this glass wherein I have shown it, will find it so beset and hemmed in with obligations of one kind or other, as to leave little room to suspect, that man can live to himself: and so closely has our Creator linked us together (as well as all other parts of his works) for the preservation of that harmony in the frame and system of things which his wisdom has at first established,

that we find this bond of mutual dependence, however relaxed, is too strong to be broke: and I believe, that the most selfish men find it so, and that they cannot, in fact, live so much to themselves as the narrowness of their own hearts inclines them. If these reflections are just upon the moral relations in which we stand to each other, let us close the examination with a short reflection upon the great relation in which we stand to GOD.

The first and more natural thought on this subject, which at one time or other will thrust itself upon every man's mind, is this, That there is a GOD who made me, to whose gift I owe all the powers and faculties of my soul, to whose providence I owe all the blessings of my life, and by whose permission it is that I exercise and enjoy them; that I am placed in this world as a creature of but a day, hastening

to the place from whence I shall not return That I am accountable for my conduct and behaviour to this great and wisest of Beings, before whose judgment-seat I must finally appear, and receive the things done in my body, - whether they are good, or whether they are bad.

Can any one doubt but the most inconsiderate of men sometimes sit down coolly, and make some such plain reflections as these upon their state and condition? - or, that after they have made them, can one imagine they lose all effect? — As little appearance as there is of religion in the world, there is a great deal of its influence felt in its affairs-nor can one so root out the principles of it, but like nature they will return again, and give checks and interruptions to guilty pursuits. There are seasons, when the thoughts of a just GOD overlooking, and the terror of an after-reckoning, have made the most determined tremble, and stop short in the execution of a wicked purpose; and if we conceive that the worst of men lay some restraint upon themselves from the weight of this principle, what shall we think of the good and virtuous part of the world, who live under the perpetual influence of it, — who

sacrifice their appetites and passions from a consciousness of their duty to GOD; and consider him as the object to whom they have dedicated their service, and make that the first principle, and ultimate end of all their actions?

How many real and unaffected instances there are in the world of men thus governed, will not concern us so much to inquire, as to take care that we are of the number: which may God grant for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

SERMON VIII

TIME AND CHANCE

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift,

-nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of but time and chance happeneth to them all.

skill,

WHEN

ECCLESIASTES ix. 11.

HEN a man casts a look upon this melancholy description of the world,

and sees, contrary to all his guesses and expectations, what different fates attend the lives of men, - how oft it happens in the world, that there is not even bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, &c. he is apt to conclude with a sigh upon in the words, though not in the sense of the wise man,

it,

That time and

chance happeneth to them all That time and chance, apt seasons and fit conjunctures have the greatest sway, in the turns and disposals of men's fortunes. And that, as these lucky hits (as they are called) happen to be for,