whole being on the edge of ruin, and going over; to pull down, if possible, a hundred others.

The wreck of such mea leaves them with a drunkard's appetite, and a fiend's desperation. The revulsion from extravagant hopes, to a certainty of midnight darkness; the sensations of poverty, to him who was in fancy just stepping upon a princely estate; the humiliation of gleaning for cents, where he has been profuse of dollars; the chagrin of seeing old competitors now above him, grinning down upon his poverty a malignant triumph; the pity of pitiful men, and the neglect of such as should have been his friends,-and who were, while the sunshine lay upon his path,—all these things, like so many strong winds, sweep across the soul so that it cannot rest in the cheerless tranquillity of honesty, but casts up mire and dirt. How stately the balloon rises and sails over continents, as over petty landscapes! The slightest slit in its frail covering, sends it tumbling down, swaying wildly, whirling and pitching hither and thither, until it plunges into some dark glen, out of the path of honest men, and too shattered to tempt even a robber. So have we seen a thousand men pitched down; so now, in a thousand places may their wrecks be seen. But still other balloons are framing, and the air is full of victim-venturers.

If our young men are introduced to life with distaste for safe ways, because the sure profits are slow; if the opinion becomes prevalent that all business is great, only as it tends to the uncertain, the extravagant, and the romantic; then we may stay our hand at once, nor waste labor in absurd expostulations of honesty. I had as lief preach humanity to a battle of eagles, as to urge honesty and integrity upon those who have determined to be rich, and to gain it by gambling stakes, and madmen's ven

tures.

All the bankruptcies of commerce are harmless compared with a bankruptcy of public morals, Should the Atlantic ocean break over our shores, and roll sheer across to the Pacific, sweeping every vestige of cultivation, and burying our wealth, it would be a mercy, compared to that ocean-deluge of dishonesty and crime, which, sweeping over the whole land, has spared our wealth and taken our virtue. What are cornfields and vineyards, what are stores and manufactures, and what are gold and silver, and all the precious commodities of the earth, among beasts?-and what are men, bereft of conscience and honor, but beasts?)

We will forget those things which are behind, and hope a more cheerful future. We turn to you, YOUNG MEN!—All good men, all patriots, turn to

watch your advance upon the stage, and to implore you to be worthy of yourselves, and of your revered ancestry. Oh! ye favored of Heaven! with a free land, a noble inheritance of wise laws, and a prodigality of wealth in prospect,-advance to your possessions!-May you settle down, as did Israel of old, a people of God in a promised and protected land;-true to yourselves, true to your country, and true to your God.

LECTURE III.

-- The generation of the upright shall be blessed, wealth and riches shall be in his house. Ps. cxii. 2, 3.

He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at the end shall be a fool. Jer. xvii. 11.

WHEN justly obtained, and rationally used, riches are called a gift of God, an evidence of his favor, and a great reward. When gathered unjustly, and corruptly used, wealth is pronounced a canker, a rust, a fire, a curse. There is no contradiction, then, when the Bible persuades to industry, and integrity, by a promise of riches; and then dissuades from wealth, as a terrible thing, destroying soul and body. Blessings are vindictive to abusers, and kind to rightful users; they serve us, or rule us. Fire warms our dwelling, or consumes it. Steam serves man, and also destroys him. Iron, in the plough, the sickle, the house, the ship, is indispensable. The dirk, the assassin's knife, the cruel sword and the spear, are iron also.

The constitution of man, and of society, alike

evinces the design of God. Both are made to be happier by the possession of riches;-their full development and perfection are dependent, to a large extent, upon wealth. Without it, there can be neither books nor implements; neither commerce nor arts, neither towns nor cities. It is a folly to denounce that, a love of which God has placed in man by a constitutional faculty; that, with which he has associated high grades of happiness; that, which has motives touching every faculty of the mind. Wealth is an ARTIST: by its patronage men are encouraged to paint, to carve, to design, to build and adorn ;—A MASTER-MECHANIC: and inspires man to invent, to discover, to apply, to forge and to fashion:-A HUSBANDMAN: and under its influence men rear the flock, till the earth, plant the vineyard, the field, the orchard, and the garden :-A MANUFActurER and teaches men to card, to spin, to weave, to color and dress all useful fabrics :-A MERCHANT: and sends forth ships, and fills ware-houses with their returning cargoes gathered from every zone. It is the scholar's PATRON; sustains his leisure, rewards his labor, builds the college, and gathers the library.

Is a man weak ?—he can buy the strong. Is he ignorant? the learned will serve his wealth. Is he rude of speech ?-he may procure the advocacy