to lose sight of Religion entirely, and to be carried along without any nobler views in the vulgar current of the world. The spirit of the Commandment which we are now considering teaches us, that we ought regularly to occupy a portion of our time in religious meditation; and it has literally appointed a Day on which the common business of life should be suspended; and the minds of men should be elevated to a sense of the higher interests of their nature, and of the ties which connect them with that Almighty Being, who "made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is."

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Upon the importance of this sacred institution, I need not, my brethren, multiply words. There cannot be any doubt, that to it we owe almost all the

pure religion which is to be found in the world, at least among the lower orders of society, who are doomed, by the necessities of their

condition, to a life of labour; and to whom the sun which rises on this Sacred day comes indeed "with healing on its wings," bringing them not only rest from their present toils, but, also, the highest hopes to which man can aspire. Those in the higher ranks, who sometimes imagine that they can dispense with the assistances of the Sabbath, ought to recollect, that there is no order of men more apt than themselves to forget the loftier destinations of their being, and to be lost in present enjoyments: but if the Sabbath were only important for "the man-ser“vant and the maid-servant," for giving to the great body of mankind the principles of duty and the comforts of religion,-what shall we say of that unthinking folly which can dare to affront public opinion in its most sacred form, and, rather than suspend the course of a selfish and base dissipation, will not hesitate to

shake to their foundation, the strongest pillars on which the fabric of Society is reared?

I have thus endeavoured to point 'out the leading views which are contained in the first series of the Ten Commandments. These all refer either to the principle on which Religion rests, or to the means by which it may obtain a firm footing in the human mind. The whole together open a wide field for gratitude and admiration, and impress us deeply with a sense of that Divine goodness and condescension, which has thus brought itself within the reach of the devotion of man.

The occasion which has given rise to these observations, naturally suggests the following reflections.-We all wish that our children should be impressed with a sense of religious obligation, and should have their minds early formed to the love

of God and of his laws. In this view, how important is our example, and what influence will all the doctrines or the precepts which we teach them have upon their understandings or on their hearts, unless they see that we are ourselves worshippers of God" in spirit and in truth!" Let us then, my brethren, cultivate in our own souls dispositions of gratitude to Him for all his goodness; let us give Him our hearts undivided and entire,-cast down those lying vanities which we are so prone to idolize,—ever retain a firm impression of his supreme authority,-and meditate on his laws, and reverence his sacred institutions. So shall he make our example a blessing unto the third and fourth generation of them that follow us, and shew mercy unto our children's children! you, my young friends, the present occasion is one of unspeakable interest. You come here, in the infancy of

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your being, to be made acquainted with Him who gave it you, and to be instructed in the duties which you owe him. you are preserved in life, you have many things, indeed, to learn, before can become an honour to your parents, or to the Country which gave you birth. Yet the knowledge you are now acquiring, is the most important you can ever gain; and, while you are made acquainted with your Maker and his laws, you are learning truths, of which death itself will not deprive you. Draw near, then, to that God, whom your fathers before you have worshipped, and He will draw near to you. Your fathers must leave you: their mortal part must descend to the grave: but your heavenly Father is ever with you: he ever "pitieth his chil

dren," and "sheweth mercy unto thou“sands of them that love him, and keep his commandments!"