do so, provided you seriously consider, at the same time, that the whole of th life we live in this world, is of a frail and fleeting nature, and, in some respect, nothing at all. And into whatever parts or periods we divide it, if we consider the miseries and lamentable calamities with which it is fraught, the life even of a child, may seem too long; but, if we consider the time only, we must conclude the life of the oldest man to be exceeding short and fleeting.

A great part of mankind no sooner look upon themselves to be capable of worldly affairs, and think on entering upon some profession suitable to a state of manhood, but they are cut off, in the very beginning of their course, by an unforeseen and untimely death. And, to be sure, this is the great distemper of young, and even of old men, that, by their desires and designs, they launch out a great way into futurity, and form a series of projects for many years to come: while, in the mean time, they rarely, or at least very superficially, consider, how foolish and precarious it is to depend upon to-morrow, and how soon this present form of ours may disappear; how soon we may return to our original dust; and that very day, as the royal prophet warns us, our thoughts, even the wisest and best concerted thoughts of the greatest men, and most exalted princes, perish. And this I take particular notice of, that no such illusion may get possession of your minds. For it is not the common sort of mankind only, that impose upon themselves in this respect, but the generality of those who desire to be accounted, not only men of learning, but also adepts in wisdom, and actually pass for such. Not that I would prohibit your making an early and prudent choice, under the Divine direction, of the employment and profession of life you intend to pursue; nay, I would use every argument to persuade you to make use of such a choice, and when you have made it, to prosecute the intention of it with the greatest diligence and activity. I only put you upon your guard, not to entertain many and towering hopes in this world, nor to form a long series of connected projects; because you will find them all

more vain and fleeting than illusions of the night! Some necessary means will fail, some favourable opportunity be missed; after all industry, the expected event may not happen, or the thread of your life may be cut, and thereby all your projects be rendered abortive. And though your life should be drawn out to ever so great a length, and success constantly answer your expectations, yet, you know, and I wish you would remember it, the fatal day will come at last, perhaps when it is least expected; that fatal and final day, I say, will at last come, when we must leave all our enjoyments, and all our schemes, those we are now carrying on, and those we have brought to perfection, as well as those that are only begun, and those that subsist only in hopes and ideas.

And these very arguments, which have been used to confine your minds from indulging themselves in too remote prospects, will also serve to persuade you, in another sense, to look much further; not with regard to worldly enjoyments, for such prospects, strictly speaking, cannot be called long, but to look far beyond all earthly and perishing things, to those that are heavenly and eternal. And those that will not raise their eyes to such objects, as the Apostle Peter expresses it, are blind, and cannot see afar off.

But of you, my dear youths, I expect better things. I need not, I imagine, use many words to persuade you to industry, and a continual progress in human studies and philosophical learning. If the violence and infelicity of the times have deprived you of any part of that period of years usually employed in these studies at this university, you will surely repair that loss, as soon as possible, by your subsequent reading and application. But, if no such misfortune had happened, you are not, I believe, ignorant, that our schools are only intended for laying the foundations of those studies upon which, years, and indefatigable industry, are to raise the superstructure of more complete erudition: which, by the accession of the Divine Spirit, may be consecrated into a temple for God. And this is what I would recommend to your esteem, and your earnest deVOL. IV.

2 B

sires, beyond any other study whatever, That you may be holy, because our God is holy: that, when you leave this university, those with whom you converse, may not find you puffed up with pride, on account of a little superficial learning, nor bigoted, talkative, or fond of entering into unseasonable disputes; but consider you all as patterns and examples of piety, purity, temperance, modesty, and all Christian virtues; particularly that humility which shone so brightly in Christ himself, and which he earnestly exhorts all his disciples to learn from him. I will not suspect, that any one of you will turn out to be an immodest person, a glutton, or drunkard, or in any shape, impious and profane; but I earnestly exhort and beseech you, my dear young men, to make it, above all other things, your principal study, to have your hearts purged from all impure and ignoble love of the world and the flesh, that, in this earth, you may live to God only; and then, to be sure, when you remove out of it, you will live with Him for ever in

heaven.

May the honorary title you have this day received be happy and auspicious! But I earnestly pray the Father of lights, that he would deign to bestow upon you a title more solid and exalted than it is in the power of man to give, that you may be called the sons of God, and that your conversation may be suitable to so great a name, and so glorious a Father.

Let us pray.

ETERNAL KING! Thy throne is established and immoveable from everlasting, and will continue so throughout all the ages of eternity. Before the mountains were brought forth, before thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. All things that exist, whether visible or invisible, derive from Thee their being and all that they possess: and they all, from the least to the greatest, are subservient to Thy purposes, who art their supreme King and Father. Many of them, indeed, act without knowledge or design, yet, serve Thee with a constant and unerring obe

dience; others pay their homage from principles of reason and inclination; and all the rest are forced to promote Thy intentions, though by constraint and against their wills. Thou art great, O Lord, Thou art great, and greatly to be praised, and of Thy greatness there is no end. The heavens are far raised above the earth, but thy majesty is much further exalted above all our thoughts and conceptions. Impress, we pray Thee, on our hearts, most bountiful Father, a profound sense of our meanness and insignificancy; and make us acceptable to Thee, through Thy grace, in Thy beloved Jesus, blotting out all our sins by the blood of his cross, and purifying our hearts by the effusion of Thy Spirit from on high. Illuminate, most gracious God, this assembly of ours, by the light of Thy Divine favour, and let Thy effectual blessing, we pray Thee, attend the work we are now employed about, by thy approbation, and the gracious disposition of Thy providence, and may the result of all be to the glory of Thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

EXHORTATION V.

THE complaint with regard to the variety of all perishing and transitory enjoyments, which has been long general among mankind, is indeed just and well-founded; but it is no less true, that the vanity which resides in the heart of man himself, exceeds every thing of that kind we observe in the other parts of the visible creation; for, amongst all the creatures that we see around us, we can find nothing so fleeting and inconstant; it flutters hither and thither, and forsaking that only perfect good which is truly suited to its nature and circumstances, grasps at phantoms and shadows of happiness, which it pursues with a folly more than childish.

Man wanders about on this earth; he hopes, he wishes, he seeks, he gropes and feels about him; he desires, he is hot, he is cold, he is blind, and complains that evil abounds every

where; yet, he is himself the cause of those evils which rage in the world, but most of all in his own breast; and therefore, being tossed between the waves thereof, that roll continually within and without him, he leads a restless and disordered life, until he be at last swallowed up in the unavoidable gulf of death. It is, moreover, the shame and folly of the human race, that the greatest part of them do not resolve upon any fixed and settled method of life, but, like the brute creatures, live and die without design, and without proposing any reasonable end. For how few are there, who seriously and frequently consider with themselves, whence they come, whither they are going, and what is the purpose of their life: who are daily reviewing the state of their own minds, and often descend into themselves, that they may as frequently ascend, by their thoughts and meditations, to their exalted Father, and their heavenly country; who take their station upon temporal things, and view those that are eternal! Yet, these are the only men that can be truly said to live, and they alone can be accounted wise.

And to this it is, my dear youths, that I would willingly engage your souls; nay, I heartily wish, they were carried thither by the fiery chariots of celestial wisdom. Let the common sort of mankind admire mean things; let them place their hopes on riches, honours, and arts, and spend their lives in the pursuit of them; but let your souls be inflamed with a far higher ambition. Yet, I would not altogether prohibit you these pursuits: I only desire you to be moderate in them. These enjoyments are neither great in themselves, nor permanent; but it is surprising, how much vanity is inflated by them. What a conceited, vain nothing, is the creature we call man! For, because few are capable to discern true blessings, which are solid and intrinsically beautiful, therefore the superficial ones, and such as are of no value at all, are catched at; and those who in any measure attain to the possession of them, are puffed up and elated thereby.

If we consider things as they are, it is an evidence of a very wrong turn of mind, to boast of titles and fame; as they are