of Solomon, and these words may be regarded as his dying advice to the young. The philosophers of antiquity, who held out the lamp of wisdom to the heathen world, gave the same advice to their followers. But between them and Solomon, there is this remarkable difference. They, from the obscure retirement of the schools, declaimed against pleasures which they had never tasted, and affected to despise honors to which they never had it in their power to ascend. But Solomon, a great and powerful prince, in the pleasurable time of life, had in his own person tried the experiment. He made the tour of the sensual world. He went in quest of happiness through all the scenes of life. He extended his search over the broad and flowery way, as well as in the narrow path, as it should seem by a particular permission of Providence, to save the pains of future inquirers. Solomon acted the libertine upon a principle of inquiry. The result of his researches was, that all unlawful pursuits began with vanity, and ended in vexation of spirit, and that the true happiness of man, consisted in that understanding which teacheth us to depart from evil, and in that wisdom which instructeth us to fear the Lord.

that our earliest passions are on the side of virtue, and that the good seed springs before the tares. Malice and envy are yet strangers to your bosom. Covetousness, that root of evil, hath not yet sprung up in your heart; the selfish, the wrathful, and the licentious passions, have not yet obtained dominion over you. The modesty of nature, the great guardian of virtue, is not seduced from its post. You would blush, even in secret, to do a deed of dishonesty and shame. High sentiments of honor and of probity expand the soul. The color comes in our cheek at the smallest apprehension of blame; the ready lightning kindles in the eye at the least appearance of treachery and falsehood. Hence, says our Lord to his followers, Unless you become as a child; unless you assume the candor, the innocence and purity of children, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Therefore, whilst you are yet an offering fit for Heaven, present yourselves at his altar, devote yourselves to his service. How beautiful and becoming does it appear for young persons, newly arrived in this city of God, to remember the end for which they were sent into it, and to devote to their Maker's service the first and the best of their days? When they are in the prime of youth and of health, when the mind is untainted with

impression, to consecrate to religion the vernal flower of life? The virgin innocence of the mind is a sacrifice more acceptable to the Almighty, than if we should come before him with the cattle upon a thousand hills, and with ten thousand rivers of oil. If there be joy in heaven over a great and aged sinner that repenteth, how pleasing a spectacle will it be to God, to angels, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, to behold a person, in

Although both Scripture and experience testify that man is fallen, and that our nature is corrupted, yet it is equally certain

gloriously, and, despising the allurements, the deceitful and transitory pleasures of sin, choose for himself that better part which shall never be taken away!

Dare then, O young man, to remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth; have the courage to be good betimes. Beware of falling into the usual snare of the inexperienced; beware of thinking that you have time enough to be religious, and

You are now happy in your earthly companions. Friendship, which in the world is a feeble sentiment, with you is a strong passion. But shift the scene for a few years, and behold the man of thy right-hand become unto thee as an alien. Behold the friend of thy youth, who was one with thine own soul, striving to supplant thee, and laying snares for thy ruin! I mention not these things, my friends, to make you miserable before the time. God forbid that I should anticipate the evil day, unless I could arm you against it. Now remember your Creator, consecrate to him the early period of your days, and the light of his countenance will shine upon you through life. Amid all the changes of this fluctuating scene, you have a Friend that never fails. Then let the tempest beat, and the floods descend, you are safe and happy under the shelter of the Rock of ages.

Thirdly, The season of youth devoted to piety, will yield you a comfortable old

age.

When the fire and spirit of youth are decayed; when sober age retires from the noise and bustle of a busy world, and loves to spend in peace the tranquil Sabbath of life, what joy will it afford to be able to look back with pleasure on the actions of other years! Worn out and weary of his pilgrimage, the traveller now entertains himself by recalling the times that are past, and recollecting the scenes of his early days. In particular, he now loves to recall the period of childhood and of youth, when he wandered up and down, a stranger to care and sorrow, and passed his days in innocence. Often does the fond idea recur; often the pleasant period return. It will add much, my friends, it will add much to the pleasures of the reflection, if you have it in your power to recall to mind that your early days were not only innocent, but useful, and devoted to the service of your Creator. To look back on a life, no season of which was spent in vain; to number up the days, the months, and the years, spent in the service of God, will be inward rapture, only to be felt. This will cause the evening of

I shall conclude with one consideration, which I hope will have weight, and that is, if you seek God now in the days of youth, you are certain of success. Go out in the morning of youth, and you are sure to gather the manna of everlasting life. God himself will bend from his throne, and teach your spirits to approach unto him. They who seek him early shall find him, and shall be guarded from evil on his holy mountain.

SERMON IV.

ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF TIME.

COLOSS. IV. 5.-"Redeeming the time."

AMONG those who have their time most at their own disposal, there prevails a maxim very different from that which is recommended in the text. The maxim of the world is, to spend time in idleness and folly, or, to speak in their own language, "to kill time" by dissipation and amusement. Life, which appears so short upon the whole, is nevertheless so long in particular parts, that vast numbers of men are overstocked with its days and hours; their time hangs heavy on their hands; they know not how to employ it, or what to make of themselves. As they have no fund of entertainment within, and for that reason, no happiness at home, they naturally look out for it abroad. Hence every pastime is greedily sought after, that can banish thought, and save them from their own company. Hence places of public entertainment are frequented, parties of pleasure are formed, plans of dissipation are concerted, and amusement, frivolous amusement, becomes the serious occupation of life. Only look around you into the world! Observe what policy and contrivance are continually put in practice by men, for pre-engaging every day in the week for one idleness or another; for doing nothing, or worse than nothing, and that with so much ingenuity and forecast, as scarce to leave an hour upon their hands to reproach them.

Such, my brethren, is the life of what is called the world, a repetition of the same childish conceptions, a perpetual round of the same trifling amusements. If you had been sent on earth to play the fool; if your pilgrimage through life were merely a jaunt of pleasure; it would be cruel and injurious to awaken you from the delusion. But as you profess to be Christians, and believe this life to be a state of moral discipline and probation for the next, it will be proper and seasonable to warn you of the folly of such a course, and to point out a nobler and a happier path, where at once you may see the world, and may adorn it; where at once you may improve your time, and enjoy life.

In order to this, I shall, in the first place, give you some directions for redeeming or improving the time; and, in the second place, set before you the obligations to the practice of this duty.

We begin with directions for redeeming the time. In the first place, treasure up in your memory a store of useful knowledge, as a proper foundation of employment to the mind.

It has been the complaint of discontented men in all ages, that life is a scene of dulness, not worth a wise man's care, where the same things come over and over like a tale that is told, which, however entertaining it may appear when it is new, yet, by frequent repetition, at last becomes tedious and insipid. The consequence of which has been, that many, viewing the picture in this disagreeable light, have been inclined to throw off all serious concern about their duty, to give themselves up to habits of indolence and languor, and to make no other use of their time, but to study how to trifle it away. True it is, indeed, that the days of many have thus been spent in vain; that their life has been a barren circle, within which they have been enchanted, going round and round, ever in motion, but never making any advances. But although many have made life a dull round of insignificant actions, yet no man had ever occasion to make it so. It is indeed so to the brutes, who soon arrive at that pitch of perfec. tion which is allotted to their natures, where they must stop short without a possibility of going farther. Sense, which is

their highest power, moves in a narrow sphere; its objects are few in number, and gross in kind, and therefore not only come more quickly round, but also grow more insipid at every revolution.

But man is endowed with nobler faculties, and is presented with nobler objects whereon to exercise and employ them. The contemplation of all divine truth to engage his understanding; the beauties of the natural and moral world to attract and captivate his affections; the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God, manifested in the works of Creation, of Providence, and of Redemption, to exalt his admiration, and call forth all his praise. What employment can be more worthy of a rational being, or better adapted to the faculties of an immortal spirit, than thus to search out the order, the beauty, and the benevolence of nature, to trace the Everlasting in his works, and to mark the impression of his creating hand, yet recent on a beautiful world? Or if we turn our eyes towards the moral system, to observe a higher order of things, and a greater exertion of Divinity, in adjusting the plan of Providence, in bringing light from darkness, and good from evil, in causing the most unconnected and contrary events to co-operate to one great end, and making all to issue in the general good. Here is a noble path for a rational creature to travel in. Whilst day unto day thus teaches wisdom, night unto night will increase pleasure. The man who is thus trained up to the admiration of the works of God, and who has tasted the spirit of these sublime enjoyments, will not complain of the insignificance and languor of life. These studies will afford an occupation at all hours. They will make your own thoughts an entertainment to you, and open a fountain of happiness at home. They will diffuse somewhat of heaven over the mind; they will introduce you beforehand into the society of angels and blessed spirits above, and already prepare you to bear a part in that beautiful hymn of heaven, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are all thy ways, thou King of Saints."

Secondly, Have some end in view; some object to employ the mind, and call forth its latent powers.

In devising, or in executing a plan; in engaging in the whirl of active life, the soul seems to unfold its being, and to enjoy itself. Man is not like the soil on which he lives, which spends its powers in exercise, and requires repose, in order to recruit its wasted strength, and prepare it for new exertions. Activity is an essential attribute of mind. Its faculties exist only when they are exercised; it gains a new accession of strength from every new exertion, and the greater acquisitions it makes, it is enabled to make still greater. It is not a brook formed by the shower; it is a living fountain, which is for ever flowing, and yet for ever full. This will account for an observation that we have often occasion to make in life, that none have so little leisure as those who are entirely idle; that none complain so much of the want of time as those who have nothing to do. The fact is, they want that energy of soul which is requisite to every exertion, and that habit of activity which applies to every thing. Indolence unmans the faculties; impairs and debilitates the whole intellectual system. Those who, under its influence, become a kind of perpetual sleepers, degrade themselves from the honors of their nature, and are dead while they live. A habit of activity is a most valuable acquisition. He who is possessed of it, is fit for all events, and may be happy in every situation. This habit is only to be acquired by pursuing some great object that may agitate the mind. Think not that your labor may be spent in vain. Nothing is in vain that rouses the soul: nothing in vain that keeps the ethereal fire alive and glowing. The prospect of something coming forward; the pleasure and the pride which the mind takes in its own action, beget insensibly that habit of industry which will abide through life.

Thirdly, Set apart fixed and stated hours for the important duties of life.

like the path of a cloud in the air, whick leaves no trace behind it. It was the custom of the great Alfred, one of the English kings, to divide the day into three parts, which he measured by the burning of tapers. One part he employed in the cares of the government; another part he dedicated to the cultivation of the liberal arts; the third he devoted to religion. It would be happy for you, my brethren, if, in this respect, you would imitate such an illustrious example. Let, at least, one part of your time be devoted to the service of God. When the morning ascends from the east, let it be your first care to offer up your earliest thoughts as incense to Heaven; to add your praises to the hymns and hosannas of the angels in light, and spirits of just men made perfect. When the shades of the night fall around you, let it be your constant care to implore the pardoning mercy of God for the errors of the past day, and to commit yourselves to the protection. of His Providence who slumbers not nor sleeps. In particular, let this day, which is sacred to the memory of a Saviour's resurrection from the dead; which is a memorial of the full accomplishment of our redemption; let this day be set apart for holy contemplation on the wonders of redeeming love, on the height and depth and breadth and length of the love of Jesus to our race, which passeth all understanding; which prompted him to forego the glories of his divine nature for a time, to take upon him the robe of humanity, to lead a life of sorrows upon earth, and to suffer a cruel and ignominious, and an accurse death. Let us contemplate this amiable and divine love, till we are changed into the same image, and feel within ourselves an earnest and anticipation of that everlasting Sabbath of joy which is reserved for the righteous in the world to come, when time shall be no more.

In the fourth place, Endeavor to distinguish your days by some good deed.