hope, that you shall see them again, not shining, as on earth, with feeble and reflected light; but when, in a more emphatical meaning of the text, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days; when the ransomed of the Lord shall come to the holy mountain with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; when they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

4th S. in Advent,

SERMON IV.

OLD AGE.

PSALMS XCII. 14.

THEY

SHALL STILL BRING FORTH FRUIT IN OLD AGE.

If we expand the metaphor of the text into a simile, we may say, that the Psalmist compares human life to a fruit tree, which exhibits different appearances, as it is variously affected by the progressive seasons of the year. As the tree in spring produces blossoms, which become fruit in summer, and ripe fruit in autumn: so man, in his childhood, which resembles spring, brings forth the beautiful flowers of promise; in his youth, which resembles summer, the fruits of wisdom and virtue are beginning to be formed, and every day gradually increase in size; in his manhood, which resembles autumn, his intellectual and moral character is ripe, and he now gathers the reward of his labors. When we arrive at winter, the comparison no longer runs parallel; for the tree brings forth neither blossoms nor fruit in December; while in old age, which, as it is the last and coldest period of life, in some points resembles it, fruit may still be produced; the fruit of happiness, and the fruit of duty. We are now in the midst of the shortest days of the year: no subject therefore appears to be more proper

for the season than old age, the winter of life. It is my intention, first, to show that long life, which must of necessity terminate in old age, is a blessing; and secondly, to mention several duties, which become the aged.

I. Long life is a blessing. The blessings which we most ardently desire are long life, riches, and health. Without health all other enjoyments would be of little value. Riches are desired for the sake of enabling us to procure every other pleasure; for he who has wealth, it is supposed, can purchase with it whatever is necessary to his happiness. But even health and riches would not be much prized, if they were to be of short continuance. It is therefore our fervent prayer, May I be blessed with a long life! However disposed we may sometimes be to inveigh against the world, we are willing to remain in it; and however prone to consider life as full of evil, we quit it with regret. Though we are too ready on every occasion peevishly to quarrel with it, yet we still cherish it, like an old friend whom we fondly love. That these are the sentiments of nature, your own feelings, my brethren, will confirm and in this light is long life represented in the ancient scriptures. When the happiness of a favorite of heaven is described in the Old Testament, this particular blessing is enumerated among the others which he possessed. Thus does Moses speak of the founder of the Jewish nation, a man who was distinguished for the felicity of his life: Abraham, says he, died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years. This reward also was one of the most eminent, by which God incited his people to obey his commands: Honor thy father and mother, that thy days may be long in the land. The like reward was

annexed to many other precepts; for the Mosaic religion, as has been often observed, was founded principally, if not altogether, on temporal promises. In the Old Testament, it is true, there are many complaints of the vanity and misery of the world: but still it seems to be a conceded point, that life is a favor, and consequently that a long life is to be wished for and thankfully received. You, my brethren, who have reached the period of old age, ought therefore to acknowledge the goodness of God: and you, who enjoy the happiness of having a beloved friend continued with you for many years, ought to be grateful to Heaven.

The natural age of man is said by the best writers on the human frame to be about ninety years; that is, a man of a robust constitution, whose life was passed in temperance, and without disease, would, if no dangerous accident intervened, attain this period, and then die of old age. In this country we see many instances of persons, who reach the term and even beyond it; which demonstrates that the observation is founded on experience. But human life is subject to so many maladies, that the Psalmist has thought proper to fix the period of it to seventy, or at furthest to eighty years. We generally consider a person as having been favored with long life who dies at the age of seventy, though it is evidently far short of the natural age of man.

In asserting that long life is a blessing, it must, as I have suggested, be taken for granted, that life in general has a balance of enjoyments in its favor. But of this fact there cannot be much doubt. There are, it is true, in the world many positive evils, which, as they are the constant topics of declamation, I need not enumerate. Beside which it must be allowed, that amidst the most

flourishing external prosperity, the heart of man is never fully satisfied. What he possesses never answers his expectations; and there is always something wanting which he cannot obtain. No person of experience therefore will assert, that man is or can be completely happy in this world and they who are disposed to turn their attention too much on themselves, and who refine with a morbid kind of sensibility on the nature of human felicity, will be apt to believe that misery greatly preponderates. But excepting them, who preposterously lay every nerve bare to the touch of pain, the human race have not much to complain of. God has so benevolently constructed both the natural and moral world, that there are innumerable sources of happiness. Our senses are the inlets of pleasure; and our minds, a vast magazine of enjoyment. Now I say that these enjoyments are not confined to youth, but that old age is admitted to its share. The senses may be in some degree blunted by age; but their sensibility is not destroyed. The taste, smell, and touch are still gratified with the objects adapted to them; melodious sounds still charm the ear; and brilliant, beautiful, picturesque, and sublime objects still delight the eye. Intellectual pleasures of the more refined species are perhaps increased, as we advance in years. For it is the nature of man, when his powers are rightly improved, to begin with matter, and to end with spirit. Knowledge, where industry is continued, and the faculties are not impaired, though many things are forgotten which were learned in youth, must be gradually enlarged till the close of life. The same thing is true of virtue; for like all other habits, it must become more and more confirmed by repeated acts. Children are innocent; but they cannot properly speaking be