supplied to him illustration and language he could never command in the composure of study, so that his writings consist, in most cases, of the simple thoughts; and, even in his most completely written sermons, the places which the audience who heard them would have selected as specimens of eloquence or fine writing, are to be found only in the short expression," here extemporize."

The four sermons which follow, on the existence and attributes of God, present the subject in a mode which is not common, and which excited much attention and interest, particularly those on the omnipotence and omniscience of God. To these, two sermons are added, as specimens of his practical preaching, and they are on topics on which it is far too rare to hear instructions from the pulpit.

As it was the great aim, in regard to his own Christian experience, to cause his light to shine, by rectifying every fault, exhibiting every virtue, and practising every duty, so he sought to train his people in the same course, especially during the latter years of his ministry. In examining the brief notes and skeletons used by him in preaching, there will be found instructions and admonitions on almost every practical duty.

The care of health, the control of the appetites, the regulation of expenses, the rules of honor and honesty, which should guide men of business; the obligations of Christians in their political affairs,

the peculiar duties of each domestic relation, and all the multiplied obligations resulting from our many other social relations, are drawn out with a distinctness, and earnestness, and variety, rarely to be found in pulpit services. It may here be mentioned, that, in preparing for the press, the alterations have been limited simply to arrangement, omissions, and the correction of verbal inaccuracies.

TENDENCIES OF ATHEISM.

PSALM xiv. 1.-The fool hath said in his heart, No God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

THE cause and effect of Atheism are disclosed in this passage of God's word. A depraved heart cries no God; and having banished him from its thoughts, and thrown off restraint, gives way to its desires, corrupts itself with abominable practices, and does evil, and only evil, continually.

It is true that every Atheist is not an openly immoral and vicious man. The restraints of public sentiment and salutary laws, based upon Christian principle, combined with an enlightened self-interest, may prevent him from plunging into vice and crime, when all religious restraints are cast off; but it is equally true, that the Atheist does not owe his

freedom from vice to his system of belief, but to other external and counteracting influences.

In examining Atheism as a system, we are to look at its tendencies. By these, and these alone, must we judge of its merits. Any system which tends, when universally adopted, to promote happiness, is good, and that which tends to promote misery, is evil.

By this standard God invites us to judge of his works, laws, and providential administration. By this, he will test all schemes opposed to his, and demonstrate to the intelligent universe, that his own plans are productive solely of happiness, and that misery is the inevitable result of opposing systems.

It will be my object in this discourse to examine the tendencies of Atheism as a system, irrespective of the character of those who adopt it. They may be, and in many cases are, moral and amiable men, in all their social relations, but this will not alter the tendencies of the system, when developed in a society where no religious restraints exist to prevent crime.

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There are two ways in which the tendencies of a system may be decided the one by comparing its principles with the known laws of mind, the other by an appeal to facts.

I shall first endeavor to show from the laws of mind, that Atheism is injurious to the intellectual, moral, and social nature of man,

And secondly, by facts, corroborate this position, and show that its political tendencies are destructive to the social system, annihilating every fabric of human government, and plunging society into the vortex of anarchy and confusion.

In the first place, Atheism is injurious to the intellectual nature of man.

It greatly limits the sphere of scientific investigation, at one blow annihilating the whole spiritual world, and the department of science connected with it.

The human mind, examined in regard to its facalties, their mode of action, and ultimate destiny, opens an unbounded field for thought and inquiry, comprising one of the most interesting studies in the range of intellectual pursuits.

But the mind of man, by the atheistical system, is reduced to a mere physical organization, acting according to material laws. Inquiry into the mode of disciplining its powers, and training it to the greatest perfection, is set aside by affirming it to be entirely controlled by physical causes, and therefore any attempts to regulate and govern it otherwise, would be as futile as efforts to direct the movements of the whirlwind.

But the bearing of mental philosophy upon the formation of character for eternity, imparts to this science its greatest interest.

This Atheism annihilates, by affirming that there is no future state of existence to be affected by our

conduct here. All questions respecting the ultimate progress of mind, in knowledge, power, and moral purity, are at once set aside, since, on this system, the mind perishes with the body.

That most interesting department of moral science, which contemplates mind as the subject of a moral government, under the control of wisely adapted laws, administered by a superior mind, for the promotion of its entire purity and happiness, is also annihilated.

Man is not the subject of a moral government, but is acted upon, as the brutes, by instinct, or, as the vegetable kingdom, by physical laws.

All inquiry respecting the agency of spirits, good and bad, the effect they exert upon our minds, and the results which will follow from their action throughout eternity, is also relinquished, since the existence of spirits is wholly derived from a revelation from the God whose existence is denied. The field of scientific investigation is reduced to ascertaining simply the phenomena of matter, and thus, half the universe, with all pertaining to it, is at once annihilated.

The compass of investigation in the material world, is equally contracted, as all manifestation of contrivance and design is denied, and the mind is limited solely to the discovery and classification of facts.

The Atheist, by the very statement of his principles, forbids the question why are these things so