to prize, the very deliverance from abject spiritual servitude which they boast of, the very learning which they undertake to wield so learnedly against the Bible, they owe to that very religion which they hate and abuse. Their conduct is like that of the fabled serpent who bit his benefactor; kindly he took the animal into his bosom, in a frozen and torpid state, to warm and resuscitate it; but no sooner was its lost animation restored, than it thrust its venomous fangs into the very bosom which gave it life.

I have already spoken so fully of the Bible, that it is unnecessary to say more here of its divinity and its claims. But as in the progress of society and of new things, you will sometimes hear men of erratic minds undertaking to enlighten the world, treat the Bible as an old almanac which was of service once, but may now be laid aside for something better and more modern, allow me to say that it is constantly becoming more and more apparent to all sound and thorough intellects, that the Bible, though the oldest book in the world, and though not given expressly to teach us natural knowledge, is yet in advance of all the sciences, arts, literature, governments and improvements of the world. You cannot advance any science which the Bible has not, in its moral aspects, anticipated; you cannot enter into any improvements of politics, law, civil institutions, domestic relations,

where the Bible has not gone before you to prepare the way. At various periods have men risen up against it, and advanced imposing theories subversive of its divine authority, or of its doctrines; but they and their theories have perished together. Many a great perverted intellect has risen up, like a flaming comet in its lawless course threatening wide disaster, which has soon shot away and disappeared forever; while this divine luminary has been steadily ascending higher and higher towards its throne and zenith in the heavens. And as

surely as the past may predict the future, the time must come when all science, philosophy, politics, every device for elevating and improving the human race will give to it their supreme homage.

But it is by some penurious minds supposed that the expense of sustaining the Christian ministry may be dispensed with, if we have the Bible in our hands, especially with commentaries and other helps to its meaning. Why then incur the useless expense of sustaining public worship? It is granted that the Bible read only, may accomplish much, but to exhibit its full power, it must also be preached; and to this work must men be consecrated. The principle of division of labor demands it, for the human mind is so constituted, that it cannot spread itself and act powerfully over a large surface; it must concentrate its efforts upon an individual object, and here is one of sufficient magnitude to en

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gage all its energies. The law of human sympathy also demands it, for in order that truths may sway the heart most effectually, they must warm in the affections, kindle in the eye, shine in the countenance, and speak in the lips of a living being of like passions with us. And finally, the administration of divine ordinances demands it; for the sacred observance of these is essential to the order, stability and perpetuity of religious institutions.

As a good citizen, therefore, you must do your part well towards sustaining religious worship. It is important that you grow up from your youth with the sentiment, that it is as much your duty to support the preached gospel, as to provide bread for your children.

When the indissoluble connection between the prevalence of pure religion and all the intellectual, social, and civil interests of men shall be more fully apprehended, every intelligent and virtuous citizen will more strongly realize his duty, even as relates simply to the present life, to do his part faithfully towards sustaining the preached gospel, both at home and abroad.

Whatever tends to exalt mind and character; whatever imparts to the immortal spirit dominion over the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye and the pride of life; whatever tends to diffuse through society the charms of elevated and benevolent sentiment; whatever tends to break from the mind the fetters of bigoted ignorance, and infuse into it

the life of genuine liberality; whatever lifts up the sweet smile of virtuous blessedness in the domestic circles; whatever encourages and rewards industry in all classes; whatever sustains the institutions of science and of equitable civil government; in short, whatever is concerned in the promotion of that godliness which is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come, every wise and benevolent citizen will love and promote.

The learned professions all look for their supplies to young men. Think of the immense moral power wielded over society by these professions. Is it of small importance, whether those who are to illustrate and advocate our laws and adjudicate our civil rights, those who are to be the professors in our public seminaries and teachers of our youth, those who are to have in trust the health and the lives of their fellow-beings, in the season when the presence and consolations of religion are so essentially needed, shall be men fearing God and honestly seeking to "do good to all men" as they have opportunity?" Were it no calamity to have them "haters of God" and lovers of their own selves," cold and dead to all sentiments of piety, reckless of their moral accountability, and scattering pestilence and destruction around them? And the ministry; is it of no consequence whether the

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pulpit shall be filled with enlightened and pious preachers? whether that throne of power shall be for the support of the divine law and the salvation of men, or whether it shall be desecrated by time-serving irreligion, or catholic bigotry, or learned infidelity, or whatever loves itself more than Christ and his cause?

A priesthood of some kind there will always be ; shall ours be one to enlighten, to elevate, to save? How interesting in this view is the fact, that so many of the finest intellects in our colleges and other seminaries are becoming devoted to religion. It is the brightest star in our horizon. It sheds hope on our darkest fears; it reminds us that while iniquity is great and very rife in the land, divine goodness is raising up a host to meet it from the strong ones of the nation. May it not be your duty, reader, to join yourself to this host, and become one of the number to preach the gospel?

The benevolent institutions and movements of the age, depend for their success very much upon young men. They do not of course look to them for their largest pecuniary aid, but for device, courage, energy, labor, to originate means and urge them on. "A propensity rather to indulge the illusions of hope," says the History of Enthusiasm, "than to calculate probabilities, may seem almost