and the will of the Maker and Lord of all thingsof knowing, of loving, and of enjoying, to all eternity, the infinitely exalted Fountain of truth, of goodness, of virtue, and of happiness. Have we given glory to God for this inestimable gift of a being spiritual in its nature, immortal in its existence, and capable of making continual advances to the perfection and happiness of Deity itself! Have our hearts overflowed with the emotions of gratitude to our glorious Maker, for ranking us thus high in the scale of being-for enduing us with capacities for the most exquisite, pure, and immortal enjoyments? or have we not, on the contrary, gone on our way, seldom reflecting on the exalted dignity of our nature, and still less frequently glorifying and magnifying the name of our Almighty Maker? Have we not ungratefully employed the exalted powers he has bestowed on us, in the career of sin and folly, in the pursuit of transitory and sensual gratifications, instead of devoting them to the glory of him who made us, to the service of him from whom we have derived them? Ah! my brethren, much I fear that these inquiries will convict us of having failed in these important duties; that they will fix on us the stain of ingratitude to the infinitely glorious Author of our being. To the good providence of him whose tender mercies are over all his works, we are indebted for the preservation of our being, for the countless enjoyments that crown our lot in life. He has placed us in a world enriched with beauties and glories that gratify every sense, and impart pleasure to every feeling of the heart. Not dooming us to solitary, and therefore to selfish joy, he has connected us in society by a thousand ties, and made

the exquisite emotions of pleasure in the breasts of others beat responsive to those in our own. In the many endearing relations of social and domestic life he has provided a rich increase of all our joys, a powerful alleviation of all our sorrows. Exercising towards us more than parental care, he keeps us as the apple of his eye, he guards us as in the hollow of his hand;" and "though father and friend forsake us, yet will not he, whose goodness is boundless as his nature, and enduring as his existence. Have then these many blessings of his providence been returned with our homage, our love, our obedience? or, have we gone on our way, enjoying the bounties of his providence, heedless of the gracious Giver, neglectful of the tribute of affection and obedience due to him? Ah! it is to be feared that conscience will fix on some of us not only the stain of this criminal indifference and neglect, but the deeper guilt of having abused his bounties, to the corrupting of our own hearts, to the violation of his laws, and to the dishonour of his name.

Again: Infinitely powerful as are the claims of the Almighty, as our Creator and Preserver, to our gratitude and love, he appears in a relation to us still more endearing, still more loudly calling on us for the supreme and grateful homage of our hearts and lives. From everlasting misery, the just punishment of our numerous and aggravated violations of his laws, he offers us redemption: to the everlasting joys of his own glorious presence, which our most splendid and perfect virtue could not merit, he gives us a title. From death and misery he thus rescues us; to heaven and immortality he thus exalts us ;-not by any human agency,

not by the instrumentality of the most exalted angel of his presence; but by the sacrifice of his onlybegotten and well-beloved Son. This is a stupendous display of love, which absorbs in ceaseless adoration the host of heaven. Has it awakened in our hearts the sentiments of ardent gratitude? Have we, the unworthy subjects of this stupendous redemption, embraced it with thankfulness! Have we humbly devoted ourselves to the service of him who has redeemed us from hell and destruction, and conferred on us a title to an immortal and glorious existence? or, have we not, on the contrary, gone on our way, busied solely with the schemes of worldly aggrandizement, immersed in sensual pursuits, and regardless of the glorious redemption wrought for us by the sufferings and death of the Son of God? If this character should apply to us, indignant as we may be at being supposed capable of ingratitude, be assured, we have incurred its deepest guilt.

Pass from these general to the morc particular mercies which we have received from the overflowing goodness of our God.

Can we not look back to some dismaying period, when sickness held us in its agonizing grasp, and death appeared to be laying his cold hand on the pulse of life? The Lord of sickness and of health, of life and death, in his abundant compassion allayed the malady that was torturing our frame, and arrested the approach of the king of terrors. And for this gracious deliverance have we praised our Almighty Benefactor in the courts of his house, paid our vows to him in the assembly of his people, and devoted to his service the life which he graciously spared? Alas! on the contrary, have not

the emotions of gratitude which at the first moment of our deliverance were enkindled in our bosoms, been extinguished by the first breath of worldly pleasure, and the vows of duty been forgotten in worldly business, care, and enjoyment? and have not the se, instead of the service of him who rescued our souls from death, engrossed our thoughts, our hearts, and our lives?

Again: Can we not recall the period when some general or some sudden calamity threatened to overwhelm us; or when, plunged in the depths of adversity, almost every ray of worldly comfort seemed excluded? He who alone restrains the pestilence that walketh in darkness, as well as the arrow that flieth at noon day—he who rides in the whirlwind and directs the angry storm of adversity, redeemed our lives from destruction, and caused the bright morning of joy to succeed the sorrowful night of affliction. Ah! has the tribute of lively gratitude ascended to him? has the service of the life which he has redeemed and blessed shown forth his glory?

Can we not look back to the sorrowful period, when, bending over the almost lifeless body of some near and dear relative or friend, our agonized spirit poured forth the earnest and repeated prayer to the Father of mercies- Spare, oh! spare him, and my future life shall be devoted to thy glory?' God in mercy heard our prayers, and restored to our embrace the object of our affections. And has that gracious Being witnessed also our gratitude, witnessed the performance of our vows? Alas! like the morning cloud, like the early dew, they have too often vanished away.

When the rod of chastisement has been stretched

over us, has not wrath been tempered with mercy! If we have had cause to mourn over the loss of an earthly blessing, the disruption of some tender tie of life, had we not also cause to magnify the name of our God, that he did not, in just judgment, strip us of every enjoyment-that he still opened to us the bosom of his mercy, where we might find consolation and everlasting rest? Have we thus fled from the sorrows and trials of life to God, our almighty refuge? In the midst of the dark cloud of adversity that overwhelmed us, animated by the divine favour, have we rejoiced in the Lord, and joyed in the God of our salvation? Alas! on the contrary, have we not too often indulged in the murmurs of discontent and repining, and sought to forget those afflictions by which God designed to rouse us to repentance in the circles of worldly enjoyment?

Cannot we recall many spiritual mercies that lay claim to our lively gratitude? When bowed down, like the bruised reed, under the weight of our sins —when, the storms of God's justice threatening us, we were ready to give ourselves up to despair; has not consolation from the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort flowed into our bosoms? Has not faith in the atonement of the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, like the soothing balm of Gilead, allayed the sorrow of our hearts? Hath not the name of Jesus, like the precious ointment poured forth, shed consolation and joy through our troubled bosoms? Have our souls never been refreshed with those divine comforts which spring from the favour of God, from confidence in his protection and grace, from the glorious prospect of our heavenly inheritance-comforts which bear us in holy confidence above the world;