in the precarious bark of credit.

5. To be in debt, is prejudicial to our improvement in useful knowledge. The mind, to make advances, needs to be quiet and undisturbed. Pecuniary embarrassments tend to ruffle it. In vain shall one, harassed with debt, attempt to compose himself for useful reading, or profitable reflection. His mind will be constantly devising expedients to extricate himself from difficulty, or poring, with melancholy forebodings, over his unpleasant situation. If he be in one of the learned professions, his usefulness must be stationary, if not retrograde. If he be a mechanic or agriculturist, he must content himself with what he already knows. Debt is an enemy to improvement in every situation. It neither allows the means of procuring instructive books, nor time to peruse them, if possessed. Wherever it lays its imperious claims, the mind must unavoidably be denied that regular exercise and aliment, which are essential to its growth.

6. To owe, is destructive of that love, which is binding upon us, one towards another. Love to each other is expressly enjoined in the text. It is particularly mentioned, as an exception to all other debts, from which the Apostle dissuades. Love to our fellow-beings is a debt which we owe them by the constitution and fitness of things; they being partakers with us, of the same nature, the offspring of the same common Parent, the subjects of the same providential government, and probationers for the same eternity. Love to each other, is a debt which we also owe, by the appointment and express command of God. The same precept, which enjoins supreme love to the Creator, directs us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

But how great are the violations of this law, in consequence of debt and embarrassment! The debtor, finding difficulty in meeting demands against him, at first dreads the sight of one he owes. This dread seldom fails to terminate in hatred, in consequence of measures pursued in a course of legal collection. Too frequently, after shunning and avoiding his creditor, and experiencing some vexation and perplexity, he gives free scope to his unfriendly feelings; forgets the justice of the debt, in the unpleasantness of his situation; reasons himself into a feeling of right to withhold payment, so far as he can; and directs his attention rather to the means of avoiding claims, than of canceling them. Too often, through irritation, he will seem to study every thing rather than making payment.

On the other hand, the creditor, being foiled in his expectations, and put to trouble, becomes resentful. He loses his patience. He parts with fellow-feeling. What he claimed, at first, in justice, he now pursues in vengeance. He calls into exercise all the unfriendly passions; and indulges the most rigorous treatment that the law will suffer. Thus are friends often changed into implacable enemies; and those who were bound to love each other, are provoked to exercise a malignant and lasting hatred; and all for not observing the prudential precept of the text.

7. To owe, is unfavorable to those spiritual preparations which are necessary to the future welfare of the soul. The mind, in pursuit of heavenly things, needs to be composed, collected, and in a situation to wait upon God, without distraction. It should be able to command all its energies, in its endeavors after holiness. It requires to be in a condition to systematize its pursuits and devote its attention, free from secular interruption and disquietude. He, who is seeking after immortality and eternal life, should not be obliged to throw down his Bible, or suspend the duties of the family and closet, because of an unwelcome, but urgent call from a creditor. Reason, surely, will very readily decide, whether one, in constant apprehension for his personal safety, in constant fear of the officers of justice, is in a favorable condition to make his peace with Heaven, or enjoy spiritual privileges. In such a case, the soul must be neglected; duty omitted; and marauding care consume all the finer feelings of the heart.

8. To owe, is forbidding to that peaceful and undisturbed death, which is desirable. In the hour of dissolution, if ever, we need to be disengaged from all worldly trouble. It is then necessary to direct our undivided attention to those amazing scenes which are just opening to view. But, if in possession of our rational powers, must not the thought disquiet us, that others are about to be injured in their substance by our exit; that we are leaving, for ever, claims unadjusted, and demands unsatisfied; that our affairs are in such a state, as to involve our friends in endless difficulty, and subject them to great embarrassment, through our improvidence? Reflections of this kind, surely, if we are susceptible of feeling, must add peculiar poignancy to death, and cast a gloom over dying prospects.

9. To owe, is in direct opposition to the command of God. This is a consideration paramount to all others. We are bound to keep all God's commandments. And His will on the point before us, is made very explicit in the text. Says the holy apostle, by the authority of inspiration, “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another." And, in the context, he says, "Render unto all their dues; tribute to whom tribute; custom to whom custom." In saying this, he but responds the words of his Divine Master, respecting the tribute which was exacted by the custom