the triumphs of divine grace, and be made the glory of religion, an object of joy to heaven, of admiration to the world, and a spectacle grateful to the sight of men, of angels, and of God. Then the canticles of the celestial spirits, who surround the throne of mercies, will solemnize the happy day; the saints on earth will bless the riches of the divine goodness; the wicked will be struck with beholding your recovered dignity, in consequence of your reformation, and be moved to their conversion.

Fall not into despondence, however you may have been defiled. The blood of Jesus which flows on this altar of propitiation :-that blood, which cleansed the heart of Magdalen, and which would purify hell, if it should descend into it, will wash out your criminal stains; will create in you a clean heart;—a heart qualified for being received into the eternal mansions of purity, charity, light and glory.

SERMON XIX.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.

THE MOTIVES TO CONVERSION.

We are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free.-Gal. iv. 31.

THE principal end of all the pious exercises, self-denials, and penitential austerities and labours of this time, is the recovery of that happy liberty, which Christ purchased for us with his blood, but which, alas! we so often lose again by our manifold offences. Yes, my beloved friends; the Lord, whose mercies to men seem to become more abundant, in proportion as their crimes are augmented, redoubles now his earnestness and solicitude to bring them to repentance and sanctification, to life, to liberty, and to a glorious immortality.

Formerly, when the children of Israel had departed from the paths of duty, and prostituted themselves to the service of iniquity, he raised up among them prophets, who foretold

the calamities, which would follow the continuance of their crimes, and who by holding up before them the terrifying images of devastation, captivity, destruction and desolation, endeavoured to stop the current of public licentiousness and depravity. Then Jerusalem covered herself with sackcloth and ashes: the highpriest of the Lord came forth from the sanctuary, his eyes streaming with tears, and his countenance furrowed with grief, and announced in doleful accents the time of solemn expiation for sin. Then the aged reanimated their feeble voice to implore the mercies of the God of their fathers: the bride neglected the orna ments of her youth and of the days of her gaiety: the virgins in deep affliction made the public places resound with lamentations: and the Lord, moved by their tears and repentance, let fall from his hand the vindictive lightning which he was about to dart on the unfaithful city.

The same is the object of our ministry, in these days of salvation. The Lord sends us, as formerly he sent the prophets, but not to foretel future temporal calamities; he hath not enabled us to penetrate into the darkness of futurity; but to call your attention to the scourges of his wrath and the dire effects of his vengeance on other neighbouring nations, the

measure of whose iniquities hath not perhaps been greater than that of our own. He sends us now, not in his indignation to declare that he is about to rain down fire and brimstone on a guilty land; but he sends us in his tender commiseration to warn you to prevent by repentance the effects of his severity, and earnestly desirous to open to you the bosom of his mercies..

Now, therefore, the graces of heaven are offered to us, and the blood of Jesus pleads for us. Now the motives, which should lead us to repentance, are more forcible, and the means of working out our salvation more abundant than ever. I will lay these motives before you, my brethren. They tend to secure your highest interests; they are connected with all that is dear to you: and as such demand on your part a particular attention, and in me special light from above, to lay them distinctly before you. Raise up your hearts then I beseech you, to the throne of grace, that, while my feeble words reach your ears, the sword of repentance may pierce your hearts, and the axe may be laid to the very root of every vicious and inordinate affection.

Various are the motives, which now combine together to recommend and to facilitate the reformation of your lives. In the first place, your

passions are now more easily surmounted than heretofore; therefore, now is the time when you ought assiduously to begin to war against them. You have long promised yourselves you would enter on this warfare; and in all probability the multitude of crimes, into which your passions have betrayed you, renders it indispensably necessary to you. Look back on the hours, which have moved along from the dawn of your reason to this moment, and by the iniquities that have defiled them, and to which you are now perhaps closely attached, judge what is your situation before God, and the sorrowful condition of your immortal soul. Will not the desolating sight make your passions shrink back in horror, and determine you to enter on newness of life? To what pursuits have your days and years been devoted? Since the time when you came out of the hands of God, what use have you made of your reason, of your body, of your heart, and of all your endowments. and faculties, which were designed in you to glorify the eternal Being, by whom they were bestowed. How have you employed your youth, your health, your talents, your fortune, your credit, your authority, which should all have been made subservient to your everlasting salvation? What advantages have you derived from your afflictions, your misfortunes, your infirmities,