for him; he whom we love, he whom we believe on, he whom we adore, asks of us but one poor boon, in requital for all that he has done and suffered for us-for all the agony and the shame of the cross, he asks of us no more than the prophet of old asked in the name of God, of his countrymen-he asks of us justice, he solicits mercy, he entreats that we would walk humbly with our God. Ye who were born in the bosom of our church, who have learnt from the very cradle to lisp the name of Jesus, whose heads have been wont to bow at that hallowed sound, whose ears have drank in refreshing draughts from that eternal spring, whose memory is fraught with images of divine condescension and love, who have faithful teachers, minis ters of the New Testament, rightly di viding the word of God, ye have not to learn from me what is justice, what is mercy, what it is to walk humbly with

your God. Would you know the progress you have made in these virtues, search your own hearts; there, where, in each well-regulated mind, every honest thought has its correspondent feeling of delight, every evil thought its accompanying blankness and depression: there estimate the extent of your acquirements; but if ye have so trained your hearts that they will not answer truly to what you inquire of them, seek out one that will not, that cannot, that dare not deceive you; inquire of that master conscience; and should this inward monitor, that is even now, at the very moment these words are passing from my lips, struggling with the wayward, and delusive, and entangling imaginations, that seek to make captive of your thoughts, should this inward monitor tell you that your justice is faulty, that your mercy is scant, that your humbleness towards God is but a mask to

screen your haughtiness to man-should it tell you this, go where it would have you go, go throw yourselves prostrate before the footstool of the Long Sufferingfalter not, hesitate not, ask not with the doubting Israelite, wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God;" come with the costliest gift you can present, come with the noblest sacrifice you can offer, come with the purest incense you can kindle, come with a repentant spirit, come with a heart gazing sadly on past errors, but looking forward with hope to future amendment; come with a soul glowing with a world of strange and untried emotions, come with justice strengthening the nerve, come with mercy plead, ing in the eye, come with humbleness towards God, giving lightness and confidence to the step-come before the Lord with these offerings, bow down before the high God with these gifts;

and thus coming, thus bowing down, may the inscrutable Being in whose sight we stand, plain as the sun shining in its glory, but whose form we cannot discern, whose lineaments we cannot trace, may he stretch forth his hand to receive you, may he embrace you in the *arms of his mercy, may he refresh you with the dews of his favour, may he sanctify you by the outpouring of his grace; and, finally, may he conduct you to those mansions of bliss whither our Saviour Christ is gone to prepare a place before!

Now to God, &c.

SERMON XII.

A SACRAMENTAL EXHORTATION, ON THE

SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS-DAY.

Preached at Buckland, Kent.

1 CORINTHIANS X. 16.

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

THE day whereon we are wont to commemorate the most remarkable event that ever took place in the history of mankind, is just receding from our view; we have not been, I trust, unmindful of the benefits therein gratuitously heaped upon us; we have not allowed this most solemn festival of all, to pass unregarded