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from among us, the destroying demon of licentiousness. The spirit of our beloved country looks to you. You are convened in the justly proud metropolis of the land of freedom. What you are about to do will be recorded as a precedent. In the eyes of the nation, in the eyes of the world, you are this day to pronounce the value of American character. The honour of your city-the honour of the nation-your own honour, is at stake. Act wor

thy of the dignity of your station-act worthy of your

selves.

CHAPTER III.

PULPIT ELOQUENCE.

Extract from the second Sermon, entitled, Eras of Light, by the REV. CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D. D. L. L. D.

I HAVE passed through a great part of the world, and have seen Christianity, Judaism, Mahomedanism, and Paganism in almost all their forms; and I can truly declare, that almost every step of my progress afforded new proof, not only of the general truth of the religion of Christ, but of the truth of that change of heart in true believers which our Lord describes in the words "born of the spirit," and which the evangelist John calls "receiving an unction from the Holy One." For even the Heathens shew in their traditions and religious ceremonies, vestiges of this doctrine. Every thing else that is called religion, in Pagan or Christian lands is a counterfeit of this. This change of heart ever carries with it its own witness; and it alone exhibits the same character among men of every language and every clime. It bears the fruit of righteousness; it affords the highest enjoyment of life which was intended by God, or is attainable by man; it inspires the soul with a sense of pardon and of acceptance through a redeemer; It gives peace in death; and " a sure and certain hope of the resurrection

unto eternal life."

Let every man then who has any doubt in his mind as to this change in the state of the soul in this life, apply himself to the consideration of the subject. FOR IF

THERE BE ANY TRUTH IN REVELATION, THIS IS TRUE.

"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" What avails it that all the treasures of science and literature are poured at our feet if we are ignorant of ourselves, of Christ, and of God? The period is hastening which will put an end to this world and all its distinctions; which, like a flood, will sweep away its applause and its frown, its learning and its ignorance. The awful glories of the last judgment will ere long appear; when the humble and penitent inquirer, who has received by faith that stupendous grace, which the doctrine of Christ reveals, shall be eternally saved; while the merely speculative student whose secret love of sin led to the rejection of that doctrine, shall, notwithstanding his presumption of final impunity, be for ever undone.

Extract from a Sermon on the last judgment, by the REV. SAMUEL S. SMITH, D. D. L. L. D.

THE final judgment is an event the most sublime, the most awful, and interesting that shall take place from the commencement till the consummation of time. The everlating destinies of angels and of men shall be decided by the supreme judge, arrayed in all the splendours of omnipotence, and seated amidst the flaming ruins of the universe. If one ray of the divine glory overwhelmed Moses, almost consumed Isaiah, deranged, for a moment, the faculties of the disciples on the mount of transfiguration, robbed Paul of the powers of vision, and struck him and his companions to the earth like dead men ; what will be the full display of that dreadful magnificence with which the ETERNAL will appear to destroy the present system, and to announce to sinners and to saints the irreversible decrees of his justice! But it is not merely the splendour of the tribunal, the grandeur of the scene that surrounds it, nor the glories of the judge, which, on this

subject, ought to arrest our attention. We have a still more important interest in the irrevocable decisions that shall then be pronounced upon mankind-decisions that shall take their colour from our conduct in the present life-decisions founded in eternal truth and justice-decisions that shall place our destiny beyond the power of change, in hopeless misery, or in everlasting felicity.

One of the most instructive and affecting truths in the whole compass of revelation, is, that God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. What consideration ought to possess more powerful influence over human conduct? What can be more calculated to inspire men with a holy solicitude to approve themselves to God who judgeth the heart? It is with a view to promote this practical improvement of a truth so interesting, that I have chosen to offer it to you at present as the subject of your meditations.

An extract from the same discourse, by DR. SMITH.

THE universality of the judgment, embraces all men, and all their actions.

"And I saw," saith John, "a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the Heaven fled away, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and the grave delivered up the dead which were in them." "All," saith the apostle of the Gentiles, "must appear before the judgment seat of Christ;" princes and conquerors of the earth, who thought that all power and judgment was committed to their hands, as well as the innumerable crowd of their subjects or their slaves-the infant who has just looked into the world, and then closed its eyes upon it for ever, as well as those who have moved in its active scenes, and have a train of works to follow them to the tribunal-the countless myriads that in all times have peopled the earth, from the first man to the youngest of his sons, all shall appear in one vast assembly. What an astonishing spectacle! What gran

deur does it add to the solemnity of the judgment! The trump of God reanimates the sleeping dust of so many ages, and calls from their tombs the unnumbered armies of mankind. Far as the eye can extend, you discern the immense mass agitated with hope and fear, like the boundless ocean in a storm, and moving like successive waves to the tribunal to render their account and receive their sentence. There none are too small to escape the penetrating eye of the judge-none are too great to be beyond the reach of his power. The lords of the earth mingle with their vassals in an undistinguished crowd. The sceptres with which they ruled the nations-the thrones that boasted to be eternal-the insignia of their vanity-the monuments of their power-all are crushed, and perish in the ruins of the universe-they are all equally dust and ashes, before the King of kings, and the Lord of lords.

I add, that there all the actions of men, as well as the men themselves, shall be brought into judgment.

In that day God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. And every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judg ment. The Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart. A book of remembrance is written before him of the whole history of human life. Nothing can escape from his penetrating and omniscient eye. Every covering that self-deceit had thrown over the heart shall be pierced and stripped off. And actions, thoughts, designs, that had been long lost from recollection, shall be brought to light, and astonish the mind with its own forgotten history. The errors and transports of a youth passed away in a continual delirium-the pursuits, the plans, the ardent occupations of middle life-the rooted habits of old age-the use we have made of our time-the employment of our talents-the excesses of our passionsthe errors of our thoughts-the unaccomplished wishes of the heart our omissions of duty-our actual sins-the sins of others, to which we have unhappily contributed, all shall surround and attend us to the tribunal, and form, with regard to the guilty, the basis of its fearful decree! Ah! how profoundly should we now enter into our

hearts, and search to the bottom, in order to purify it, the unknown abyss of iniquity that is concealed there! with what rigour should we judge ourselves, that we may not be condemned by God! Unhappy are they, and in the sure course of perdition, who suffer the guilty dream of life to pass away without frequent and serious recollection-without thorough examination and knowledge of their own character; with infinite astonishment and confusion of soul, will they first learn their own history, and their crimes, at the bar of Heaven, in the moment when they are going to be weighed in the balance of eternal justice.

Extract from a Sermon on the folly, guilt and mischiefs of duelling, by REV. TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. L. L. D.

THE guilt of duelling involves a train of the most solemn considerations. An understanding benumbed by the torpor of the lethargy, only, would fail to discern them; a heart of flint to feel them; and a conscience vanquished, bound and trodden under foot, to regard them with horror.

Duelling is a violation of the laws of man. Submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, is equally a precept of reason and revelation. The government of every country is the indispensable source of protection, peace, safety and happiness to its inhabitants; and the only means of transmitting these blessings, together with education, knowledge and religion, to their children. It is therefore a good, which cannot be estimated. But without obedience to its laws, no government can continue a moment. He, therefore, who violates them, contributes voluntarily to the destruction of government itself, and of all the blessings which it secures.

The laws of every civilized country forbid duelling, and forbid it in its various stages, by denouncing against it severe and dreadful penalties; thus proving, that the wise and good men of every such country, have with one voice, regarded it as an injury of no common magnitude. The duellist, therefore, openly and of system, attacks the

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