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ed with unlimited power. In one moment, the voice of riot ceases,-silence, as profound as the stillness of the grave, reigns through the whole palace-every tongue is chained-every eye is fixed-despair lowers on every countenance-the charm is broken-and the night of feasting is turned into unutterable horror! See! yonder shadow, wearing the appearance of the fingers of a man's hand, glides along the wall of the palace opposite the monarch, and writes, in mysterious characters, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN." What has changed that youthful countenance? What has chased its bloom of beauty, and drawn on it the strong lines of misery? Behold, this king, who lately dreamed that he was more than mortal, trembling on his throne! "The joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees smite one against another!" What the army of Cyrus could not do, a supernatural hand, writing four little words, has effected; and his soul melts within him through terror! But say, what is the cause of this premature distress? Perhaps yonder inscription declares the permanence of his kingdom; and inscribes, in those hidden characters, the destruction of his enemies? Ah no!— Conscience read to well the handwriting: and interpreted the solemn sentence of impending ruin, long before Daniel explained the inscription! While all was riot, during the first part of the night, and dismay, during the remainder, Cyrus had diverted the river from its course, had entered the city, through its exhausted channel, unperceived and was now at the palace gates. The empire was lost; the captive Jews were liberated: and "that same night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain." Behold another, added to the innumerable sad evidences, that the

"pride of the heart" fatally "deceives," and finally ruins those who cherish it.

2. SITUATIONS IN LIFE, WHICH SHOULD LAY THE FOUNDATION OF GRATITUDE, WHEN UNSANCTIFIED, BECOME THE BASIS OF REBELLION.

The prophet addressed those "who dwelt in the clefts of the rock, and whose habitation was high:" who enjoyed both an elevated, and a secure situation. This should have ministered to thankfulness: it should have reminded them of the hand that raised them to the eminence which they occupied. But no: it kindled "pride of heart:" it inflamed the imagination with the desire of independence: it stirred up rebellion: it implanted in their bosoms false confidence: it betrayed them to their ruin. me to the ground?"

They said, "Who shall bring But the birth of their presumption was the death of their security: for while they spake these "great swelling words" of arrogance, the protection of God was withdrawn. Adversity has "slain its thousands:" but prosperity its "tens of thousands." Those that have weathered the tempests of suffering, have been ingulfed in the whirlpool of dissipation. Elevation makes the head unsteady and the feet totter; therefore, if providence exalt you, hold fast the hand which conducts you to the perilous summit. 3. NO SITUATION IN LIFE, HOWEVER APPARENTLY FORTIFIED, IS SECURE, WHEN GOD IS OUR ENEMY.

"Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord." How clear and express are these words! "Though thou exalt thyself." When God elevates a man, he gives him grace equal to his temptations: but there are, who make haste to be rich -who press through every consideration to power

who will be great and "exalt themselves" at the sacri fice of every principle. Yonder city rises on that determination. The tower rapidly advances. It is of prodigious strength and magnitude. But its desolation is decreed in heaven; and although it aspired to the stars, it is brought down to the ground. Let us, therefore, stoop to rise. Let us "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God; and he shall exalt us in due time." If we would build securely, we must lay the foundation of our edifice on the top of yonder everlasting hills, and set up its walls in the unchangeable heavens: for

"He builds too low, who builds beneath the skies!"

What, then, is their state, who are laboring to ascend to heaven by a superstructure of their own elevation? who "reject the righteousness of God, and go about to establish one of their own?" "The pride of their heart hath deceived them;" and divine agency alone can destroy the delusion. What shall be said to those who imagine themselves in security, yet have not "fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them?" Even now is the decree of heaven gone forth against all ungodliness: even now is the sentence of condemnation issued against the impenitent: even now conscience thunders, "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting!"-and God confirms the decision!

LECTURE V.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH.

GENESIS XIX, 15—26.

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hust magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city. for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called

Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

2 PETER II, 6.

-Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow; making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.

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THE history of Genesis is peculiarly interesting, because it soon leaves the wide concerns of nations, and attaches itself to individuals. It discovers to us the Deity commanding "light to shine out of darkness;" and presents a short, yet comprehensive, account of things the most sublime and difficult: it relates the destruction, and the revolution, of the world; it gives us a clue by which we are enabled to trace the origin of nations; and after having thus opened a boundless scene before us, it relieves the mind, bewildered and wearied in its researches, by fixing the attention upon one quiet object. We find ourselves transported into the bosom of a family; and are encompassed, before we are aware, with the beauties and the pleasures of domestic life. We unite in their devotions: glow with their ardor: weep with their sorrows; and rejoice in their prosperity. The fluctuations of empires, the revolutions of states, the achievements of ambition, distract and tire our attention: but in entering into the concerns of a

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