life, where we can be sure of not meeting some latent, lurking thorn. And, when we fall in with those various adventurers described by Lucretius (lib. ii. init.), if they are in pursuit, they rudely shove us by; if they are in possession of their prize, they despise us in their hearts, and tell us, by their looks and manner, that they do so. A hard, selfish, thoroughpaced mind, goes on, and cares not; but the sensible, delicate, feeling spirit, is ever pushed to the wall. To such a spirit, then, what a gentle, blessed relief is afforded, by a heart-knowledge of Christianity? There is no abatement of feeling: the vivid perception is as keen as ever. But the heart and mind are so occupied, so filled, so richly compensated, and so deeply tranquillized, by the pursuit, the contemplation, the confident, affectionate, filial apprehension of God; the scripturally revealed God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; the incarnate God, touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and all this, infinitely harmonizing, or rather identifying, with the philosophic view of the first good, first perfect, and first fair, whilst it is practically and experimentally evinced, by undeniable, invaluable, never-failing influences and effects within,..all this together, forms such a set-off against, and such a refuge from, the common pains and penalties of mortality, as often makes the naturally vulnerable mind rejoice in its quickness of feeling, because this serves to enhance the preciousness of the blessing.

Perhaps, this view may appear to you too highly coloured. It would be so; were it to be taken as the hourly state of a Christian's mind. But all this, to its extent, is the cloudless meridian state. Many

partial obscurations, indeed, occur to diminish this clearness; but they only diminish it. The substance still remains. A kind of mental rain and storm, too, may often be experienced; and the weather-beaten pilgrim may tremble to find himself driven, as he thinks, to the edge of some dangerous precipice. But he does not fall over. He recovers his footing, and his confidence. And, in a little time, the sky is cleared, and the air becomes calm and genial. Amidst all this, however, there is sensible progress. And this variety has its great use. In order that the mind may maintain its victory over sin, it must be kept on the alert by temptation. In order that it may continually look to heaven for strength, it must be made to feel its own entire imbecility. And it is, on the whole, necessary that nothing here should be perfect, in order to the eternal sabbatism* being rightly pursued, and habitually anticipated.'

SERMON V.

HEBREWS, XI. 8, 9, 10.

BY FAITH, ABRAHAM, WHEN HE WAS CALLED TO GO OUT INTO A PLACE WHICH HE SHOULD AFTERWARD RECEIVE FOR AN INHERITANCE, OBEYED. AND HE WENT OUT, NOT KNOWING WHITHER HE WENT.

BY FAITH, HE SOJOURNED IN THE LAND OF PROMISE, AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY; DWELLING IN TABERNACLES WITH ISAAC AND JACOB, THE HEIRS WITH HIM OF THE SAME PROMISE.

FOR HE LOOKED

FOR A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS;
BUILDER AND MAKER IS GOD.

WHOSE

WHATSOEVER things were written aforetime,' says the Apostle,

were written for our learning; that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope.'

This character particularly applies to those portions of Scripture, which acquaint us with the habits, dispositions,

and principles, of wise and pious men; which teach us, by example, what we ought to shun, and what to pursue; which enlist the imagination upon the side of virtue; and which engage us, through divine assistance, to embellish our own nature, with the graces, and the charities, of other times. Among such narratives, the history of Abraham holds a very distinguished rank. It is the first piece of sacred biography on record. It exhibits, for the first time, at full length, the nature and effects of true religion. The piety of Abel, of Enoch, and of Noah, is but rapidly sketched. And, in the earlier chapters of Genesis, our acquaintance with the rest of mankind, is almost confined to the knowledge of their guilt, their misery, and their destruction. But a new dispensation of Providence opens, with the call of Abraham. We see man, restored to the confidence of his Maker; admitted, if we may so speak, to familiar intercourse with the Almighty. And we behold the perfections of that high and

lofty One, who inhabiteth eternity, reflected, as it were, in the person of his faithful follower and servant.

The character of Abraham, in its full

extent, would lead us far beyond the limits of a single discourse. But the text affords a narrowed field, to which I would invite your steps. Let us then, for a time, accompany the patriarch. Let us witness his departure from his own country; his conduct in the land of promise; and the prosperity which he there enjoyed. Let us examine the nature of that divine principle, which was the source, at once, of his virtue and enjoyment. And let us derive matter, both of instruction and encouragement, from his illustrious example.

I. It is a marvellous fact, that a world, which, within the memory of a few generations, had been created, destroyed, reestablished, and repeopled, by the sole power of one Almighty God, should, in the face of that power, almost universally rebel against his majesty, and bow the