he not said, that, "As a man soweth, so shall he also reap he that soweth to the flesh"-that pampers his child, teaches him to admire what God hates, and slight what God recommends-must take all the sad consequences of their eternal ruin upon his own head?

"In the morning," therefore, "sow thy seed; and in the evening, withhold not thy hand." The husbandman does not despair, but sows the seed, and waits for the season: that is, he waits for God's time. Seed-time and harvest are periodical in nature: but the seed which the parent sows has no such periodical seasons. It comes up when God pleases. And I must also tell you, as a public witness for God and his truth, that you should never despair. No distressed woman ever hoped more against hope, than the mother of your Preacher: but she prayed; and while she prayed, she waited patiently, and put her trust in an Omnipotent Arm. Like the Syro-Phenician woman, she cried, Lord help me! She not only prayed, and waited; but she instructed his mind, and then waited God's season: and she lived long enough to hear that her child "preached that Gospel which he once despised;" and she said, "Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!"

My dear friends, it was on this principle, that Noah framed his ark: "warned of God, and moved with fear, he prepared an ark to the saving of his house:" his faith saved his family from the flood. God bears testimony, also, (Gen. xviii. 19,) to the faith of Abraham: "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him:" and "them that honour me," God says, "I will honour." It is said, (Exod. ix. 20, 21,) "He that feared the word of the

Lord among the servants of Pharaoh, made his servants and his cattle flee unto the houses;" and they were saved from the storm: "and he that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his servants and his cattle in the field;" that is, they let all things take their course: and that is the general way of the world.

I beseech you to take up the holy reasoning, then, of the holy men of whom I have been speaking— the holy resolution, in the midst of an ungodly world, of saving your own souls, and those of your children. Say with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Think of the case of Eli, who, though a good man, forgot good rules, neglected his sons, and suffered them to run at random: God brought a heavy judgment on the house of Eli, and told him that as he had honoured his sons more than him, he would bring reproach upon his house. I beseech you, therefore, to look on your children, in this way of true affection; and not to be anxious about their advancement in this world. But be you anxious concerning that which our Lord pointed out: "Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall never be taken away from her."

My dear hearers, I conclude with this observation : what is interesting truth with respect to children, is interesting truth to us all. Their bodies need food, and raiment, and care; but may not instruction to their souls be compared to food, and raiment, and medicine for their bodies? Their souls must have the Bread of Life, the Water of Life, and the Medicines of the Gospel-or perish forever! They need these to strengthen them; to enable them to arise, and travel through this wilderness world, in their way to a better.

I pray God, therefore, that whatever I have been saying to the children, both parents and children may so take hold of, as to take hold of knowledge, and to keep it fast, and to take care of it as that which contains eternal life and every blessing. May the Holy Spirit apply these truths to all our hearts! Amen.

SERMON XI.

ADVANTAGES OF THE HOUSE OF MOURNING.

ECCLESIASTES, vii. 2.

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting.

NOTHING Seems more contradictory to the general sentiments of mankind, than this declaration of the wise man. I shall, therefore,

1. State the sense of the words.

2. Illustrate the fact.

I. With respect to the SENSE, it seems sufficiently obvious.

:

"It is better," as one expresses it, "to go to a funeral than to a festival." A man may lawfully do both he may glorify God, as Christ did, in going to both Christ went to the marriage festival at Cana; and he went to the grave in Bethany, and groaned and wept there.

The house of mourning is to be considered, however, as a very distinct thing from any sort of monkish austerity. Men are not taught of God to be ingenious in tormenting themselves; nor to be volunteers in humility, as the Apostle expresses it. The

wise man here speaks of any dispensation of affliction, which God has set before us in his providence : "There is a time to weep," and to meet an afflictive dispensation; and, instead of wishing to avoid such dispensation by sinful methods, the wise man tells us in the text, that "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting."

Those persons, therefore, of whom Isaiah speaks, in his fifty-sixth chapter, who say, "Come ye, I will fetch wine; and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant"-these men have wholly mistaken the matter it would be better, far better, to go to a scene of trial and affliction, than to let themselves loose, like brute beasts, to the gratification of their passions.

II. Let us endeavour to ILLUSTRATE THE TEXT.

I shall do this, by showing you that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting in these four respects: as

1. It gives better lessons:

2. Supplies better company :

3. Yields better comforts: and

4. Promises a better end.

I. There are BETTER LESSONS afforded in the house of mourning, than in the house of feasting.

The wise man says, at the 12th verse of this chapter, that "Wisdom is a defence"-"It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." There is not a better lesson. It points to the end of man. If any thing will set him on thinking, it is, that this is what all must expect: every man must arrive at it. This house seals, there

fore, on man's heart a most important fact, if he possesses any feeling.

There is not a person present, perhaps, who has not, in his youth, adopted the contrary sentiment. We all know, who have ourselves been desirous of going to the house of feasting, that the very tendency and design of it is to make us forget every thing that we ought to remember and inculcate upon the mind. The house of mourning is wholly the reverse in its tendency: if the man is sober at all, he is sober there: he must be far gone indeed, if he does not think then!

Thoughtless man builds a house, and consecrates it expressly to madness, folly, trifling, intemperance, and profaneness. But God mercifully provides another house, to bring him back to recollection, by showing him the end of man: and thus, as the wise man says in the 3d verse, "Sorrow is better than laughter: for, by the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better."

It is a great thing, brethren, to induce men to think. at all. Men talk of thinking; but very few think seriously you rarely meet a man that has a recollected mind, who thinks to any purpose, and asks, "What shall I do in the end thereof?" You can have made no observation on life, if you have not remarked this. It is the grand plan, of what I may call the ordinances of our great enemy,-the house of festivity, to destroy all recollection: but the house of mourning seems, among other objects, to be designed of God to bring men to thoughtfulness.

There are, therefore, better lessons to be learned in the house of mourning, than in the house of mirth. 2. It is better company.