addressing our people on the " things that accompany salvation," we shall be able in some measure to appropriate to ourselves the language of the venerable friend of our Lord,-" That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."

Such are some of the obstacles to our progress in practical godliness which arise out of the very habits, and studies, and exercises of our profession. In attempting to define and delineate the nature of those dangers incident to our calling, I have at the same time endeavoured to suggest the means by which they may be remedied and avoided. Yes; it is our consolation to know, that, formidable as these dangers to the personal piety of the ministers of the Gospel seem, and fatal as to the careless and inconsiderate they often prove, they are neither remediless nor insuperable. By vigilance and prayer they are avoided and overcome: And therefore let it be our constant study to watch against the evils incident to the regular performances of the duties of our office. Let no frequency with which we are called to engage in religious exercises induce a habit of listlessness, or of formality. Amid the most diligent pursuit of professional knowledge, and the varied inquiries which it leads us to institute, let us ever attend to the means by which a spirit of devotion may be cherished and kept alive, and keep constantly in view the practical use to which all our knowledge, however varied and profound, ought

to be applied. Whatever measure of acceptableness may attend and encourage our labours, let us guard against that inordinate passion for popularity which so often produces such ridiculous and mischievous effects, ever remembering that we have higher and nobler motives to animate our diligence and to keep alive our zeal. And especially let us study to advance in practical godliness, that, in delineating Christian experience, we may not rely upon the testimony of others, but be guided by the dictates of our own hearts.

This attention to our own improvement and salvation, to the state of our own hearts, and to our own growth in grace, which our text inculcates, and which it has been the leading object of this address to recommend and enforce, is the master-spring in the ministerial character, the source of all our diligence, and the ground of all our comfort. While the heart of a minister is right with God,-while he maintains constant communion with the Father of Spirits, and can appeal to Him for the simplicity of his intentions, while he lives by faith on the Son of God, and relies on him implicitly for pardon, and grace, and strength,-he has within him a source of comfort which can never fail, and "has meat to eat that the world knows not of." Amid all the discouragements which he has to encounter in the exercise of his office, and amid all that unmerited reproach with which an unthinking and misjudging world so often harasses the servants of Jesus, he has within himself an antidote to every trouble, a sanctuary to which he can always retreat, and where

he meets with peace, and comfort, and joy. From the scene around he can lift his eye to a Father in heaven, who knows and loves him; and, whatever misconstruction may be put upon his doctrine or his conduct, he can look to him and say, " Behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high." This spirit sustains and enlivens him amid the unseen labours of his office, cheers and gladdens his studious hours, and sheds on all his engagements and pursuits the savour of life and immortal joy. It guides him in every inquiry, and often prevents him from being seduced from truth by the attractions of novelty or the charms of genius. When he ascends his place in the sanctuary, it imparts a serenity to his aspect, and casts a sacred unction over all his ministrations, which even the careless are compelled to reverence, and by which the faithful are edified and comforted. Amid those sad visitations with which the Providence of his Master so often afflicts and proves him,-even in the hour when his dearest comforts are removed, and when the strongest attachments are dissolved and broken, he is enabled in patience to possess his soul, and experiences a tranquillity which the world can neither give nor take away. And when the last hour arrives,-that hour in which the veil is taken from every mortal joy, and when every sublunary object stands forth in its native character,when the honours of science, and the attractions of fame, and the charms of wealth, shrink to insignificance and seem hastening to oblivion; it is then that the pious and faithful servant of Jesus expe

riences the full and final value of that better part which he has chosen. He looks back on a life devoted to the service of his God and Saviour, and forward to an eternity of holiness and joy. Beatific visions burst upon his soul; while the voice of his Master seems to fall on his enraptured ear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."-" Amen” is the reply that hangs upon the last pulse of his heart, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus!"" Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the latter end of that man is peace."

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SERMON XV.

PSALM iv. 6, 7.-" There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased."

THE universal pursuit of mankind is happiness; for whatever be the path we have chosen to tread, we have selected it because we believe that it will conduct us to felicity. To be happy is the earliest desire that kindles the activity of man, and the latest wish that lingers in his heart. But there is no subject on which men betray such ignorance, or on which they have taken such opposite and contradictory views. They seem to engage in the pursuit of happiness without ever ascertaining and defining what it is, and where it is to be found. This significant term, the most frequent and the most familiar in our conversation, is perhaps, on reflection, the least understood. And, when we look into human life, and endeavour to record the experience of our race so far as it can be gathered from their conduct and confessions, we find that thousands, through ignorance or perversity, have missed the path in which happiness is to be found. That there is only one path in which substantial and permanent felicity is to be met,-while the expedients by which the folly