us to "turn from our evil ways, and live,"-or to acquire that life of charity and faith, by which we shall be enabled to live happy in heaven for ever.

No human being, alas! exists, who has not reason to mourn over "talents wasted, time misspent ;" happy, then, are they, who have fewest reproaches to bring against themselves on this score ! None have made so good use of the time that is past, but that they may easily make better use of the portion of time which is yet before them.

All then, on one ground or other, have reason to rejoice and be thankful, on seeing a new year. They who, at the commencement of the last year, were in the way to heaven, may now be glad that they are nearer to its attainment. They who, though they have been walking in the way, have not advanced in it with the diligence that they might, may gratefully exult in having time afforded them for improvement. And they who, heretofore, have been going astray,-have not seriously thought of entering on the path that conducts to heaven,-may rejoice with humility, that space is given them for repentance.

But, as just remarked, there are none who have not reason to mourn over "talents wasted, time misspent." Miserable indeed must be the feelings of those, who, if ever they become sensible of their folly at all, have to look back on a long course of years, during which the noble talents confided to their stewardship by the Lord, to be improved for his service and their own benefit, have been mis-used, and the time given them to prepare for heaven, has all, as to this most essential employment of it, been utterly misspent! Happy are they who consider this betimes! Happy are they who avoid the bitter pangs of late acknowledged folly, by remembering their Creator in the days of their youth! Youth is blessed with great advantages; but, if not duly estimated and improved, every succeeding new year diminishes them, till they are lost for ever. Youth, as yet, can have but comparatively little of mis-spent time to mourn over: O that they all, especially all who have been initiated by their parents into any religious profession, and most especially into the profession of a religion founded on genuine truth, could be prevailed upon to avail themselves of the opportunities they so eminently enjoy, and enter upon the course of life which is agreeable to the will and Word of their Heavenly Father, without first wandering, for any portion of their time whatever, in the ways that lead to the kingdom of darkness! Children as they are, by creation and by baptism, of

a Divine Parent and Saviour all merciful, O that they all could be induced to be mindful of their privileges, and resolve to be, and never to cease to be, his loving children, of a truth!

My young friends all!—both you who may have passed through your years of nonage, and you who still are in them; it is my wish, this first Sunday of a new year, affectionately to address some considerations to you on this subject-on the duty, the privileges, and blessed advantages, of being mindful of the great end for which you were created while you still are so young; and of never forgetting it through the whole course of your lives. O that the first wish of every child might be, to be a child of God! May every child learn to desire to be an angel, more earnestly than it desires to be a man or a woman! May every young man and woman, though no longer a child, desire, with increased earnestness, to be an angel, and at once set out, on the beginning of their journey through life, in the road that leads to the blissful mansions where the angels dwell! Attend then, my young friends in particular, I intreat you, while I set before you some truths, which may tend to fix your desires and determinations on this most excellent, this most ennobling, pursuit and object.

The passage from the Word of God which I have selected for this occasion, is one which makes express mention of youth, in regard to their attention to the principles of religion,-their duty to their heavenly Father. The prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of his lamentations over the miseries which sin had brought on the nation and church to which he belonged, and for the calamities experienced by himself, draws comfort from the reflection, that from his youth he had been devoted to the service of the Lord, and had learned obedience to his divine will. The sentiments which thus arose in his mind, though doubtless expressive of his own state and feelings at the time, he was impelled by inspiration to commit to writing, to express the sentiments of every true member of the church, or every sincere servant of the Lord, in all ages,— yea, of the genuine doctrine of Divine Truth, which, as a prophet, Jeremiah represented. It is the Divine Truth itself then, and the Lord himself from whom it proceeds, that declares in our text, "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." What is the genuine meaning of this saying?

In a general sense, by bearing the yoke, is meant, to submit, without rebellion, to the guidance and government of the Lord. This is done by applying the mind to keep his commandments, under a sense of holy fear, and of love to his name.

The true nature of the yoke which is thus to be borne, and the mode of bearing it, may be gathered from what the Lord himself has declared on the subject in the gospel. In Matt. xi., we find him saying, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burthen is light." Here, when the Lord bids us to take his yoke upon us, he teaches, that we should submit ourselves freely and voluntarily to his government; and when he bids us learn of Him, he means, that we should take him, while he walked in flesh on earth, as our pattern; or that we should follow him, as he repeatedly directs, allowing him to regenerate us, or make us spiritually minded, as he glorified his Humanity, or made it Divine; and also, that we should take the instructions of his Holy Word, or his divine precepts, particularly those called the ten commandments, for our guide. He encourages us to do this, by assuring us that he is "meek and lowly of heart;" by which he informs us, that he is a kind Master, whose goodness can stoop to our infirmities, and condescend to the lowness of our state. When he adds, "And ye shall find rest unto your souls," he instructs us, that by thus ever living in his love and fear, we shall obtain that composure of soul and serene happiness of mind, which are incomparably superior to all coarse and disorderly enjoyments, and shall enter hereafter into the inexpressible peace and happiness of heaven.

The Divine Speaker concludes with declaring, that "his yoke is easy, and his burden is light;" in which gracious statement he assures us, that true religion-such religion as consists in the pure fear and love of God-is not a gloomy, uncomfortable sort of thing, as man, from the natural hardness of his heart, is apt to imagine, but is perfectly consistent with cheerfulness of manners, and all orderly comforts and enjoyments.

Another most important lesson is also taught by the Lord in this declaration, even that which the beloved disciple, John, asserts in so many words; namely, that "his commandments are not grievous." (1 Ep. v. 3.) Many people imagine, that so to live as to go to heaven is a thing of immense difficulty; and many even go the length of asserting, that to keep the commandments is a thing absolutely impossible. But where is the real difficulty? Where is the impossibility? All live so as to attain heaven, who keep the Lord's commandments because he requires it: and who is there that will seriously say, he cannot keep the ten commandments, which are the sum and essence of the whole? Cannot every one

of you, my juvenile friends, worship the Lord alone, and abstain from worshiping idols, as directed in the first commandment? Cannot you shun the taking of the Lord's name in vain, as directed in the second commandment? Cannot you refrain from doing any ordinary work on the Lord's day, and keep it holy by coming to worship in his house, as directed in the third commandment? Cannot you honour, that is, respect and love, your father and mother, as required by the fourth commandment? Cannot you abstain from committing either murder or adultery, as required in the fifth and sixth commandments? Cannot you avoid stealing, or bearing false witness, as required in the seventh and eighth commandments? Cannot you guard against coveting, and desiring to take for your own use, any thing whatever belonging to your neighbour, as required in the ninth and tenth commandments? Not one of you, young people, I am sure, will ever pretend to say, that you cannot, by power given you from the Lord, and which he never withholds, keep every one of these commandments: nor will you pretend, either, that the yoke they impose is too grievous to be borne. Indeed, where will you find a person of respectable character in society, who would not be exceedingly affronted were you to charge him with acting in contradiction to any one of the commandments? unless, perhaps, that about the Sabbath, the neglect of which is mistakenly deemed by some not discreditable; but none will pretend to say, they could not keep it strictly, if they chose. The Jews, it is well known, do keep the commandment about the Sabbath with most rigorous strictness: yet few attribute to Jews higher moral faculties than are possessed by Christians. Thus it is perfectly undeniable, that even if only for the sake of their character in the world, all decent persons do keep the ten commandments as to outward observance. Cannot you, my young friends, keep the ten commandments, not merely because, otherwise, you would lose the respect of your acquaintance, but because the Lord requires it, and because to do any thing contrary to them would be sin against God? Do you think that, in so doing, there is any thing very grievous, or burthensome? I am sure you do not. Young persons, who have been trained to it from their infancy, find no difficulty at all in keeping the commandments. The difficulty is only found by those who have not been trained to the keeping of the commandments, and who thus from early years have acquired habits of telling falsehoods, taking little things that do not belong to them, giving way to passion and bad temper even to acts of violence (in which is concealed the principle of murder),

using filthy language, and the like. But if any of you should, through having been neglected, have acquired such habits, you will not find it very difficult, if you pray to the Lord for his help, to get the better of them now. The great difficulty is, when they have been allowed to gain strength by long practice. They who have spent many years in a course of disregard to the Lord's commandments, do, there is no doubt, find reformation difficult. It is only, however, when men have not borne the Lord's yoke in their youth, that they find it a heavy burthen. All who, in sincerity, take it up while they are young, are sure to find it easy. And at no time may it not be made easy, after some temptationconflicts, by heartily applying to, and giving the mind to learn of, the Lord, sincerely looking to, and following him.

Truly great, then, is the happiness, the blessed privilege, of living under the mild and easy yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ, by walking in obedience to his commandments: and we see that, according to the divine declaration in our text, the blessing becomes peculiarly eminent, when we take this yoke upon us in our youth. "It is (indeed) good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." Nothing is ever so perfectly easy to us, as what we acquire the habit of doing while we are young. You must all be aware, my young friends, that the youngest and best of you have bad tempers and wrong inclinations, that require correction. None with bad tempers and bad inclinations can be admitted into heaven: they must all be cured before you can enter them. Most persons intend, or think they intend, to conform their conduct to the divine will at some time or other: at least, that is commonly proposed to themselves by those, who have not yet gone far in the practice of wickedness. Suppose, then, you were to think with yourselves,as many a poor, undone creature thought at first,-"It is time enough for me to think about the good things that the Scriptures and my parents teach me: I will consider about minding all that by and by : but while I am so young, I will take my own way, indulge my own temper, and do whatever I find agreeable to my inclination." If you should act thus, and really should afterwards, at a late period of life, take on you the Lord's yoke, or begin to conform to his laws, do you not think that the yoke would then be found much heavier, than if you had begun to carry it in your youth? After you have acquired habits of wickedness, do you not think it must of necessity cost you get rid of them again, should you, ever set in earnest about the task?

much pains and suffering to which is more than doubtful, Assuredly, he who acquires