lemnity of the day requires of you, especially now that the arm of the Lord is lifted up and stretched out over your heads, shall I say to destroy, or to defend you?

At such a time can it be necessary to prepare your minds, and solicit your attention? If I have yet any more wishes to form for your felicity, I conjure you by the walls of this church, now indeed standing, but doomed to be rased by the enemy; by the interests of your wives and children, whose death is determined; by your regard for your civil and religious liberties; in the name of your magistrates, generals, and soldiers, whose prudence and courage can not succeed without the blessing of the Almighty; I conjure you to address yourselves to this exercise with attentive minds and accessible hearts. May all worldly distractions, may all secular anxieties, troublesome birds of prey, alighting on our sacrifices, O may you all be driven away today! God grant we may be left alone with him! O Lord, help us to repair the breaches made in our Jerusalem, to prevent others yet threatened, to engage thee, the God of armies, on our side, and to draw down by our prayers and tears thy benedictions on the state and the church! Amen.

Before we enter into the spirit of our text, let us take a cursory view of the terms; each deserves our attention. Hear ye what the Lord saith. Hills, mountains, ye strong foundations of the earth, hear ye what the Lord saith. What loftiness in these terms! This is to prepare the mind for great things. It is a bad maxim of orators to promise much to auditors. The imagination of the hearer often outflies that of the speaker. Artful rhetoricians choose to surprize and amaze their hearers by ideas new and unexpected, so that the subjects of their orations may appear sublime by being strange.

community? Certainly we cannot. The question of fact is this; Will every member of an idolatrous community be damned? A wise man ought to suspend his judgment on this question; because he, who had spent one part of his life in an idolatrous community, may employ the remaining part in repenting, and consequently may share the privileges of repentance. Except in this case, according to our principles, Idolaters shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. But, according to our principles, the Roman catholic church is guilty of idolatry; consequently, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome, if they do not forsake that community, are among such as shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.

If it be necessary to prove that according to our principles, the church of Rome is guilty of idolatry, the evidence is easily obtained. Let us form a distinct idea of what, agreeably to scripture, we call idolatry. To regard a simple creature as God supreme; to render to a simple creature the worship that is due only to the supreme God, is what we call idolatry. Now, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome do render to a creature, to a bit of bread, such worship as is due only to the supreme God. By consequence, according to our principles, the members of the church of Rome are guilty of idolatry.

They defend themselves by a somewhat specious, but groundless argument. It was employed by a man* who disgraced his name by abandoning the Protestant religion, though, thanks be to God, I hope, I and my family shall always be enabled to continue it in the list of sincere Protestants. His * Mr. Saurin of Paris.

words are these: "Two or three articles, saith he, excited strong prejudices in my mind against the church of Rome; transubstantiation, the adoration of the holy sacrament, and the infallibility of the church. Of these three articles, that of the adoration of the holy sacrament led me to consider the church of Rome as idolatrous, and separated me from its communion. A book, which I one day opened without design, instantly removed this objection. There I found a distinction between error of place in worship and error of object. The catholic worships Jesus Christ in the eucharist, an object truly adorable. There is no error in this respect. If Jesus Christ be not really present in the eucharist, the catholic worships him where he is not; this is a mere error of place, and no crime of idolatry." A mere sophism! By the same argument the Israelites may be exculpated for rendering divine honors to the golden calf. We must distinguish error of place from error of object. The Israelite worships in the golden calf the true God, an object truly adorable. To-morrow is a feast to the Lord, the God, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, Exod. xxii. 5. 4. There is no error in this respect. If God be not really present in the golden calf the Israelite worships him where he is not, a mere error of place, and not the crime of idolatry. But St. Stephen saith expressly that this calf was an idol. They made a calf, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, Acts vii. 41. By consequence error of place in worship doth not exculpate men from idolatry. As therefore, according to our principles, there is an error of place in the worship, which Roman catholics render to their host, so also according to our principles, they are guilty of idolatry.

But are we speaking only according to our own

principles? Have we seen any thing in the wilder ness of Sinai, which we do not daily see in the Roman communion? Behold, as in the desert of Sinai, an innumerable multitude, tired of rendering spiritual worship to an invisible God, and demanding gods to be made which shall go before them! Behold, as in the desert of Sinai, a priest forming with his own hands, a god to receive supreme adoration! See, as in the desert, a little matter modified by a mortal man, and placed upon the throne of the God of heaven and earth! Observe, as in the desert Israelites liberally bestowing their gold and their jewels to deck and adorn, if not to construct, the idol! Hark! as in the desert of Sinai, priests publish profane solemnities, and make proclamation, saying, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord! Behold, as in the desert, the people rising early on festivals to perform matins! Hearken! criminal voices declare, as in Sinai, These are thy gods, or this is thy god, O Israel, who brought thee up out the land of Egypt. What am I saying? I hear expressions more shocking still. This is, O shame of christianity! O scandal in the eyes of all true christians! This is, yea, this bit of bread, on which a priest hath written, Jesus Christ the saviour of mankind, this is thy God. This is the God, whom all the angels in heaven adore. This is the God, by whom all things were created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. This is the God, who upholdeth all things by the word of his power. This is the God, who in the fulness of time took mortal flesh. This is the God, who for thy salvation, O Israel, was stretched on the cross. This is he, who in the garden of Gethsemane said, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, Matt. xxvi. 39.

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who rose conqueror over death and the grave; who passed into the heavens, and at whose ascension the heavenly intelligences exclaimed, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, that the Lord of hosts, the king of glory may come in, Psal. xxiv. 7. &c. O Judah, Judah, thou hast justified thy sister Samaria. O ye deserts of Sinai, never did ye see any thing equal to what our weeping eyes behold! Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come hither. Ye sons of Levi, separated to the service of the Lord, consecrate yourselves to-day to Jehovah. . . . . But what are we about? Are we interrupting the soft still voice of the gospel, to utter the thundering commands of mount Sinai? Shall we command you to-day, as Moses did formerly the Levites, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor?.. Ah, Rome! Were we to adopt this method you could not reproach us; you could only complain, that we were too ready to learn the lesson you have taught us, and too eager to imitate your bloody example! Even in such a case we should have one great advantage over you, our hands would grasp the murdering sword to destroy thee only for the glory of God, whereas thine hath butchered us for the honor of an idol! We are not come with fire, and blackness, and darkness, and tempest; but Zion though all mangled by thy cruelty, utters only cool exhortations, affectionate remonstrances, and tender intreaties, she fights only with the sword of the spirit, and the hammer of the word, Eph. vi. 17. Jer. xxiii. 29. Ah poor people! How long will you live without perceiving the golden candlestick, which Jesus Christ hath lighted up in his church! May God