morrow thou, too, mayest be levelled with the clods of the valley!

In the midst, my brethren, of these gathering evils, while the earth is thus terribly shaken, and men are flying in despair almost into the holes, and into the caves of the rocks, and the tide of desolation is every day rolling nearer ourselves— we have been deeply afflicted with internal wounds! "For behold," continues the Prophet, "the Lord, the Lord of Hosts "doth take away from Jerusalem, and "from Judah, the staff and the stay, the mighty man, and the man of war, the

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Judge and the Prophet, and the prudent "and the ancient, and the honourable man,

and the counsellor, and the eloquent "orator!"-Scarce had we dropt the tear of national gratitude over the great Leader of our Naval war, when another lofty spirit departed from us : that" Pillar of State," upon whom we had so long securely leant

in the hour of peril : that firm and unbending soul which was formed to sustain "the

weight of mightiest monarchies," and which, while advancing with unabated vigour to encounter its greatest struggle, sunk beneath a shattered and exhausted frame! We then turned our eyes to a generous rival, who alone seemed to fill, in our imaginations, the melancholy blank, and to his "comprehensive head," and "uncorrupted heart," we now entrusted our last hope of "all Europe "saved, yet Britain not betrayed." That stay has likewise failed us: and now our ablest counsellors, and most "elo

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quent orators," all their animosities at an end, sleep in kindred graves, insensible to the sound of their country's dan

* Who would not praise Patritio's high desert,
His hand unstain'd, his uncorrupted heart,
His coniprehensive head! All interests weigh'd,
All Europe sav'd, yet Britain not betray'd!

POPE

ger, nor ever again to be roused from that dread repose, till they are summoned

by

"the tongue of Angels" to enter upon an higher and an eternal career!-Valour, virtue, wisdom, thank Heaven! remain ; "but how are the mighty fallen, and the

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beauty of Israel slain in her high

places:" and when we contemplate the unseasonable loss of by far our greatest men, shall we not again repeat with the Prophet, "Cease ye from man, whose "breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is "he to be accounted of?"

From this black abyss of danger and calamity, we naturally lift our eyes, my brethren, and inquire what are our Duties, and what our Hopes. To both inquiries, the answer of the Prophet is the same, "Cease ye from man!" And when we are required to "cease from man," to whom can we turn but unto God? It is, indeed, a blind delusion to suppose, that, amidst these disorders of nations, no pre

siding mind is secretly bringing light from darkness, that no spirit is moving over the troubled "face of the waters,' and harmonizing the chaos of the moral world. While men are driving their petty schemes, and ambition is enjoying its momentary triumph, the great unseen Ruler of the universe is making the "wrath of men to praise him," and is turning all their short-sighted views, and little policy, to the mighty end of the good of his creation. Reverence for this Supreme Power, while it is the only solid foundation of the goodness of individual men, is likewise the main-spring of the dignity and worth of nations; and I believe it may confidently be affirmed, that there never yet existed a people whom we can denominate truly great, that were not actuated in their national spirit by a deep feeling of Piety.

Even in ancient times, before the lights of Revelation arose, we shall find

the leading powers of the world, and the conspicuous seasons of their greatness, to be those in which Religion, influenced by its holy spirit, the public mind of the nation, in which the bonds of civil life were sanctified by a feeling of their connection with higher things, and men were wise, and just, and temperate, not merely from a sense of present advantage, but from a steady sentiment, that such is the appointment of Heaven. Of that illustrious people, so long the leading object of ancient history, and on whose virtue and dignity the eye of youthful ardour fixes with so keen a feeling of delight, it was justly affirmed, that if in many things they were inferior to others, in piety to the Gods they were superior to all. Of our own nation, religion has long been a striking characteristic, and notwithstanding the insidious attempts which have of late years been