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men call the march of intellect,' levelling the distinctions of men, and doing away with the need of antiquated restraints. They will find the difference some day, and taste the bitterness and poison of the liquor which they have been so long brewing. I do not speak at present of the want of natural affection on the part of masters, and especially of manufacturing employers, which hath brought them to look upon men as mere tools for making gain, and helped to bring on the reaction of which I complain. That evil will find its place elsewhere under its own head. It is to the ingratitude of the lower to the higher which we are now attending. I leave masters of trades to speak with respect to apprentices, where I have not the same means of information, as in other instances; whether they carry themselves as thankfully as in times past, and whether they be as trust-worthy as heretofore. If I may judge by the complaints which I have heard from those whom I can rely upon, of what has occurred within their own experience and circle of knowledge, I should fear that things are not much better, but that the same spirit hath wrought like a canker here also.

Now the preaching of the truth is the most efficacious means, in God's hand, for the salvation of men, and families, and kingdoms. And according to the faithfulness and completeness of that testimony, will be the fruitfulness of an obedient and blessed people. So that the

chief remedy which I have to recommend, is the enlargement of our office, into its ancient liberty of dealing freely and fully with all the duties of life, as an offering of our faith, the true and willing offering of our faith, unto Christ our Lord and King. When I shall hear the doctrine of atonement turned to continual use, instead of being presented as a continual lullaby to conscience, and indulgence to infirmity;—when I shall hear the sermon carry with it somewhat of the full information of right principle and duty which our fathers expected in it; instead of being a mere excitement to the nerves, or entertainment to the taste, or indulgence to the lethargy of well-disposed and well-meaning people,-then I shall look for a revival of the feelings of obligation, and a strengthening of the bonds of social life. But while they deal in evanescent frames and feelings, instead of resting upon the substantial work of Jesus, and the fruits of the Spirit, as the grounds of their consolation and assurance in the faith; while they address themselves entirely, or almost entirely, to the personal or selfish question of one's own salvation, instead of shewing forth God's glory, Christ's kingdom, and the Spirit's temple of the elect church, they will only produce a selfish character in those whom they convert, and turn them away from those relationships, in the right occupation of which so much of religious duty consisteth. It is the absorption of the Gospel of the kingdom

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into one or two doctrines, and the application of this continually to the individual, which is permitting these evils to grow in the church.

But, while I give the example of a generous devotion to the whole church, I must not forget my own flock; and, therefore, to the children here present I address myself, as their pastor, to teach them, that through their parents they are to expect the grace of God to come unto them. As for the faith of their parents they were admitted into the church, so while they are yet in their nonage, and not admitted to the Lord's table, it is through their parents that they are to expect instruction, admonition, reproof, rebuke, correction, and whatever else is necessary to the saving health of the soul. And no one overlooking or despising this nearest ordinance of God, may hope to profit from the more remote one of the ministry of the word, or of the word itself. I pray you therefore, young men, to look upon your parents not only with the strong affections of nature, but with the sanctified affections of religion, and to make very much of their persons and their instructions, and through them to expect the blessings of the baptismal covenant to be conveyed. And of this I am sure, that if a parent have faith, through him it will be conveyed; for God doth not make his ordinance void. And it is not for a child to judge his parent, but to reverence the authority of God's ordinance of sponsorship, and the church's authority which

appointed him to that office. Furthermore, I entreat children, whether in nonage or fullgrown, and admitted to the Lord's table, to be in subjection, and to learn from the example of Christ, who, though a Son, learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

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SERMON V.

UNTHANKFUL.

2 TIM. iii. 1, 2.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be ..... unthankful (not eucharistical).

THE word in the original for "unthankful,” which is the next characteristic of the last and perilous times, and the kindred words thankful, and thanksgiving, and thank, are in the Scriptures of the New Testament applied to God, being a word in the superlative degree, immediately derived from a root which is rendered "grace." And when the word "thank" is applied to men, as in the parable, Luke xvii. 9, "Doth he thank that servant?" it is not the same word, but altogether another form of expression; literally, "Hath he grace or favour to that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not." The word grace, here used in the simple degree, when applied to our fellow-men is always used in the superlative degree, when applied to God;

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