mented by our entreaties. We must, therefore, conclude that he has instituted prayer and supplication as a condition proposed, in order to produce some specific and salutary influence upon the minds of his intelligent offspring; that they may duly appreciate, and improve the requisite blessings.

The presence, support, and assistance, afforded by earthly parents, are felt and acknowledged, without the possibility of a doubt. The great Parent, being invisible, all his specific operations are unknown to us, excepting those which are recognized to be miraculous. As we perpetually. observe the operations of cause and effect, we are prone to ascribe every thing to the course of nature solely, to secondary causes, to physical agency, to the assistance of our friends, and those surrounding us;-we are disposed to place our expectations upon our own exertions, and to presume that the whole merit of a fortunate issue results from our own sagacity and prudence. Acts of devotion have a tendency to correct these errors, which lead to practical atheism. He who totally neglects to pray to his heavenly father, evinces that he has forgotten the superintendence of his providence; which may be introductory to the denial of his existence.

It is, therefore, in order to impress our minds, with a deep and habitual sense of the existence, perfections, and unwearied agency of God, of our being the creatures of his power, the subjects of his government, and the children of his family, deriving every thing we possess and enjoy, every blessing we desire and expect, from his unmerited bounty, that the duty of prayer is so frequently and peremptorily enjoined. Nor can any one who entertains just ideas of the frailties and imperfections of human nature, and has formed reverential conceptions of the great God, question for a moment the importance of the duty, and the privileges enjoyed by our being encouraged to perform it.

We have observed, upon a former occasion, that the formidable enemies to right conduct are Ignorance, the undue influence of sensible objects, and inordinate self-love; that, after our Ignorance shall be removed, a perception of what is right is frequently, and in some cases incessantly, counteracted by the influence of surrounding objects, and the prevalence of the desires and propensities of the instant; that the predominant love of self, even in its less violent exertions, will obscure the judgment, pervert justice, and render us reluctant to obey the calls of humanity. We observed, also, that the dispositions

and propensities so destructive to virtue, and of which the habitual indulgence constitutes a vicious and impious character, possess the minds of the ignorant, thoughtless, and inconsiderate, who blindly follow the impulse of their passions, or depraved inclinations, without controul; but that the love and practice of virtue demands a mental effort. They are the result of thought and reflection. The mind is obliged to call in the aid of various inducements, sufficiently potent to counteract the propensities of the

moment.

As these inducements are of a different nature and character from the objects of seduction, and as they are remote from the sight, they can alone be summoned, collected, and rendered effectual, by the strongest energies of the mind. In some cases, the excitement of very painful emotions may be necessary to combat the auxiliaries of vice: such as fear, dread, remorse. Sometimes the influence of the milder and more pleasing affections of love, joy, hope, gratitude, may be efficacious; and thus may a resolution to resist temptation be excited, or quickened, and rendered triumphant, by the most respectable of all motives.

There cannot be a principle so efficacious in producing these happy effects as a spirit of devo

tion. The man who delights to meditate upon the being and perfections of his God, who enters into his presence, as it were, for this solemn purpose; who has an impressive sense of his immediate inspection, and unerring knowledge of the inmost secrets of the heart; who confides in the perfect wisdom of his government, and is convinced that unwearied benevolence directs all his operations; who knows that virtue and piety are the delight of heaven; and that they are enjoined, solely to promote the happiness of man: he who firmly believes in the assurance that it shall be well with the righteous; and that the lamented infirmities of his nature, though they may retard his felicity, will not ultimately expose him to the divine displeasure such a man, in his devout addresses to his heavenly father, collects into one centre, into one focus, the choicest, and the most ardent of motives that can influence the human breast. He consecrates every legitimate passion and affection, and renders it subservient to his progress in goodness. The irresistible Power of God, inspires him with a sacred dread; but there is more of sublimity than of terror in its nature; and its influence is salutary, for it produces the fear of offending. He contemplates the infinite Majesty of God, with a pleasing

awe, which may enable him equally to despise the smiles or frowns of a prince, who would seduce him from his allegiance to the universal sovereign. He contemplates the boundless Wisdom of God, with a cheerful conviction that he is under its guidance, conducting him through every dangerous intricacy, and protecting him from the fatal consequences of his own follies. Nor can he meditate upon the infinite Benignity of God, without possessing the confidence of hope, or the exhilarations of joy. He now considers the severest evils of life, which are resented by the Inconsiderate and Profane, as acts of injustice and cruelty, in the light of parental chastisement, inspiring a calm and dignified patience and resignation of mind; and leaving no other anxiety than, that his sufferings may produce the peaceable fruits of righteousness. When he meditates upon the contrast between a created and uncreated Being, extreme imbecility and almighty power, moral depravity and moral perfection, the eternal God and a creature of yesterday, whose breath tomorrow will fail him, he is astonished at the condescension, which assumes the paternal character; and which permits so distanta being to address the universal Sovereign as our father who is in heaven. Thus is he clothed with the deepest humility,

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