who acknowldges himself redeemed by the blood of Christ; any one who remembers the bitterness of his own sin; any one who knows the joy of his own soul; any one who ever felt in his closet gratitude unutterable to Him who loved him, and gave himself "for him-it seems to me that any such one will feel all his thought and memory, and every impulse of his sanctified heart, rising up to spur him on to fidelity, to labor, to work in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, for the days that remain.

Brethren, our days grow pale. The night itself is coming. Every day is now growing shorter and shorter. The sun shines less and less, and the night grows longer and longer. Our night is coming. And if we have anything to do for Christ, anything for our children, anything for those that are in our employment, anything for our neighbors, anything for the poor and the outcast, we must do it quickly. For you soon will go. The messenger has started for some of you, and he is not long delaying for any. And if, when you go up, you shall have done nothing, and you shall enter heaven so as by fire, woe, woe is you! But who are they that fill the air and throng the battlements? They are the rejoicing spirits that come to greet him whose whole life has been watching with Christ, and who is coming up thither to receive the benediction, "Enter, welcome, good and faithful servant."

May the work of your life be the best work of which your life is capable; and may the best work of your life be that which you register on the souls of those that but for you would have perished without light, and without knowledge, and without salvation.

PRAYER BEFORE THE SERMON.

We thank thee, our Father, that thou hast created us better than the beasts which perish. For, though we have all outward sense, and inherit this material globe with them, our souls blossom far above theirs. Thou hast given to us a noble outgrowth; and that which is within us reaches up to that which is within thee. And we are called thine own children. We are born of thee, and are tending toward thee, and seeking by the whole mystery of life to find our way into thy presence. We rejoice, though as yet we are not permitted to see thee face to face. Nor is there such communica tion between our souls and thine as we have one with another. Yet we rejoice in the reality of the things unseen; in the power of the world to come; in the glory of thy character; in the faith of thine administration. What we cannot see is clearly discerned by thee. And all the wealth above our heads; the realms of rejoicing spirits; the royalties of thine own kingdom; the dear delights and transcendent joys which there do flourish without darkness or winter, without storm, without tears,—all these, our souls crave to believe. Although they are veiled from us sometimes by the power of the world; although they are sometimes hidden from our view, by the dust that rises from beneath our feet; though at times sorrows overmaster our faith; though excess of care, and despondency, and sickness of body, and sickness of soul, do hide the great and blessed truths above, and but just above us, yet there they are, and thou by thy dear Spirit dost minister them to us from time to time. And as, in days that are stormy, the clouds do part to let us see the blue beyond, and we know that not far above the storm is the calm and the brightness; so, in this life, in its disturbances and troubles, thou art letting through, at times, the blessed light of the serene heaven above us. We know that we have not sent out our beloved into a world of uncertainty and chance. Our children are safe that have gone away to thee. Our friends are safe that have died in the faith of Jesus. They walk with him, and rejoice with him, mourning more for us, if there were mourning in heaven, than we for them; they, in the plentitude of their joy; they, in the greatness of renewed strength; they, in the fulness of emancipation and in the glory of the heavenly manhood; but we, still stinted and caremarked, and weary of shoulder, that bear heavy burdens. We that despond so easily and suffer so much,-why should we mourn the departed? Why should we not mourn the living? We thank thee for their joy. We thank thee that on such days as this heaven comes very near to us, and renews our assurance, and above all the assurance of thy being, and thy presence, and thy sympathy, and thy love.

O grant, we beseech of thee, that we may have something more of that joy which our souls need. For as the earth cannot ripen its fruits and plants without the sun, so neither can we ripen in joy or grace without the shining of thy face upon us.

Grant unto us, this morning, then, dear Master, the tokens of thy presence. May our heart hear thee, though our outward ear may not. May it hear thee calling us sons. And though chastisements may be upon us, may we hear thee calling, "Whom I love I chasten, and scourge every son whom I receive."

May we rejoice, then, at these strokes of love. May we rejoice at care. May we know how to triumph over all temptation. May we know how to bear everything that in thy providence is laid upon us, and fulfill, if need be, in our bodies, the measure of affliction which is lacking in thine.

Grant, we

pray thee, that we may have, from day to day, this sense of thy care, and of the great coming joy that will be wrought out in us by faith and patience and perseverance.

And now, may we be filled on the way, not with sorrow alone, but with those joys which are born of sorrow. And while we sigh, and are sad, may there spring to our lips many and many a song of triumph. May we pluck beforehand from the branches that fruit which hath in it eternal life. And may we joy in in each other, and bear one another's burdens, and pray for one another, and forgive one another, and in all things be to each other what the dear Jesus was to his disciples when he companioned with them on earth. May we walk together bound by invisible bonds, and united by that relationship which is in thee. Uphold us. O blessed Saviour until the end doth come; and then, may we find each other in immortality and glory.

We beseech of thee that thou wilt bless those in thy presence as thine eye discerns them severally to need thee; and as thy providences are allotted according to some wise measure in thy will, so may thy grace be allotted according to the dispensations of thy wisdom and of thy mercy. Wilt thou sustain the feeble; wilt thou strengthen the weak; wilt thou encourage the desponding; wilt thou comfort the sorrowful; wilt thou take away fear from those that are timid; wilt thou help every one that is conscious of his load of care, or trouble, or temptation, or easily besetting sin. Help, O thou Helper! every such one.

And we beseech of thee, O Lord, that all such may obtain mercy and help in time of need. If there be any that are afar off, crying as the leper cried, Jesus, make them clean. If there be any that cannot believe, and yet would, and cry, “Lord I believe, yet help my unbelief," have compassion upon them. If there be those that mourn over their own sinfulness, and know not how to get rid of its remorse and pain, speak words of forgiving love to them. Say to them, "Son, thy sin is forgiven thee." And may they have that peace which passeth all understanding, in that they are accepted of God in the Beloved.

And we beseech of thee that thou wilt open the hearts of thy servants, to labor for those around about them; to speak more; to pray more; to watch more; to instruct men more tenderly and earnestly respecting things which pertain to their salvation.

Wilt thou revive thy work everywhere. In this church and in all other churches in the City, wilt thou grant thy servants more power to proclaim the truth. Grant them more fidelity, and a great deal more success. May they be more and more fruitful from year to year. If there be any that labor in word and doctrine, and yet bear sorrows and troubles, and despondency, wilt thou cheer and comfort them, and gird up their loins, that they may not faint by the way. Pity those that sit in darkness. Look everywhere throughout the land, unto the waste places.

Grant that schools may spring up everywhere; that churches may be every where found, and that the light of intelligence and the light of truth may go forth together, and all parts of our land be regenerated.

Pity the nations of the earth. Spare them that are cast down. Grant that men may feel that there has been enough and more than enough of war and of the shedding of blood. O grant that the iron sceptre may go down. and that the sceptre of peace may go up. Take blood from out of the banners, and let the witness of purity and of peace come in instead. And grant that ere long there may be no trumpet sound in all the earth except the silver sound of thy trumpet; and no banner but that of Jesus; and no warfare but that against sin.

Grant these things, O thou blessed God! in the name of Jesus thy Son and our Saviour. And to him, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, shall be praises evermore. Amen.

PRAYER AFTER THE SERMON.

Our Father, we beseech of thee that thou wilt help us to be faithful, not only to our light, but to thee. Bring near to us a sweet conception of thy being, and of thy nature, and of thy sympathy, and of thy tenderness, and of thy love, and of the hunger to be loved that is in thee. And may our hearts be drawn out toward thine. Inseparably may we be united to thee. May nothing separate us from thee. All our senses shall not separate us from thee. They are the reason why we need thee above everything else. Our temptations shall not separate us from thee. They are themselves the very causes why we should cling tighter to thee. Nothing present, nothing to come, neither height or depth, shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. O grant that we may be ashamed to take this store and treasure of love selfishly. Is there nothing for us to do? Can we not requite it? If a child brings us a flower we think of something to give back again. If a friend speaks a kindly word, and we hear of it, how kindly are the thoughts with which we reward that friend. If they are united to us wh have served us in this life, shall we not think of something to give them? And shall we not think of some love to requite them? O grant that we may not stand as the heath in the desert, overflowed with the light of summer and its warmth, and yet bearing nothing,

Grant, we beseech of thee, that the love of God may work love in us, and that the example of Christ may work more a sympathetic sorrow in us. May we look into our households, and may we begin to spur ourselves on. May every one feel that he has the sacred work of God to do. May thy servants begin to pray as they have not prayed for a long time. May they be more tender-hearted. May they take hold of each others hands; and may they sink all differences; and may the love that is in Christ bring new light and new love to every one of us. And may we begin a nobler pilgrimage, a nobler march, a greater conflict, a truer work. And wilt thou, O Spirit! guide it and consummate it.

And to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, shall be praises everlasting. Amen.

THE TENDENCIES

OF

AMERICAN PROGRESS.

It is well for us to pause, in our career, to consider whither our national life is tending. For we are too apt to become so engrossed in our private affairs as to have but a dim and feeble sense of our relations to the life of the whole community. Or, if we cast a glance upon the tendencies of our times, it is apt to be superficial-a judgment which follows rather our disposition than our reason. To the hopeful, things are always bright; and they are always dark to the cautious. Prosperous men think the country is doing well; and the unfortunate see the signs of impending mischief and of quick-coming ruin on every hand. Men are apt to judge of the drift of things by the impressions made upon them by the things which are nearest, or by the welfare of the special cause to which they are giving their time and zeal. If that zone of life and force which is in contact with them is stormy, they feel that it is stormy away to the horizon, though but just a step beyond it may be tranquil; and if the affairs in which men have embarked their chief zeal and their affections are withstood, and are declining, they are apt to think that the whole work of God in the world is weary and slow-paced.

While, then, it is proper that we should recognize superficial prosperity, and personal prosperity, and all forms of experience from the personal stand-point, we are far more earnest to inquire whether under the surface the tendency of things is onward and upward, or level, or working downward. But in order to this we must have some determinate rule of measure. We must not judge by the eye, nor by our senses, nor by a transient criterion.

The most obvious, and historically the first, condition of prosperity in any community is physical thrift, material wealth; and surely there can be no national life of any great worth without that. For there must be prosperity in material things if there is to be prosperity in moral things in the last estate. Still, a nation may be prospered in

THUSDAY MORNING, Nov. 24, 1870. LESSON: ISA, LX. HYMNS (Plymouth Collection): Nos. 1,008,1,004.