it is part of scripture, in the same manner, remarkable with what singular tenderness the season of youth is always mentioned, and what hopes are afforded to the devotion of the young. It was at that age that God appeared unto Moses when he fed his flock in the desert, and called him to the command of his own people.—It was at that age he visited the infant Samuel, while he ministered in the temple of the Lord, "in days when the word of the Lord "was precious, and when there was no open "vision."-It was at that age that his spirit fell upon David, while he was yet the youngest of his father's sons, and when among the mountains of Bethlehem he fed his father's sheep.-It was at that age, also, "that they brought young children "unto Christ that he should touch "them: And his disciples rebuked those "that brought them: But when Jesus saw "it, he was much displeased, and said "to them, Suffer the little children to E "come unto me, and forbid them not, for “of such is the kingdom of Heaven." If these, then, are the effects and promises of youthful piety, rejoice, O young man! in thy youth,-rejoice in those days which are never to return, when religion comes to thee in all its charms, and when the God of Nature reveals himself to thy soul, like the mild radiance of the morning sun, when he rises amid the blessings of a grateful world. If already devotion hath taught thee her secret pleasures;-if, when Nature meets thee in all its magnificence or beauty, thy heart humbleth itself in adoration before the hand which made it, and rejoiceth in the contemplation of the wisdom by which it is maintained ;--if, when revelation unveils her mercies, and the Son of God comes forth to give peace and hope to fallen man, thine eye follows with astonishment the glories of his path, and pours at last over his cross those pious tears which it is a delight to shed; if thy soul accompanieth him in his triumph over the grave, and entereth on the wings of faith into that Heaven "where he sat "down at the right hand of the Majesty 66 on High," and seeth the "society of an gels and of the spirits of just men made "perfect," and listeneth to the "ever"lasting song which is sung before the "throne:"-If such be the meditations in which thy youthful hours are passed, renounce not, for all that life can offer thee in exchange, these solitary joys. The world which is before thee,the world which thine imagination paints in such brightness, has no pleasures to bestow which can compare with these. And all that its boasted wisdom can produce, has nothing so acceptable in the sight of Heaven, as this pure offering of thy infant soul. -- In these days the Lord himself is thy 66 shepherd, and thou dost not want. A"mid the green pastures, and by the still "waters" of youth, he now makes "thy "soul to repose." But the years draw nigh, when life shall call thee to its trials; the evil days are on the wing, when "thou "shalt say thou hast no pleasure in them;" and, as thy steps advance," the valley of "the shadow of death opens," through which thou must pass at last. It is then thou shalt know what it is to "remember "thy Creator in the days of thy youth." In these days of trial or of 66 awe, "his spirit shall be with you," and thou shalt fear no ill; and, amid every evil which surrounds you, "he shall restore thy "soul. His goodness and mercy shall "follow thee all the days of thy life;" and when at last "the silver cord is loosed, 66 thy spirit shall return to the God who gave it, and thou shalt dwell in the "house of the Lord for ever." SERMON IV. ON THE GENERAL FAST, 1801.* PROVERBS Xix. 21. "There are many devices in man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." THE calamities of the social world have assembled us in the House of God, to humble ourselves before his eternal throne; to call our past ways to remembrance; and to implore his protection in the year * Preached after the peace of Luneville had terminated the war on the Continent, and when the French armies were assembling professedly for the invasion of England. |