them, therefore, I have now to address myself in the following terms :-Penitent and devout souls, be not disheartened by the repetition of your past transgressions. The God whom you have offended is not a vindictive Being who is implacable in his resentment. Oh! no. He is a God of mercy.

"His tender mercies are over all his works." (PSALM CXliv. v. 9.) If, on the guilty heads of unrepenting sinners he discharges, in his fury, the weight of his indignation, it is because his justice will not permit him to pardon. But to those who

like you, have

sincerely repent-to those, who, bitterly lamented the errors of their former conduct-oh! my dearly beloved friends, to such he delights in the display of his darling attribute. Be not therefore discouraged. Let not the consideration of your repeated failings weigh you down in dejection to the earth. Your cries have reached the throne of the Eternal; they have pierced his ears; they have touched, with compassion, the bowels of his mercy. What, though like the prodigal son, you may have wandered far away from the mansion of your Heavenly Father; with parental tenderness he has met your returning steps, and received you again to his fond embrace. What, though like Magdalene, you may have gone astray from the path of virtue; yet, to you also many sins have been forgiven, because you have loved much. Contemplate that great multitude of holy penitents who now surround the throne of the lamb. They, too, had once defiled their robes of innocence with the

If,

stains of guilt. But the tears of sincere repentance, mingled with the blood of that spotless lamb, restored them once more to their former purity. in their failings you may have had the misfortune to imitate their example, you have also had the happiness to imitate them in their repentance. As they did, do you also show forth in your conduct worthy fruits of penance, and you will be made hereafter associates with them in everlasting bliss.

SERMON XX.

ON PRESUMPTION ON GOD'S MERCY.

Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin: And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looketh upon sinners. ECCLESIASTICUS, c. v. v. 5—7.

THERE is no attribute of the Divine nature which it is so delightful to man to contemplate, as that of infinite mercy. For, whilst the other attributes of the Divinity appear to our imaginations, by the awe which they inspire, to widen the separation between the Creator and the creature, and to place them at an immeasurable distance from each other, the conciliating character of condescending mercy promotes, by its interposition, their mutual approximation, and, through the mediatorial influence of the incarnate Son of God, unites them together in holy fellowship. "For our fellowship," says St. John, "is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 JOHN, c. i. v. 3.) How refreshing is it to the human mind-how consoling and pleasant, after having contemplated the Lord of heaven and earth arrayed in all the mightiness of his power, the splendor of his glory, and the terrors of his

justice-to behold him depictured under the soothing image of a shepherd leaving his flock to go in pursuit of a solitary sheep that had strayed from the fold, or of a father going forth to meet his prodigal son, and clasping him on his return with parental tenderness in his fond embrace! Well, indeed, my friends, may views like these of our Father who is in heaven inspire us with sentiments of filial confidence. Such, however, is the corruption of the human heart, that they are frequently perverted into encouragements to vice. Deluded by their false notions of God's boundless mercy, and deriving from the consideration of the weakness of human nature an apology for guilt, presumptuous sinners are apt to persuade themselves that because God is merciful and man is weak, they may sin with impunity. It shall be therefore my endeavour, this day, to counteract so deplorable and dangerous a delusion, by making it clearly to appear that the twofold plea of the mercy of God and of the weakness of man, for that purpose, is fallacious and unavailing.

God is merciful. Far be it from me, my friends, to call in question so incontrovertible a truth. Little indeed would it become a minister of the Gospel to contradict so positive a declaration of the Sacred Oracles; and unfaithful, truly, would he be to his trust, should he attempt to rob repenting sinners of the sole resource remaining to them in the mercy of the Most High. In reality, my friends, whether we direct our thoughts to the works of

nature, or to the economy of grace whether we contemplate the wonders displayed so admirably in the order of the universe, or the awful and mysterious prodigies of religion-we shall every where have occasion to observe the prominent features of mercy; and, with the royal Psalmist, we shall be disposed to proclaim the mercies of the Almighty to be over all his works. If we admire his glory in the splendor and harmony of the heavenly bodies which adorn the firmament, we look up with thankfulness to the merciful hand which has made them so beneficial to the human race. If we are transported with astonishment by the contemplation of his boundless wisdom and power exhibited so marvellously in the productions of the earth, our hearts should glow with gratitude when we discover in their utility the beneficent attention of providential mercy to the various wants and conveniences of man. If, from the consideration of the wonderful works of nature, we pass to that of the Christian religion, we shall discover it to be peculiarly a dispensation of mercy. Sinner, wheresoever thou art, who, with all thy sins about thee provoking God's avenging justice, art still permitted to breathe this vital air, thou art thyself a striking monument of mercy; for had that great Being whom thou hast offended by thy transgressions, acted towards thee according to thy deserts, the dungeon of the reprobate-not the station which thou holdest upon the earthwere the dismal place of thy present abode. Thus far, then, my friends, we all agree. That God is