thus conferred on us. If we are born by nature into a world where we shall certainly be assailed by corruption and impurity, the rite of Baptism implies, that we are likewise born into a greater world of purity and holiness, and that the shedding abroad of the Spirit of God will finally remove every stain from our souls, even as the body is cleansed by the washing of water.

The rite is rendered still more interesting by the period of life at which it is performed. It is pleasing to think that we have scarcely entered upon existence, when we are met by the Gospel of our Lord, that now, also, as of old, he takes the little children in his arms and blesses them, and that the Spirit of the Most High "descends as a dove" upon the bosom of infant innocence. They who would defer this rite to an after age, rob it of much of its interest and beauty';

and it is not, I believe, going too far to say, that those aspects of Christianity, which are the most affecting to our hearts, will, in general, be found likewise to be the truest and the best.

The privileges of baptism are not, however, bestowed without promises on our parts. The Spirit of God will not dwell with those who do not endeavour to become temples meet for his presence; and when he deigns to descend to purify the human heart, man is required to promise that he will exert himself to be holy and pure. These promises are made for us at baptism by our sureties, and it is the part of those to whose care the infant mind is entrusted, to see that those promises are fulfilled, in as far as depends on them, by every wise means of Christian instruction, and by cultivating all the best principles of virtue and true holiness.

There is, however, a very interesting period of life, when the young may be come fully aware of their own moral and religious obligations; and when they are called upon to profess before the Church of Christ, their own determination to become his faithful servants. On this solemn occasion, the privileges of their baptism are confirmed to them by "the lay

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ing on of the hands" of God's ministers ; a rite derived from the earliest ages of Christianity; and significant of that fatherly hand, under whose care they profess to live, and by whose guidance they are now willing to be led.

We have lately returned, my brethren, from witnessing this holy and affecting rite; and we are now assembled with several of the young of our congregation, to whom it was administered, in grateful meditation on the prospects which were then opened to them; and in the pleasing hope that they will "lead the rest of

"their lives according to this beginning." It was not, I trust, without thought and consideration, that they advanced to this sacred service; and that the resolutions which they then formed, will appear in their conduct by all the best fruits of virtue and piety. It is fitting, however, that they should not immediately lose sight of the religious duty in which they have been engaged, or of the impressions which it was designed to leave upon their hearts; and it may not, perhaps, be an useless attempt, if I endeavour, with all the simplicity in my power, to lay before them some views of faith and of conduct, which may not be inapplicable to their present reflections, and to the character of their years.

In the first place, then, the young are now called upon to cultivate the dispositions of piety, with a more fixed and steady application of mind than they may hitherto have bestowed upon them.

There are various prejudices of the world which find their way even into the youngest minds, in consequence of which this part of duty is apt to seem distasteful to them, and perhaps gloomy. The minds of the young, we know, are alive to every present impression of gaiety and vivacity; the pleasures which are scattered around them, or the incitements of a romantic imagination, fill all their thoughts, and seem alone adapted to their years; and when they are called to more serious contemplations, they appear, perhaps, to be carried out of the natural sphere of their existence. It would be cruel, no less than unwise, to throw any chill upon the spring and the ardour of youth, to entangle the easy flow of its thoughts in the net of inexplicable mystery, or to darken its hopes and its pro spects by images of supernatural terror. Youth is happy by nature, and true Re