Since the delivery of this Discourse, several other circumstances, relative to the painful subject, have been communicated; which induced the Author to introduce them, with a few additional reflections, to render the whole more acceptable to the reader.

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JOB XXIV, 22.

NO MAN IS SURE OF LIFE.

THE sentiment of my text, all men profess to believe. But, by our natural love of life, a strong attachment to the various objects which surround us, combined with the evil and deluding propensities of our nature, we practically deny it; and live as though we should never see death. Yet, what is the language of our bills of mortality, which are weekly presented to our eye; and what is the voice of so many sudden deaths which utter harsh sounds to our ears; but, to convince us, of the uncertainty of life, and the necessity of preparing for the shades of mortality? For many years, no accident, of this kind, has occurred, and for the moment created a more painful sensation in the public mind, than thatwhich happened on board the Steam Boat ÆTNA; by which several of our fellow citizens were scalded to death. You know, that nine of those distressed persons were brought to this hospital; and that six of that number have since closed their eyes in death. We cannot but sincerely wish that those impressions already produced upon our citizens, may not pass away without leaving strong lines of moral and religious reformation. Some of you, who are this morning assembled for Divine worship, were witnesses to the agonizing scene of those most distressed sufferers; and, as your attending Minister, I deem it a duty incumbent on me to assist you in learning a few important lessons from this scene of misery, which I hope may never be forgotten.

Let me offer you a few considerations upon the sentiment of my text, by which you may more seriously perceive the uncertainty of human life.—I will recite some of those circumstances which attended the late calamity, which may remind you, that we are alike exposed to danger and to death.-And, to convince you of the importance of your being ready for your last change. I will read to you some of those expressive sentiments, which have been faithfully recorded, as pronounced by the lips of those dying patients.

The text naturally suggests to us, that LIFE, is the gift of God to man. He is therefore announced to be, the God of the spirits of all flesh. When the first man Adam was formed of the dust of the ground, God breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul. As God is the giver, so he is the preserver of life, for in him we live, and move, and have our being.—THIS gift of life you esteem an invaluable blessing. It is so in itself, and the multiplied objects around us, the pleasures they afford, and the social connexions we form, enhance its value. In proportion to our love of life, so is our fear of death; and on every attack of disease, we seek the physician's aid, or like yourselves, apply for medical relief in an hospital. So true is it, skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life. You cannot be insensible, that valuable as is your life, it becomes a just forfeiture by your transgressions against God; for by sin came death. When our first parent in Eden, transgressed the law of his Creator, his body instantly became mortal; subject to diseases, pains, sorrows, miseries, and death at last. And we cannot but know, that the evils of the soul, produce the miseries of the body, which, eventually, will bring us to the land of darkness and of death. That no man is sure of life, is evident to all; for God who gives life to man, according to the wise determination of his sovereign will, conceals the time when his earthly existence shall expire. Isaac, in his advanced age, said, behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death. Gen.

27, 2. And this procedure of God in his providence, is wisely ordered for the benefit of mortals, preserving the spring of action, yet keeping us dependant upon his own hand, and making us watchful for the period of death.

REMEMBER, the life of man on earth, is inseparably connected with life eternal beyond the vale of death; else, good men would not desire its felicities in heaven, nor bad men dread its miseries in hell. The Judge of all the earth hath declared, these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Mat. 25, 46. Of the connection between this life, and a future state of existence beyond the grave, there is an universal impression upon the minds of mortals, with the exception of a few solitary infidels, who, with all their boasted dignity of human nature, affect to indulge the vain hope, that, when natural life expires, man is annihilated, turns to the dust, and is no more! Yet among this few, in their end, they reluctantly part with life, and shrink at the prospect of death: thus they unintentionally strengthen the certainty of a future state, and teach us, contrary to their design, this important lesson, that godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.-DESIRABLE and valuable as is the life of man, it is in itself the most uncertain. True is the text, no man is sure of life; no, not for a moment, or the twinkling of an eye. What, says St. James, is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Such indeed is the brevity of life, that the sacred writers describe it by an hand's breadth, a spun, a flower, a shadow, the flying of a weaver's shuttle; all intended to impress the mind of man with the uncertainty of his life, and the vast importance of the Saviour's admonition, be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.-So many are the ways and means by which man is frequently deprived of life, that I cannot but name a few of them, purposely to place us on our guard, and as illustrative of the truth of our text.