duties were now required for the first time. There are some qualifications and limits to this rule, no doubt, but these are such as the fulness of one's religious experience will readily suggest; but that it is a direction both safe and wise cannot be questioned. Edwards, than whom few men have known so much of the complexities and varieties of Christian experience, insisted much on this rule in his day; and had it always been adopted and applied, there would have been less of delusion and disappointment.

You are con

You consider yourself an unconverted man. vinced that you have never experienced a saving faith in Christ. Admit it. Be it so, that there is no mistake in your judgment. Act now on this conviction. Surely you cannot be in doubt as to what you must do. Your past professions, your standing in the church cannot change the direction which are addressed to all in an impenitent state. Like any other unconverted man, you must cry out, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. The motives to do this, and to do it speedily, are more numerous and pressing in your case than in any other. You must begin at the very point where you would begin had you never had a hope before. You must open your eyes to behold your own sinfulness. You must be careful that you grieve not the Spirit of God which has come to convince you of the truth. You must set yourself to rehearse your obligations violated, and sins indulged. You must bow down, confess, and plead for pardon. Oh, repent of thy wickedness; if you did not go far enough before, come now and say, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. If there was some secret thing before which prevented you from closing quite with the only Saviour of sinners, be sure that there is nothing now. If you were only almost persuaded to be a Christian before, be altogether persuaded now. If you failed of entering the kingdom of God before only by a little, be sure that you now enter quite within. If in your first approaches to the Master you kept back part of the price, now come and give him your all. I know of no other terms of salvation than these. I know of no other conditions of return and acceptance. These are suited to all the varieties of an impenitent state. To men of every grade and character, under whatever name they pass, of whatever appearance, the same direction is to be given: Repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

I am not ignorant of what may be regarded as the peculiarities of your case; I know what distrust, what difficulty, what fear, what agitations of soul you must experience. I know to what temptations of the great foe you will be exposed; what deceits, what diversion, what delays, what hindrances, he will employ with his extremest skill, to prevent your cordial acceptance of pardon. Of these, none will he be so sure to try, as the fear that in your case pardon will not be granted. If possible

he will make you think that your guilt is of such a character that you cannot expect to be forgiven. My last direction accordingly is,

5. Be confident of this, that if you ask for mercy on the same terms in which all must plead for it, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, you will be forgiven. It is true, that your sin has been very great in having rejected the Saviour so long, and under such peculiar circumstances; but there is no sin which a God of infinite mercy cannot forgive, if it be repented of. That you could have passed through such privileges, looked upon the body and blood of Christ with a heart unsubdued, ungrateful, is indeed a great aggravation of your guilt; but there is no degree or amount of iniquity which atoning blood cannot wash away, if the penitent spirit will but ask for its application. To eat and drink unworthily is not the unpardonable sin. To take of the bread and of the cup with a heart deceived and unchanged, does not of itself seal one's damnation. There is no sin which cannot be pardoned if it be confessed and forsaken. We must never suffer ourselves to think that there is any kind, or quality, or amount of sin, though it be high as mountains, and dyed deep as crimson blood, which God is not both able and willing to forgive. Broad, deep, and full as the sea, his mercy can roll over a world of sin, and wash away a world of iniquity. His offers of mercy are made to you as really as to any other; his promises are just as sure in your case as in any other; and if you have been a stranger to true peace and hope before, you may come, if you will, and try the efficacy of a Saviour's blood applied to your conscience now. There is no sin which is unpardonable if it be repented of. The sin which excludes one from mercy both in this life and that which is to come, is such a resistance to the Holy Ghost as makes repenting impossible.

With you the Spirit of God seems to be striving now. That very thing which it is his peculiar province to do, he is now doing with you. He is convincing you of your sin; he is showing you your need of a Saviour; he is pointing you to the cross, -he is moving you to repentance. And if there be one person on earth whose condition more than any other awakens the pity and tenderness of the Redeemer of sinners, it seems to me it is the professor of religion who has come at length to be convinced that he is not a Christian; who dare not go back; who is afraid to go forward; who, though called a disciple before, yet having denied and forsaken his Master, is now weeping bitterly over his sin, and for the first time longs to lay his head at the Saviour's feet, and bathe them with tears which cannot be feigned.

SERMON DXCV.

BY REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D.D.,

OF NEW-YORK.

THE GOOD WOMAN.

"Who can find a a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good; her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry: her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."-PROVERBS xxxi. 10-31.

"The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him."

It is impossible to say who Lemuel was. Some have conjectured that this was another name for Solomon. Whoever he may have been he was singularly fortunate in his mother; for the words which she taught him are worthy of that imperishable record they have received from the pen of inspiration. Well would it be for the world if every mother was qualified to give, and every son disposed to follow similar advice in the selection of a wife.

Cir

An inspired description have we here of a good woman. cumstances, customs, habits change; men and manners pass away; but the qualities of a good character are the same in all times and places. What was essentially good and praiseworthy in an Arabian tent three thousand years ago, is good and praiseworthy now, and will be to the end of time.

Art has toiled these many centuries to paint on canvass and embody in marble every conception of the beautiful and graceful in the female face and form. Poetry has rivalled her sister muse in the same endeavor; the world is full of fancy and ro

mance on this subject; but here have we a portrait, executed by no mortal hand, and though it be not often held up in the christian pulpit, we do well to study it, for correct ideas concerning it, take a deeper and stronger hold of the very roots of society than the superficial may imagine.

The description before us makes little of personal beauty, but everything of that higher beauty which adorns the soul. "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but she that feareth the Lord shall be praised." Nevertheless the language of Scripture on this subject is not cynical. God has made us with a principle of taste, and everything which gratifies it confers pleasure. It is misanthropy and not religion which scowls at the beautiful. A quick eye has the latter to admire all which God has finished in his wisdom.

But in contrast with goodness, which is the beauty of the soul, how vain, how worthless is every personal attraction, belonging not all to our choice or character, and so placed outside the domain of virtue. The fairest form which God has made, the richest bloom which beauty ever spread over the human face, one sharp attack of disease may spoil it; an accident may blight it; age surely will cause it to fade; the worm will revel on it, and corruption destroy it; but the beauty of the soul which is nurtured by religion is removed beyond the reach of accident or decay, is increased and not lessened by the flight of years, and attains its fullest bloom and immortality only when the body has returned to ashes. The substance of this whole chapter is epitomized in the New Testament:

"Whose adorning let it not be that which is outward-plaiting of hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price;" a beauty which God himself admires.

That which is good essentially is good relatively, and the portraiture which is here given of a good woman is taken from her domestic relations; her great and proper sphere of home. The greediest ambition which ever coveted honor, power and distinction, might be satisfied with that just measure of influence which is exerted within this vast domain-for the world will always be as are its homes; and the presidency of this domestic retreat where characters are formed, is committed by God to the virtuous woman. Emulous of no celebrity, covetous of no distinction, shrinking even from political publicity, as flowers fold themselves from the intense blaze of the sun, the good wife and mother contents herself with those household duties by which, in fact, generations are moulded, and the destinies of the great world are fixed. This is the most obvious feature of the inspired description upon which we are now entering. There is no truthfulness in it at all, if home be not the theatre of the virtuous woman.

Two things accordingly are implied in it on her part. That she should not despise it, and that she should not shrink from it.

The desire to be something we are not, and to get something we have not, is the great sinning of our nature, and the most adroit and perilous temptation to which a woman can ever be subject, especially if she be endowed with extraordinary talents, is presented in the idea that she was intended for something better and greater than domestic cares; that it is neither justice nor dignity to fritter away her life in giving heed to a thousand small and nameless avocations which menials might do as well; against which falsity the only antidote is a correct view of that honored kingdom which Providence has ordained for her, and the magnitude of those duties which Scripture has specified and enjoined.

While she must not undervalue her sphere, neither let her shrink from it. Let no gift of fortune, no love of ease, no desire of indulgence be an absolution from those duties which are her own personal and unalienable responsibility. Let her never be tempted to believe that she has no special obligation as to the interior concerns of her household; that these may be neglected or delegated to others without criminality in herself; and should cares multiply, and weariness and perplexity afflict her, instead of fleeing from them, let her faithfully meet them, remembering that these furnish as real an occasion for resolution, energy and heroism as any probation can display.

It may be somewhat difficult to apply the prism to the brilliant rainbow which the hand of inspiration has here arched, so as to separate in a distinct analysis the several virtues which together form one perfect character. Yet some of these appear to have received a special prominence and coloring for the very reason, we believe, that they are apt to be undervalued or overlooked. Yet are they of immense importance in their direct and indirect consequences.

The most comprehensive of these is a general prudence and discretion. This forms the very woof and warp of the character here described. This is a generic quality, displaying itself in a great variety of particulars. She manages her domestic concerns with such consummate care and prudence that the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. Something more is here intended than confidence in her affection and virtue. The entrance of the least suspicion in these respects, is enough to poison the transcendent delights of domestic life, and the first look or word which gives occasion to jealousy and distrust converts the paradise of home into the misery of hell. A relic truly of the paradise which is lost is the perfect trust which a man reposes in her who presides over his home. A help and a blessing is it for him to know that whoever else may disappoint or deceive him, there is one who is true and faithful in whom he may always trust; however others may misunderstand