to be the Lord's forever. They would tell you how their very earliest recollections are associated with the subject of religion; how, as their little minds expanded, a pious father or mother sowed in them the good seed of the word, and prayed for the future harvest. They would tell you how a father's counsels, or a mother's supplications preserved the tottering steps of their infancy, and sobered the playfulness of their childhood, and rescued them from the temptations of their youth. They would tell you how the frequent, affectionate and judicious conversation of their parents with them about their souls, and the Bible, and God, and heaven, and hell, planted religious principles within them, as immovable as the everlasting hills. And they would tell you that they would not barter those baptisms, and counsels, and prayers, and tears, for all the wealth of creation. This class of our youth are firmly fixed in the great doctrines of the Bible. You know where to

find them. They are not carried about by every wind of doctrine.

"Immortal principles forbid "

them to make shipwreck of the faith, or of their souls.

But you would find, perhaps, that a large

majority of this collection of youth were very differently educated at home. Some would tell you, with weeping, that their father and mother died when they were quite small, and that they were left to the instructions of others, who felt less interested in their welfare. Others might tell you that their father is an Universalist; that he neglects the sanctuary ― opposes the Sabbath school and the temperance society-never prays in his family, nor instructs his children in the things of religion, unless it be to teach them to hate its distinguishing truths. Others might tell you that their parents, though strictly orthodox and moral, are not pious; and that they themselves were never taken away to the closet and prayed with alone, or solemnly addressed on the subject of their salvation. In short, if you should ascertain how this collection of youth were educated at home, you would be profoundly astonished at the small amount of sound, direct religious instruction which they received. This is another prominent cause of their present instability on the subject of religion.

3. The existence of numerous denominations of Christians. That the Christian church is divided into numerous sects, is a fact which, though it may be attended with some advantages, is replete with

serious evils. Not the least of these evils is the scepticism, which it generates in the minds of the young. Many of them are led by it to the conclusion, that it matters little what opinions they embrace, or whether they embrace any. The inference they draw from the premises is utterly adverse to their establishment in the faith once delivered to the saints. Many a youth is held, for years if not for life, in a state of suspense on a subject, where definite opinions are infinitely necessary, because professed Christians are no more harmonious in their faith. Such youth are subject to the attracting influences of different denominations, and are held in equilibrium between them all. The consequence is, that they have no settled opinions. They are carried about by every wind of doctrine. They are ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Under the influence of these circumstances, many of them embrace the grosser forms of error, and make shipwreck of their immortal interests. It will not be known till the disclosures of the last day, how much denominational differences among Christians have done in diffusing infidelity, and in whelming souls in perdition.

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4. The misconduct of some Christian profesIt pleases God, for holy and wise reasons,

sors.

It

occasionally to suffer his real children to fall into sin, and thus to bring serious reproach on his cause. In this sense, he suffered David to fall, and Peter to fall. It also pleases Him to have a church, in this probationary state, which is by no means free from unholy members. Hypocrites and self-deceivers are often found within the hallowed pale of his visible kingdom. One of the twelve disciples of our Lord was a traitor and a devil. Five of the ten virgins were foolish. is quite possible, that these relative proportions of the unsound to the sound obtain among the churches of the present day. Here, then, in the inconsistency between the professions and the practice of many visible believers, we find a powerful cause of the unsettled state of religious opinion among the youth. But I would here enter my solemn protest against the practice of making religion answerable for the misconduct of its enemies, or the indiscretions of its friends. These delinquencies are not the fruits of religion, but of irreligion. They are the offspring, not of piety, but of depravity. A great increase of holiness in the church, instead of multiplying such evils, would work their extermination. Indeed, there is no other remedy. The only possible remedy is a great, an indefinite augmentation of that very

spirit, which is ungenerously charged with being the author of the evils in question. And yet it must be admitted, that to the misconduct of some Christian professors, much of the practical infidelity of the young is referable. That a cause of such infidelity should exist within the precincts of the church, is deeply to be deplored; but, on that account, to abandon the great principles of Christianity, and plunge into the abyss of scepticism, is the height of infatuation.

But the greatest cause of instability of religious principle is

5. A depraved heart. This is the fountainhead from which this bitter stream flows. When you see a young man vascillating between opposite religious opinions-balancing between truth and error, you may know that he is under the influence of a depraved heart. Such halting between two opinions-opinions as wide asunder, in their nature and influence, as heaven is from hell, is an infallible indication of deep-seated depravity. Unregenerate men do not love the truth. There is something in the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, which excites their strong aversion. Now, the difficulty is not in these truths, for they are holy, just, and good; but it lies in the disposition of their hearts. Their hearts are "desperately