heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice"; and when the Son of God, for the first time, addressed the assembled multitude, his sermon was a revelation of joy. He opened his lips to pronounce blessings on the poor, the afflicted, the persecuted; blessings on the meek, the righteous, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers. Grateful joy for every blessing which proceeds from the Giver of every good and perfect gift; joyful trust and cheerful resignation under affliction and bereavements, as the appointments of the same paternal will; joy, triumphant joy, in persecution and in death; these are the precepts of that Gospel, by which life and immortality were brought to light.

While we, then, cheerfully acknowledge all the earthly blessings, for which we are called upon to express our gratitude in this time of plenty, when the harvest pours forth its treasures, yet when we compare all temporal goods, such as health, plenty, prosperity, and peace, with those spiritual benefits which are the gift of religion, and of religion alone, shall we not join in the inspired strain of the prophet; "although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

My friends, if we would multiply the joys which flow from religion, let us beware lest we narrow the ground of our religious sympathy. We can sympa

thize with the feelings of others, though we should feel compelled to dissent from their opinions. I rejoice that my heart can enter into the adoration of the sincere Catholic, worshipping the Virgin Mary; for though I think his reason mistakes the only true object of adoration, yet I think his heart is worshipping God in the beauty of holiness. I rejoice, that I can sympathize with the sincere Calvinist who worships the Trinity. For his heart is impressed, his soul is overawed, by the mysterious agency, the incomprehensible nature of God. My heart worships with him, although my reason blames his reason for placing the mysteriousness of the divine nature, not in that which is beyond, but in something which is contrary to reason. I rejoice to find, even in the superstition of the savage, traces of the religious nature of man, a germ of infinity, which, if wisely cultivated, and brought into the light of the Gospel, would become Christianity.

Finally, my brethren, while we thankfully acknowledge all that the God of nature has done for us, in making us men, rational, moral, and immortal beings; while we acknowledge all that society has bestowed, in investing us with the high privileges of freemen and the blessings of home, all that Christianity has given us, in revealing the character and will of God, the duty and destiny of man; I say, while we rejoice in all our blessings, as men, as Americans, and as Christians, let us not forget, that all the glorious powers, with which the Creator has endowed us, cannot make us excellent men, the highest civil privileges cannot make us good citizens, the exalted prom

ises of the Gospel cannot make us real Christians, unless we make these blessings truly our own by cultivating the powers which nature has given us, unless we obey the laws which we ourselves have enacted, unless we become fellow-laborers with Christ to work out our own salvation. Nay, more, all that nature, and society, and Christianity, have done for us, is not only of itself insufficient to exalt, or to civilize, or to save us; the God, who has made us a little lower than the angels, has given us the power, by our own will, to degrade ourselves below the brute.

If it is in the power of man to make his reason and his free will the instruments of his lowest passions; it is in the power of the citizen to use his right of self-government, to legalize the absolute bondage of a portion of his fellow-men, for no other reason than that it has pleased the God of nature to set his own living image in a dark frame; it is in the power of the Christian to poison the cup of salvation, to use the influence, the hopes, and the terrors of religion, to strike the eye of the soul with blindness, and to make the consciences of men the foundation of his own demoralizing power.

It is evident from all I have said, that, great as the advantages are which are provided for us, there are greater blessings held out to us, which can become ours only as the reward of our own exertions. Then, while we give thanks for every thing, let us watch and pray without ceasing, that the light, which has come into the world, may not become our condemnation, but that, living and moving in it, as the children of light, we may rejoice evermore.

SERMON XVII.

JOHN XVI. 32.

"Behold, the hour cometh; yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone : and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."

ALL nature, in the greatest as well as the smallest objects and events, shows forth the existence of one everlasting and universal Being; so that it is, indeed, less difficult to find God in every thing, than not to find him in any thing. Every object we perceive seems a ray, calculated to lead the eye of the mind up to the fountain head of light. Yet, as soon as the human mind attempts to ascend to the first Cause and Essence of all that exists, to know God as he is, our mental vision is as much dazzled as is our eye when fixed upon the sun. Indistinct images and conceptions are the fruits of the most persevering examination; while the dark substance of the heavenly luminary remains concealed from our sight by its own surrounding brightness. Thus it may be, that all we know about the Supreme Being is but the bright appearance or the shadow of his real nature. Yet even

the bright or shadowy appearance is sufficient to convince us of the reality of the object from which it

proceeds. It is with our knowledge of God as with other religious truths. That which is revealed to man in the works and in the word of God, is sufficient to invite and encourage us to strive after a perfect conception of the nature and character of Him, who has endowed us with faculties and means constantly to enlarge and improve our ideas of the world and its Creator. But for this very reason, that our knowledge admits of infinite improvement, the most satisfactory views, which we in this life are capable of obtaining, will still leave us ground enough to say with the Apostle, "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then shall I know even also as I am known."

When we contemplate all the various modes in which God manifests himself in the universe, the power and wisdom, which, from eternity to eternity, give existence and law to all that is, and was, and is to be, which has assigned a sphere of existence to the smallest moss, as well as to the rolling star, and to systems of worlds unknown; when we contemplate his goodness, which has created living beings, capable of enjoying their existence, and man, in his own image, fit for endless improvement and happiness; when we, I say, contemplate these infinite perfections, each and all united in one perfect Being, we feel, at once, our insufficiency, and the sublimity of our own nature. For although man is not fit to perceive all the worlds around him as they are, yet, even with his corporeal eye, he is capable of descry