they have also their duties;-that, in the present circumstances of the world, the inheritance of wealth, and the pride of ancestry, can only be supported by personal dignity,-and that the fabrick of society itself can only be maintained by the progressive improvement of every rank in knowledge and in virtue. It is the melancholy truth of history, that the corruption of every people has begun with the great; and, if ever that dread day shall come, when this constitution, so long the subject of our pride to men, and our gratitude to God, shall also perish, it will be when the higher orders are more corrupt than the lower ;—when, in the security of vanity, or in the baseness of vicious pleasure, they shall at once have undermined the respect of the vulgar, the confidence of the wise, and the hope of the virtu

'ous.

Such then, my young brethren, is that arduous but animating state on which you are about to enter. It is, in truth, no state of luxury and ease, -no privileged scene of exemption from that labour, which is at once the lot and the prerogative of man. You are called by the providence of God to the first rank in the society of men ;-you are called by the same Providence to the first duties; and the voice of nature coincides with the voice of the Gospel, in the solemn assurance, "that of those to whom much is given, much also "will be required." Do you then wish, with the

natural generosity of youth, to fulfil in after years the duties to which you are called? Now is the time for this sacred preparation. It is now, in the spring of your days, that you may acquire the knowledge, and establish the habits which are to characterize your lives; and that you may elevate the temper of your minds to the important destiny to which the Father of Nature has called you. The world, with all its honours and all its temptations, is before you;-the paths of virtue and of vice are equally open to receive you ;—and it is the decision of your present hours, which must determine your character in time, and your fate in eternity.

I pray God, that you may decide like Christians and like men;-that you may take, in early life, "that good part which will never be taken from 66 you ;"-and that neither the illusions of rank, nor the seductions of wealth, may lead you to forget what you owe to yourselves, to your country, and to your God.

SERMON X.

ON SUMMER.

JUDGES V. 31.

"Let them that love the Lord be as the sun, when he goeth forth in his might."

THERE are principles of our constitution which lead us from the observation of the material world, to the contemplation of the mind that formed it, and which, from the spectacle of beauty, conduct us to Him "who has made every thing beautiful ❝in his time.” There are uses too of no mean importance to happiness, to virtue, and to piety, which meditations of this kind are fitted to serve; and there is no way in which the young can better learn the sentiments of devotion, or the old preserve them, than in cultivating those habits of thought and of observation which convert Nature into the Temple of God, and render all its different scenes expressive of the various attributes of the Almighty Mind.

Every age, in this view, has felt the analogy which subsists between the seasons of the year, and the character and duties of men. There is, in the revolutions of time, a kind of warning voice which summons us to thought and reflection; and every season, as it arises, speaks to us of the analogous character which we ought to maintain. From the first openings of the spring, to the last desolation of winter, the days of the year are emblematick of the state and of the duties of man; and, whatever may be the period of our journey, we can scarcely look up into the Heavens, and mark the path of the sun, without feeling something either to animate us upon our course, or to reprove us for our delay.

It is now the pride and glory of the year. The "winter is over and gone," the spring has again unlocked all the annual promises of nature,-the earth around us is every where covered with plenteousness and beauty,-and the sun is pursuing like a giant his "course through the Heavens," and dispensing light and life over the world beneath him. Are there no reflections, my brethren, which such a spectacle inspires? Are there no classes or conditions of men, of whose character and duties this season is descriptive? And are there no moral lessons which they, who love the Lord, may gather from that "sun which now goeth "forth in his might ?"

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1. Is it not, in the first place, emblematick to us of the maturity of human life, and of the virtues which that season ought to display? To those of that age, the spring, with all its weakness, and all its dangers, is past;-an unseen arm hath conducted them through the dawn of their infant journey, and led them on to that mighty stage, where the honours of time and of eternity are to be won. Whatever may be the station or condition in which they are placed, there is yet to all some simple and evident duty which they are called to perform,-some course which they are summoned to run; and, what is far more, however narrow may be its bounds, or obscure its situation, there is some sphere to which their influence extends, and in which, like the summer sun, they may dif fuse joy and happiness around them. In such seasons, let nature be their instructer; and, while they bless the useful light which pours gladness among the dwellings of men, let them remember that they also were made to bless and to improve. Let them remember, that to them have now arisen the lengthened and the enlightened days of life, when every thing calls them to labour; that the breath of Heaven has ripened all their powers of mind and body into perfection; that there are eyes in Heaven and Earth, which look upon the course they are pursuing; and that the honours of time, and the hopes of immortality, alike depend upon the use which they make of the summer of their