lamentable and increasing remissness in the duty of sending your children to be taught their catechism, and those little forms of devotion which have been prepared for their use. The cause of this, as I am satisfied that I do not mistake it, I must not forbear to expose. It is the criminal neglect of parents to teach their children in their own families. Giving them little instruction there, they are at first ashamed to expose their own unfaithfulness and their children's ignorance, by sending them into public; and afterwards they lose, by degrees, all sense of obligation and regard to the duty, till at last they omit it wholly, without compunction or concern. Believe me, the guilt and the danger of this is truly alarming, with respect both to yourselves and your offspring. Perform to them, therefore, your own personal duty, and you will be willing and desirous to give your pastor the opportunity of performing his. Send to him, carefully and punctually, these lambs of the flock, that he may add his endeavours to your own, in striving to direct and guide them to the fold of eternal safety and rest.

5. Remember your pastor in all your prayers. How often does the great apostle of the gentiles repeat the injunction "Brethren pray for us." He felt constantly the necessity of being aided by the devout supplications of all the faithful: And if such was the fact in regard to him, with all his extraordinary furniture and endowments, what must be the feelings of every inferior and ordinary minister of the gospel, who has any right views of his work and his necessities? He will assuredly most earnestly desire, as he will most urgently need, your unceasing prayers; and you will incur the guilt of no common neglect, if you do not prefer your petitions to God constantly and ardently in his behalf. Neglect in this parti

cular, may, also, be most injurious to yourselves; for your pastor's labours, however faithful and abundant, will do you no good, unless God confer his blessing on them; and it is only in answer to prayer that you have a right to expect the blessing. Therefore, pray for your pastor and for the success of his ministrations-I had almost said-whenever you pray for yourselves.

And here you will permit me to put in a request, that I may still be specially remembered in your addresses to God, though my pastoral relation to you be dissolved. Give me this proof of your attachment and affection, and I will esteem it as the most precious which I could receive. Pray that I may be directed, assisted and blessed, in the arduous trust which I am about to assume, and for the right execution of which I feel that I need both wisdom and strength which can come from God alone. - Pray that I may be made the humble instrument of promoting our Redeemer's cause to the end of my days; and that then, through his infinite merits and prevalent intercession, I may be permitted to enter on "the rest which remaineth for the people of God."

IV. It only remains, that I make a few remarks on the relation which we have sustained to each other; offer some special exhortations; and commit you and myself to the great "Shepherd and bishop of souls."

In the review of my ministerial life, I see innumerable short-comings, deficiencies and imperfections, which I sincerely lament, and for which I earnestly implore, through Jesus Christ, the divine forgiveness. Yet my conscience does not accuse me of the want of general fidelity. I believe that my labours, on the whole, have been equal to my strength; and that "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." My first sermon after ordination was grounded on 1 Cor. ii. 2-" for I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The apostle's resolution, as expressed in this text, I then proposed to adopt as my own; and I now "take you to record" that in my humble and imperfect measure, the fulfilment of this resolution has been exemplified in my preaching, and in my other labours among you-I trust "I am pure from the blood of all

men."

On your part, I certainly have not only no complaint to make against you as a congregation, but abundant cause to be satisfied and thankful, for the manner in which you have received my ministrations, and for the affection, respect, confidence and kindness, which you have manifested toward me. Often have I borne testimony in your favour in these respects, and even "boasted of you to others." -I have indeed loved you much, and I have every evidence that you have loved me in return. To many individuals I owe obligations of which I cannot think without emotion, which I can never expect to return, and in view of which I can only pray that God may be the rewarder of those who conferred them. But let all be assured that while I live, though my pastoral relation to you will have ceased in form, on my part it is likely, in a measure, to remain in fact.-I must still have pastoral feelings toward you; and every service which I may be able to perform, either for the congregation at large, or for any individual of it, you may at all times command, with the certainty that it will be rendered by me with unfeigned pleasure.

It is our duty to make use of providential occurrences, to promote our own improvement and that of others; and the separation of a pastor from his charge is surely an event in providence Ch. Adv. VOL. XI.

which calls on both parties concerned in it, to turn to some good account. It was this consideration which determined me to make this address; and if the situation in which we stand at this mutually interesting period, may serve to give more impression than usual to what I may say, I would fain not lose the opportunity of doing any good, which is thus offered to me. Allow me, then, in addition to what I have already addressed to the congregation at large, to direct a few words in particular to three descriptions of persons among you.

1. To the professors of religion. Your situation, my dear brethren, in this populous and dissipated city is, at once trying and important, in no ordinary degree. It is trying, because you are exposed to snares and temptations-to a tide of fashionable vice and folly-not known and felt, in an equal degree, in most other places. At the same time, these very circumstances render your situation the more interesting and important. If found faithful, you will insure to yourselves a brighter crown of eternal glory; you may be instrumental, not only in preserving your children from ruin, but in forming them for distinguished usefulness in this world, and in preparing them for endless happiness in the world to come; you may promote, more extensively than others, the general interests of Christianity; and you may set an example, the influence of which may be widely felt. Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, put on the whole armour of God, watch unto prayer, be sober and hope to the end. Be not conformed to the world which lieth in wickedness, yourselves, and use your best endeavours to save your offspring from it. Be willing to exercise self-denial, and to bear the cross, in the cause and for the sake of your precious Saviour. Give no unnecessary of

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fence-be meek and humble, and kind, and courteous, and affable, and hospitable, and charitable, and liberal. Whatsoever things are truly lovely and of good report, think on these things. As far as in you lies, live peaceably with all men, and let not your good be evil spoken of; but set your faces as flints against every vicious, every questionable practice. Be very guarded in your indulgence in fashionable amusements; they insensibly steal upon the heart-and often seduce it from God, from love to his service, obedience to his laws, and affection to his people. Renounce, as utterly inconsistent with your Christian profession and integrity, all theatrical entertainments, and carefully guard your children against them. Strive to excel in practical piety, in genuine holiness of life and conversation. Love and associate with each other. Encourage Christian conferences, and associations for prayer. Avoid as much as you can religious controversies-they often destroy vital godliness. But hold fast the truth as it is in Jesus, in opposition to prevailing heresies and errors. Avow your faith unequivocally and distinctly, and never be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Labour to show an example of true evangelical piety, in all its purity and in all its loveli

ness.

Consider that the eyes of the congregation are turned on you, and that your conduct is often considered as a warrant for any doubtful practice. Be watchful, therefore, lest you become stumbling blocks to others-How intolerable the thought that you should be instrumental in precipitating an immortal being into destruction! In the observance of all the laws of Christ, endeavour to be unblameable: in all social and relative duties, show a pattern which others may safely imitate: In the discharge of all moral obli

gations, be scrupulously exact: In all congregational concerns, let your temper and your actions teach others to be conciliatory, and to consult the general good more than private gratification. Encourage charitable designs, and all suitable measures for the propagation of the gospel-take the lead in these, and endeavour to draw the congregation after you. Prosperity, even in this world, is likely to attend the community, as well as the individuals, who are ready to serve God with their substance. "These things, I give you in charge, that ye may be blameless.* Finally, brethren, farewell: be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, love in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."

2. Some of the congregation to whom I have been preaching during the whole of my ministry, or the larger part of it, are apparently yet "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity"-To these, I am extremely anxious to say something at parting, which may be useful to them-God peradventure may set it home on their hearts.

My dear friends-On the supposition that I have been faithful in delivering to you the messages of the gospel (and in what degree I have been so, let your own consciences testify) then is your guilt before God such as may well give you the most serious alarm. Recollect that where he "hath given much, he will require the more," and that, consequently, to slight the full dispensation of the gospel for five-and-twenty years, is to incur a most tremendous responsibility to your final judge. tempt not to excuse yourselves, and to sooth your consciences, with the thought, that it is only omission with which you are chargeable. It is against omis

At

sions that some of the severest denunciations of the gospel are pointed. The tree which bore no fruit, the lamp which had no oil, the unprofitable servant who made no use of his talent, are there exhibited as emblems of peculiar criminality, and examples of the severest condemnation. The sentence which our Saviour represents himself as pronouncing at last, on those who shall be found on his left hand, is grounded wholly on neglect. When the apostle, trembling at the thought of being "a savour of death unto death" to some who had heard the gospel from him, exclaimed-" Who is sufficient for these things?" it still appears that the guilt he contemplated arose from neglect. And shall it at last appear, that all the warnings and entreaties which I have delivered to you, shall be "a savour of death unto death" to your souls, that the whole effect of my ministry on you shall be only to aggravate your final condemnation! Insupportable thought! God forbid it! is your exclamation, as it is my own. Ah, unhappy men! but this event will not be forbidden, it will assuredly take place, if you do not speedily fly by faith to the Saviour, in whose atoning blood your "crimson and scarlet" stains may be washed away. Are you yet disposed to plead for delay? How often have I reminded you of its dangers and delusions? How of ten have I admonished you that any future time would, probably, find you less inclined than the present, to enter on a life of piety and holiness? I now put it to your consciences if, at this moment, you are not, yourselves, examples of this very truth. Cannot many of you look back to a period, at which you were more disposed than you now are, to attend to the concerns of your immortal souls? And what is to be the end of this delusive course? Does it not present to your view

a most fearful issue? Verily, between you and the precipice of eternal ruin, the steps seem to be but few. Take them not-oh infatuated mortals! take them not, I beseech you. Stop, and turn, and speedily retrace your way, and you may yet be saved. Shall it not be seen that you will obey this call? May I not hope that the event of my leaving you shall do you more good than all my past admonitions have done that though you were proof against every other warning, yet you yielded to the last? Then, if permitted to "enter into the joy of my Lord," I shall yet, in his presence above, number you among " the children that God hath given me." In the name of the Saviour before whose judgment seat I am soon to meet you; by all the happiness and by all the horrors of eternity; by all the mercy of the declaration that "where sin abounded grace did much more abound," I charge and conjure you, to turn immediately from your sins, to embrace the offered salvation, and to become the triumphant monuments of redeeming love.

3. I am shortly to address the youth of the congregation

Precious Youth-When I think of the numbers of you whom I have baptized and catechized, to whom I have taught forms of devotion and delivered lectures of pious instruction; when I call to mind how often I have fondly looked upon you as the best hope of my ministerial charge; my soul is ready to be melted within me, at the prospect of losing my ministerial connexion with you. But the thought which most afflicts me, and which I wish may most affect you, isthat I leave so large a portion of you unreconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Of those to whom I have administered the sacrament of baptism, alas! how few are there that I have had the pleasure of admitting to the other sacra

ment-the symbol with us of a profession of being truly and unreservedly devoted to the Lord. Yet there are many of you whose years would entitle you to this privilege, if your hearts were duly prepared to receive and seek it. It is, indeed, an anticipation that consoles me, that he who shall enter into my labours may, at some future period, reap what I have sown--that my successor may reap a large harvest, gathered from among you, for the granary of heaven. But why should this prospect be remote? Why should any of you risk the danger of perishing forever, by trusting to the future? Why may not my separation from you be the occasion, in the dispensation of God's providence and grace, on which a multitude of you may be brought to lay seriously and savingly to heart, the things which belong to your everlasting peace? The thought is so grateful, that I know not how to abandon it. My dear children! compel me not to abandon it. Your own eternal advantage pleads, in concert with me, that you should not. If the event shall prove that my ceasing to instruct and admonish you (to take place at the end of this address) did so rouse you to an attention to your spiritual state, did so seriously remind you of your neglected duty, did so affectingly urge upon you the importance of becoming immediately what I have so long wished and prayed to see you-that with one consent you pressed into the kingdom of God, taking it by a holy violence, you will eternally rejoice; and I shall hope to rejoice with you, in this happy consequence of my removal. That I should combat, at this time, the pretences and temptations by which the young delude themselves, and are deluded by the great adversary of souls, into the neglect of religion in early life-as it is not practicable, so I think it

cannot be necessary to you. Often, and at length, have you heard me detect these fallacies. You have only to exercise your memory and your candour, and you will, I flatter myself, admit that I have demonstrated to you incontestably, that youth is infinitely the most favourable time to enter on a life of piety; that such a life, truly understood and exemplified, cannot be gloomy or cheerless; that, on the contrary, it is favourable to every pleasure worthy of a rational and immortal being; that the sacrifices which it requires are far outweighed by the enjoyments which it ensures; that the sense of unconditional safety in all events, which it produces, gives a serenity and peace which nothing else can bestow; that true spirit, genuine honour, real dignity, amiable tempers and gentle manners, are its legitimate offspring; that it enjoins industry and fidelity, and thus leads to prosperity on earth as well as to happiness in heaven; that in short, and in the language of infallible truth, "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."* In this manner I have endeavoured, you will recollect, to remove your prejudices against a devout and holy life. But to remove prejudices is not enough-the life itself must be entered on; and other, and still more interesting considerations, are usually blessed of God to incline men effectually to engage in it. These considerations, therefore, I have been accustomed to press; and would to God that I could now press them effectually on every individual of you. Would to God that you might now receive and feel, as you ought, the solemn and momentous truths, that you are sinners by nature and by practice, and that, till renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit,