hung? Was it the disposition of some happy accident?-O no! These holy ties were bound by One who rides securely through the storm, that has rent and shattered them. The sails that bore you smoothly along over the sea of life, may now be the sport of the winds, or may be buried in the waves: but can you abandon yourselves to despair, when you look on the serene countenance of Him who reposes near you, and who will soon arise and infuse into your hearts the calm of his benevolent Spirit? Thus it is, when death deprives us of those whom we love, that we are called upon by Religion to rely, with affectionate confidence, upon the great Being who bestowed on us at first these our choicest blessings, and who, when he thinks fit to remove them, is still the same God" whose mercy endur"eth for ever." Whatever object of our affections he recals from us, he himself

is never removed, and we then, perhaps, learn best to cling to Him, when all our mortal hopes are perishing around us!

III. There are, in the third place, public afflictions; and there are occasions when we tremble amidst the storms of our country, and of the world. Here, too, the call of Religion meets us, and when, in the perplexity of our souls, we "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" we hear the words of reproof, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that

say,

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ye have no faith?" The fortunes of nations, we are instructed, do not ultimately depend on the short-sighted designs of human policy. They who seem most active in guiding the ship, and who fancy that they only can save it from the storm, have perhaps the least real influence on its direction—and the great Governor of the world, whom they may imagine to

be slumbering amidst their exertions, may silently be preparing the calm in which his people shall repose. When, then, the world is laid waste by the waves of ambition, or when internal factions are impeding the progress of the ship in which we are embarked, while we perform with zeal the duties allotted to us as Citizens and as Christians,-let us trust the event to Him who can rebuke the winds and the sea, who "can still the noise "of its waves, and the tumult of the "people."

IV. There is, in the fourth place, one general calamity to which all men are subjected, and which occasions, at some time or other, fears in every breast. We are well aware that the voyage in which we are engaged must come to a close, but we are greatly ignorant of the period of its termination, and cannot but look forward,

with anxiety, to the destiny which then awaits us. We, indeed, contrive, for the most part, to occupy our thoughts with the passing circumstances and adventures of our course; and, while the sea is smooth, and the sun is gilding it with its rays, and we pass near delightful shores, to which the gales of hope are ever wafting us, we can frequently drown, in a pleasing oblivion, all thought of that dark and unknown region. But when a storm begins to arise, then we tremble, and look with anxious alarm on the impending danger. We then see the gulf opening to receive us, and cry, in the agony of our souls," Master, carest thou not that "we perish ?" It is then, my brethren, that the voice of Religion speaks to us in the language of mingled reproof and asHere again it says, “Why are

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ye so fearful? How is it that ye have "no faith?" It shews us One who conde

scended to accompany our voyage through the sea of mortality,-who, along with us, seemed to be sinking in the ship,― but who, in the awful hour when the waves were covering us, and when even he, for a time, slept the slumber of the dead, rose, as on this day, triumphant and serene amidst the wreck of nature, and rebuked the winds and the seas, and breathed around him the calm of immortal hope! This calm may now for ever be our portion, if we will remain his faithful disciples. The true shore to which our voyage tends will brighten as we approach to it. The Sun of Righteousness will shine over us, and the shadow of death itself will not be able to quench his rays!

V. But, have we wandered far from that course of our lasting peace? Has the storm surprised us amidst our wan