permitted to expect, but they are expressly promised to you, upon condition that you first renounce them, and that not in the same measure in which you have renounced, but a hundredfold, even in the present life. Yea, so sure are you made of this, that our Lord dischargeth you from even thinking of them at all, "seeing your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things." But it is the desiring them out of God; the labouring for them, not in the Lord; the receiving them in the spirit of selfishness, not in the Holy Spirit. This is the covetousness which the Apostle pronounceth to be idolatry-" and covetousness, which is idolatry;" that is, the idolatry or worship of the creature, the love of it, the desire of it, and the entertainment of it, as if it were our chief good, our God which we worshipped. And, ah! my beloved friends, how oft it is so, be ye my witnesses, who have many a time in godly sincerity confessed and lamented to me, that the worldly thoughts and transactions of the day would interpose between your soul and God in your family and private devotions, and oft, even on the Sabbath, in this house of worship, you could with difficulty drive them away from harassing your thoughts and interrupting your devotions. What counsel can I give you against this sin of covetousness, so complete, so graphical, and so appropriate as that which our Lord offered, upon the request of the man who besought him to ask his brother to divide his inheritance with him. To whom the Lord, having signified his unwillingness to interfere in such matters, spake these words against covetousness, which I pray you to read

along with me-Luke xii. 15–22: "And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich. towards God. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." Which word having spoken in reproof of the covetous world, or professing Church, he addeth for the instruction of his disciples, or true believers, those words to which I have already alluded: showing them how, with minds intent upon far higher things, even the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness, they should leave all those lesser and necessary things, with full faith that they would not be withheld by that Father of theirs who, in giving them his only begotten Son, would, with him, freely give them all things.

And now to show how this characteristic applies to the world called religious, few words are necessary:

you have only to be present and hear what is the first subject of conversation in all their meetings, and the great theme of their delight: is it not the state of their funds? What the great end of their speeches? the increase of donations and subscriptions. What the great labour of their travellers, and what the proof of their success? the amount of their ingatherings. What the qualification for honourable office? the amount of your contributions. What the great fear and apprehension lest the funds should fall off. What, in short, the bulwark of their strength, and the anchor of their hope, and the assurance of their faith? If these things do not betray a covetous spirit in this religious world, I know not where it is to be met with elsewhere. I could never find in my heart to accuse the other world of covetousness, if I must acquit this world. But, dear brethren, I am not here to be afraid to speak the truth of either, nor desire at all to screen either. For, as hath been said, they are to me alike integrant parts of the Church of Christ, to whom I am bound to fulfil my office of preaching. And I must say, that the art of raising money hath been carried to a refinement in the religious world which I have never seen any thing equal to elsewhere. They say, for the end of doing good with it: so would the merchants say. They say, for the spreading of the gospel: I have shown that it is never contemplated by our Lord in his instructions, as at all a means of spreading the gospel. But if it be as a means to a most excellent end they seek it, why hear we little or nothing comparatively of the glorious end-nothing

about the other means, but all, or almost all, about this one paltry means? But, as I have said, it is not my purpose to argue, or justify my argument, but simply to show out the fact for your preservation against the perilous times. And no one who hath an eye to observe, or an ear to hear, but will justify me in saying, that in comparison with any former age of the Protestant Church, the covetousness of the religious societies of the religious world passeth all bounds, and is only to be found paralleled by the zeal of the begging friars, seeking alms to enrich their overgrown and luxurious convents. Against which error I warn you to be upon your guard most strenuously; and to set the mammon of unrighteousness very low; in its proper place, to make the proper use of it; but surely to esteem any gift of the Spirit, such as prayer, or instruction, or admonition, or reproof, as a far more valuable contribution; and above all, to shut your ears against their over-estimate of the power of money; and when you give it, to give it as the trash of this world, which is not worth the speaking about. But as I do not wish to acknowledge the distinction of religious world, let the exhortations which I gave you upon the subject of loving ourselves, and of covetousness, in the former part of the discourse, stand for these evangelical forms of the evil also. And now, having done this office, lest the religious world should plead not guilty, I proceed to follow out the other evil characteristics with which the Spirit chargeth the last perilous times, and to show their real existence in the midst of ourselves.

BOASTERS.

This is another fruit of self-love, to boast in our gifts and possessions, and to acknowledge them as due only to ourselves, and derived from no foreign source, "My hand hath gotten me this. Who is lord over me?" And its existence is evidenced amongst us, at this present time, by our casting off the acknowledgment of God's hand in the administration of providence. Compare the histories of a former century with the histories of this;-compare the thanksgivings and fastings, and other acts of pious acknowledgment of God in public affairs, with the total disregard and discontinuance of such ordinances, and the imputation of every thing prosperous to the wisdom of our councillors, to the bravery of our soldiers and sailors, and other selfish causes;-compare the spirit and the letter of all legal and commercial documents made in former times, with those which are drawn up now, and observe the spirit of irreverence which we feel for these venerable forms of our fathers;-finally, compare the deep humility and loud lamentations of our fathers over the evil character of their times, with the self-sufficient commendation and garrulous boasting of the enlightened character of these above all former times; and you will at once discover how boastfulness, as well as covetousness, hath grown upon us of this generation beyond all former example or precedent in a Christian land.

Now, touching this characteristic of the Church in these times, which is boasting, we have very much to say in every application of it. First, as it beareth