"but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh."

Nor can it be denied, that society has, on the whole, considerably advanced of late, in religious matters. But has not this advance been made against the wishes and the judgment of such characters as I have described? Has not their disposition been to throw suspicion on every plan, and to put down each effort as it arose, to stem the torrent of corruption, to spread abroad the knowledge of salvation, and to promote the glory of God?

But, even with all its improvement, is society in such a state, that we have only to sit down and let the system work for itself, and to say, in the language of the old proverb, "let well alone?" If you wish to try, go through this city, a few hours hence, "and seek in the broad places thereof," and behold the torrent of pollution which will pour down all its streets. Or, if you would take higher ground, put the gentry of the land to this plain test;-ask them whether they have made up their minds, and are ready openly to avow, that they would, under no circumstances, fight a duel? If they have not so resolved, ask them why? And what answer can * This Sermon was preached in Dublin.

be given, but that, when the law of heaven and the law of opinion are at issue, the latter must be obeyed?—that in the last appeal, which sets all compromise at defiance, they will stand to their allegiance to the world, and reject the authority of God: thus worshipping the creature more than the Creator?

And is a mind, which, in such a state of things, places all its guards, and throws out all its signals of alarm, on the side of change and innovation, right with God? Is this, as some one would call it, a spirit of moderation, of benevolence, and of submission to God's providence? No. Such men deceive themselves. The true secret of the matter is, that they have no sensibility to sin, no awful impressions of eternity; that they are at rest here below, and, like Demas, "love this present world."

Yes it is because the world is present, while the glories of a higher system are invisible; it is because the world encompasses us on every side, and plays, at every moment, on our senses, that it entangles and destroys such multitudes of souls. In theory it might be argued, that no present temptations, when weighed against eternal interests, could influence or determine a rational and immortal being. But theory and fact are different things. The melancholy truth is, that in man's

fallen state, all the hopes and fears of eternity, all that God, in his own word, can say, about an endless heaven or an endless hell, can no more expel the spirit and power of this present world from his heart, than the summer's breeze can tear the everlasting hills from their foundations. The motives are, in themselves, awakening and alarming; sufficient, one might almost suppose, to raise the dead. But they cannot act upon the natural mind. We must come under the influence of a higher principle than nature, or we cannot be suitably affected by eternal interests. Reason may approve things excellent;" common sense must allow the superior importance of eternal to temporal concerns; but reason and common sense cannot change man's nature. In spite of their convictions, he will continue just the same as ever. This present world will be his portion and his God.

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Would you, then, desire to be rescued from the system of enchantment and ruin which surround you? Pray to God for this great deliverance. Pray that he will create and make in you a new and contrite heart. Pray to him, like Bartimæus, that your eyes may be opened, and that you may see the things that belong unto your peace. Pray to him for faith, in the atonement made for sin, in the promises of the Gospel,

in the truth and reality of the spiritual and eternal world. And may those prayers be heard! May they obtain for you that faith which alone can overcome the world! May you then run, with patience, the race that is set before you, laying up your treasures in heaven, and looking for recompense at the resurrection of the just!

your

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SERMON VI.

GALATIANS, vi. 10.

"AS WE HAVE, THEREFORE, OPPORTUNITY, LET US DO GOOD UNTO ALL MEN."

WHEN a preacher endeavours to set faithfully before his hearers, that religion has higher demands upon them than, perhaps, the most of them have been in the habit of allowing that it is not a pliable and convenient system, which will lie by, while matters of more consequence are in the way; but that it is no less than the light from heaven, a message from the Lord of life, backed with all the weight which eternity can throw into the scale, and all the authority which God can give it; when it is his object, not to amuse his congregation, with some ingenious or well-turned periods, about vices which they may shun, and virtues which they may practice, while their hearts are far from God: but when he speaks to them, as a dying man to dying men; when he, with unsparing hand, would draw aside the curtain, and let in the daylight of eternity upon the darkness of this world, its wisdom, its pursuits, its