think only, or too exclusively, of themselves-ministers for their own instruction, chapels for their own assembling, books for their own reading; and there an end. Let this be done; but in duty as in prophecy, the end is not yet;' there is more, not of calamity, but of good, to be realized. We have need to look more systematically, and act more energetically, for the diffusion of religious knowledge, with all its happy concomitants of moral principle and unfailing consolation.

And of individual exertion, and individual reward, the text is eminently true, as to religion. He who takes no thought nor pains for moral improvement is sure to deteriorate. His indolence will bring on him the curse of moral starvation or disease. There is always something to be done, for self-correction or self-improvement. There is always in religion need of the emphatic injunction, whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.' Who is so wise in the things of God, as to have no ignorance left which study may remove? Who so free from fault as that heart and life offer no crooked things to be made straight—no need nor place for reformation? Who so bright in all Christian graces, that there is no quality yet to be added to perfect the starry circle of his crown of glory? Let them be idle. But they cannot. For in the wisdom they have acquired is this-that increase of divine knowledge is the increase of divine enjoyment. In

the follies they have corrected is this-the folly of ever resting while yet more remains to be done. In the graces they have gained is this—the activity that urges on, and will eternally urge on, towards infinite perfection. The more man does in religion, the more he is able to do, and is desirous of accomplishing. And short enough is life for the moral probation assigned to it-for the preparation we should make for that immortal world on which at

death we enter. Soon perhaps may the Master's voice summon us from our toil to our rest, from our rest to judgment. There, a proportionate recompense awaits each and all of us. Work while it is day-the night is coming.'

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SERMON IX.

GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS.

JOHN vi, 12.

"Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost."

THIS direction is not more remarkable for the homely and practical wisdom which it contains, than it is also for the extraordinary circumstances under which it was delivered. This plain precept of carefulness, economy, and frugality, occurs in a narrative of the supernatural-follows the multiplication of so small a portion of food as five barley loaves and two fishes, into sufficient to satisfy the hunger of five thousand persons; and introduces the consummation of that miracle in the quantity which remained, and which confirmed the impression on the minds of the multitude, so that they said of Christ, This is of a truth that prophet which should come into the world.' There is, therefore, a double lesson to be learned from it; the one direct, by considering merely the force and spirit of the

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injunction in itself; the other inferential, growing out of the comparison of that injunction with the recorded transaction. And this last view of the matter is by no means unimportant, but may be subservient to our preservation from mistake in the application of the precept to our conduct in life; and may further open to us such views as will expand, elevate, and dignify the direct application of that injunction, and enhance its importance and utility.

First, then, we attend to the obvious and direct import of this precept. It applies to the every-day concerns of all except the very few whose ample and superfluous means secure to them the command of all they desire, so far as wealth can purchase it. It is equivalent to the household proverb of 'waste not, want not,' a proverb as good as if it were Solomon's; and, indeed, the same in substance with several in his collection. To all who have to struggle, as so many must, for support or comfort, diligence in the attaining of their resources is not more essential than carefulness in the employment of those resources. The hand of the diligent will not make rich, or even usually preserve from distress, unless the eye of economy watch over its earnings. The fragments which many neglect, are those by the gathering of which others fill their baskets, and increase their stores. A little carelessness in scattering will baffle much carefulness in accumulating. Political economy has been called a new