his species, than he could possibly accomplish by the most splendid endow ments that wealth, and learning, and patriotism ever devised. Among the trials of the present day is a spirit of restless innovation; a disposition to consider every thing that is new as, of course, an improvement. Against this spirit let me warn you. However plausible, it is unwise and delusive. Happy are they, who, taking the word of God for their guide, aud walking" in the footsteps of the flock," continually seek the purity, the harmony, and the edification of the Master's family! Who, listening with more respect to the unerring Oracle, and to the sober lessons of Christian experience, than to the dreams of morbid excitement, or the delusions of fashionable error; hold on their scriptural way, "turning neither to the right hand nor the left;" and considering it as their highest honor to be employed in winning souls to Christ, and in building up that "kingdom which is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

Need I remind you, beloved Friends, that we are all hastening to the judgment seat of Christ? Nearly FOURSCORE of those who once resorted to our Seminary, have been already called to give in their final account. Be ye also ready! And remember that the best of all readiness is that which consists in "following Christ." In following HIM, and ONLY in following HIM, you will be best prepared to meet your Judge. In following HIM, and ONLY in following HIM, you will be best qualified to promote the enlargement, the holiness, and the genuine edification of the Church of God. May this be your habitual aspiration, this your blessed attainment! And when the "Chief Shepherd shall appear, may you be so happy as to receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away!" Amen! and Amen!

REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY.

JEREMIAH 17:27. But, if ye will not hearken unto me, to hallow the Sabbath day, and not bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

"IF I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." This was the utterance of generous patriotism, and of ardent piety. To every true-hearted Jew, his country was an object of high estimation, and of deeply-felt interest. Its civil laws, its religious institutions, its thrones of judgment, and its sacred Temple, its cities, and its diversified scenes of rural beauty and fruitfulness,-all had a charm for his eye, an object of tender solicitude for his heart. So must every good man feel for his country, and for all its interests. These interests are a compound of worldly and moral good. The mere profusion or abundance of earthly benefits does not make up the half of its true prosperity. The integrity, the virtuous and religious character of its population constitute the much larger proportion of national felicity. Without these the greatest measure of external good would not be a blessing, but a curse; and, from the nature of the case, as well as from the declared will of God, such external prosperities could not continue. The happiness of nations, like that of individuals, depends essentially, on personal character, and is in fact the aggregate of individual virtue, and enjoyment. The constitution of human nature and the express will of God assign the same laws of happiness to man, whether considered singly, or in any, or all his social relations. The fear of God, and the knowledge and observance of his laws form the only firm foundation on which social order can be sustained, the only sufficiently authoritative and controlling spirit which can give it a wise arrangement, direct its operations, and assign

its due limits. This truth has been felt and recognized by all wise legislators and rulers. On this principle the Jewish government, as prescribed by God, and administered by him, as their supreme governor, was expressly formed. All the details of their civil policy were connected with the explicit recognition of their moral and religious interests, relations, and responsibilities.

This same general principle, God has not abandoned, but, with unabated authority maintains it, in all the various conditions in which man is found, and under all the social or national circumstances in which he does exist. The most High ever rules amongst the inhabitants of this world. To this dominion over man he has not relinquished his claim, nor can they neglect or disown it, but at the expense of the most ruinous forfeitures. It is infinitely fit, that he, to whom all things belong, on whom all things depend, and from whom all good is derived, should be habitually, and unequivocally owned. And such is his constitution of man, and of all his interests and relations, that his perfection, safety, and happiness, can in no other way be secured. “That nation and people that will not serve God shall perish.”—“Righteousness will exalt a nation; but sin is the ruin of any people." Hence it will necessarily follow, that, a knowledge of the will of God is of the utmost importance; and that all the means which he has instituted for this purpose, deserves a most sacred regard, and careful improvement. In order to "render to God the things that are God's," we must know what he deserves and requires. To obtain this knowledge, and a disposition and qualification for obedience, we must improve the means which he has ordained for those ends. This is expressly and wisely his reason for the institution of the Sabbath. The nature of man, in all his relations, conditions, and interests, needs, indispensably needs a knowledge of, and regard to the will of God. For this God has ordained the appropriate means: the abuse or neglect of these must, of necessity, involve in it the loss of that good which was thus proposed, and which was by those means attainable: and moreover, it incurs the righteous displeasure of him whose wisdom and goodness are thus contemned, and the benevolent exercise of whose authority is thus opposed. Such are the consequences which God so explicitly and solemnly denounces by the prophet, from verse 21st to 27th: "Thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. And it shall come to pass if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow, the Sabbath day to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for ever. And they shall come from the cities of

Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meat-offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Now, the obvious and important question is, What concern have we in this matter? Is this message for us? Is this duty ours? Have we transgressed? What have we to fear? What have we to do? I have no hesitation to answer, that the authority of God, in this matter, binds us, no less than it bound the Jews: that, to its penalty, if transgressors, we are no less exposed than they: and that, if this be true, we have much reason of humiliation and fear. In the consideration of this subject I will,

I. ADDUCE EVIDENCES OF THE STILL EXISTING AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATION OF THIS LAW.

II. CONSIDER THE REASONS WE HAVE TO BELIEVE, THAT, THIS THREATENING WILL BE FULFILLED, IN CASE OF TRANSGRESSION.

III. INQUIRE, HOW FAR OUR CONDUCT EXPOSES US TO THIS DANGER.

I. I will adduce evidences of the still existing authority and obligation of this law of the Sabbath.

This is the more necessary, because, by some it is doubted, and by some it is expressly denied; and there are very many, whose opinions in this matter, are not accompanied with that intelligent and deep conviction which would give it that authority and commanding influence which are due to an explicit and acknowledged law of the Supreme and Eternal King. There are thousands who, in general, admit the existence and obligation of this law,—who, notwithstanding, habitually violate it, and seem seldom, if ever, to reflect, that, in this there is either crime or danger. Their conduct is absurdly impious, and "out of their own mouths are they condemned:" "Knowing the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but even have pleasure in those that do them." But, still, it is to them, as it is to all others, a question of unutterable importance"Does God by his high authority, and under the pain of his awful displeasure, enjoin the sanctified observance of the Sabbath?

This solemn fact admits of no reasonable doubt or fair denial. That institution never was the peculiarity of any age, nor of any people. "It was made for man." Its existence was coeval with his. It is a matter of duty and of privilege to all: nor, are any, to whom it is made known, exempted from its authority, none are excluded from its exalted privileges, nor, from its benignant influence.

Let us honestly and attentively consider the evidences of the existence and authority of this law.

1. That it was enacted, and duly promulgated by competent, by the only competent authority, is a fact undeniable. For its original institution we refer to Genesis 2d chapter, 2d and 3d verses: "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

Is it not beyond all reasonable doubt, that, this is a record of facts, and was intended to be a plain and faithful record of what was done, at the very time to which it refers? It admits, fairly, of no other interpretation. And what was done? "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." His "sanctifying it" can mean nothing else, and nothing less than his setting it apart from a common to a sacred use: and, for whose sacred use? Beyond all doubt, for theirs, for whom all days were made. And in what way did he bless it? Certainly, by ordaining it to be a day of special blessedness to those for whose observance and benefit it was thus specially separated and blest. The correctness of this interpretation is ascertained by the testimony of Him who "is Lord of the Sabbath." He affirms that, it "was made for man:” an early and highly important provision for the whole race: and made by the express authority and appointment of God, the Creator of man, and the rightful disposer of all days and times. It is a fact, that the patriarchs long before the Jewish Sabbath, and all, even the most ancient heathen nations, distinguished time into weeks of seven days, which no appearances in nature could have suggested, and which, therefore, must have resulted from the early appointment of a weekly Sabbath. It is also a fact, that the earliest pagan writers, particularly Homer and Hesiod, speak of the seventh day as peculiarly sacred. The latter styles this day, "the illustrious light of the sun"-the former has this verse, "then came the seventh day, which is holy." To this day of sacred rest, as ordained by God, and as known to be thus ordained, Moses referred the Israelites on the occasion of manna being miraculously furnished to them in the wilderness: "And Moses said, eat that to-day; for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord, to-day ye shall not find manna in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." Exod. 16:25, 26. Moses evidently takes for granted that the people were acquainted with the institution of the Sabbath: and of this their conduct gave proof. They had been, previously, commanded to gather daily of the manna, only what was sufficient for the daily supply of themselves and families; yet, on the day preceding the Sabbath, they of their own accord, gathered twice as much as they were wont to gather. For this no other reason can be assigned, than, that, aware that the seventh day was the Sabbath, they made this provision previously, that they might not violate the rest of the Sabbath. The conduct of the people and of Moses, evinced a perfect know