as cited by the very learned and pious Alban Butter.* "O divine Jesus, on thee depends my happiness, my life, and my death: Whatever I do, shall be done under thy patronage, and in thy name. If I watch, Jesus shall be before my eyes. If I sleep, I will close my eyes breathing his pure love. If I walk, it shall be in the sweet company of Jesus. If I sit, Jesus shall be at my side. If I study, Jesus shall be my master. If I write, Jesus shall conduct my pen. It shall be my highest pleasure to write his holy name. If I pray, Jesus shall form and animate my prayers. If I am fatigued, Jesus shall be my rest. If I am sick, Jesus shall be my physician, and my comforter. If I die, it is in the bosom of Jesus, who is my life, that I hope to die. (And when I am buried), Jesus shall be my tomb, and his name and cross my epitaph." To this pious and exquisitely beautiful extract may I be permitted to add my most fervent prayer, that this same Jesus, who, as we read in the gospel according to St John, said to Martha the sister of Lazarus, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live; and every one that believeth in me shall not die for ever," (JOHN, c. xi. v. 25, 26.) inspire us all with that lively faith which, conformably to his promise, will be the means of enabling us to rise hereafter to a blissful immortality.

* Moveable feasts, second sunday after Epiphany.

SERMON II.

FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY.

THE PROMPTITUDE, COURAGE, AND PERSEVERANCE OF THE WISE MEN IN THEIR JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM, RECOMMENDED TO THE IMITATION OF SINNERS IN THE WORK OF THEIR CONVERSION.

GOSPEL. Matthew, c. ii. v. 1-12. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold there came wise Men from the east to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him. And Herod hearing this was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling all the chief Priests and the Scribes of the people, he enquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him, in Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the Prophet. "And thou Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda! for out of thee shall come forth the ruler that shall rule my people Israel." Then Herod privately calling the wise Men, enquired of them diligently the time of the star's appearing to them; and sending them into Bethlehem, said: Go, and search diligently after the Child: and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him And when they had heard the King, they went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the Child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him: and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country.

THE interesting narrative of this day's Gospel presents us with a clear and delightful exposition of the mercy of the Most High, "enlightening those who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of

death, and directing their feet into the way of peace." It exhibits to us that great and merciful Being employing, with infinite condescension and goodness, the preternatural interposition of an extraordinary star for the accomplishment of his eternal and beneficent designs in behalf of his chosen servants; alluring them, by its influence, from the dark regions of idolatry and superstition, manifesting to them, by its auspicious light, the course to be pursued in the important journey it had prompted them to undertake, and conducting them at length, through numerous hardships and fatigues, to the humble mansion, in which, and in a state of the most complete debasement, lay secretly deposited the infant limbs of the word made flesh, the expectation of nations, and Saviour of mankind. But as the conduct of these chosen servants of the Almighty, these wise men from the east, as they are denominated in the Gospel, contains a rich fund of useful and edifying instruction, I have now to request the favor of your attention, whilst I endeavour, without further preface, to draw from it such reflections as it obviously suggests.

The first circumstance which naturally offers itself to our observation on surveying the conduct of the wise men, is their admirable promptitude to obey the summons of that Heavenly Messenger, who, under the semblance of a friendly propitious star, appeared as it were to beckon to them from above, and to solicit them to go forth in quest of the newborn King. They allowed not any consideration

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whatsoever to induce them to defer their journey to a later period, but immediately, without hesitation, they placed themselves under the direction of their Celestial Guide. "We have seen," said they, "his star in the east, and are come to adore him." Sinners, you have here before you an admirable example, an example highly worthy of your imitation. The promptitude of the wise men in committing themselves to the guidance of that benign star, is an excellent model of that with which it becomes you to avail yourselves of the interior light which the Eternal, in his mercy, has so frequently diffused over your souls, for the purpose of stimulating you to abandon the ways of iniquity, and to enter, without delay, into the path of righteousness which leads to the regions of never-ending bliss. You have often, no doubt, been enabled, by the aid of this divine light, to discover, on the one hand, the enormity of your disorders, with all their attendant degradation, and consequent misery. The intrinsic beauty of holiness, on the other hand, the honor which accompanies it, and the happiness which it infallibly leads in its train, have, at the same time, been manifested to your view. But what advantage have you derived from this twofold exposition? Have you, like the wise men in the Gospel, been roused by it to a generous resolution of quitting instantaneously the regions of death, and going forth in pursuit of life and immortality? Or have Or have you suffered the suggestions of inordinate self-love to lull you into a state of inactivity and supineness? Instead

of that glowing ardor and invigorating zeal which should urge you to an immediate reformation of your conduct, are you not ingenious, on the contrary, in the fabrication of pretexts to deter you from engaging in so momentous an undertaking? Do you not make of every slight and trifling inconvenience a plea for deferring this most important concern to some future period? Good God! my friends, is it possible! Is it possible that you should be so insensible to the dignity of your immortal souls as to behold the enslaved state to which they are reduced by the guilt of sin, and not eagerly embrace the first opportunity of rescuing them from their ignominious and degrading thraldom? Is it possible that you should be so zealous in the vindication of your civil liberty, that you should kindle into a flame at the slightest invasion of that truly valuable blessing, (for I wish not by any means to depreciate its worth) and at the same time be so indifferent to the most oppressive and disgraceful servitude to which you are subjected by the tyranny of your passions? Is it possible, that conscious, as you must be, of labouring under the high displeasure of him who is the supreme distributor of eternal rewards and punishments, you should be so regardless of his invitation to reconciliation and favor? Is it possible, that standing on the verge of a gulph of inexpressible and endless woe, into which ten thousand casualties may plunge you any moment, you should thoughtlessly reject the friendly hand stretched forth to snatch you from so perilous a situation?

What an