This would give true confidence to its arms, and afford it security against every Invader."

Such, indeed, must be the natural reflection of every pious man. And, true it is, that a spirit of real religion would teach us, with Abraham, to intercede on this fast, even for our hostile neighbours. It would lead us, with Daniel, to humble ourselves before the Most High; and to cry, 'O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face.' It would instruct us, like David, when he saw the destroying angel stretch a drawn sword over Jerusalem, to fall on our faces, confess our sins, and call for mercy. It would incline us, with Jeremiah, to pity and thus to instruct, even the despisers of our giving glory this day to the Nost High; 'Hear ye, and give ear: be not proud; for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory unto the Lord your God, before he cause darkness-But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.'

A pious man, impressed with the warning of this Solemn Monitor, will naturally, in his retirements, ruminate on his ultimate resource, under all possible consequences. He may picture to himself the rising up, at an unexpected moment, of an invading army; rushing on, like a mighty torrent that has broken down its banks, and overwhelms the adjacent country: he sees every effort made by the distracted inhabitants, to repel its violence, or to flee from its approaches. But, in such an extremity as this, will any thing present itself to his mind, but the utter weakness of man, and the almighty power of God? Oh the strong consolation, at such a moment, of that voice, ' When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee!'-Brethren, such an extremity has visited nations around us: such an extremity may visit us. May we be prepared thus to meet it!

We are admonished: but do we lay to heart this warning voice? As a man, who is overtaken with his neighbour in a storm, and, seeing him fall by a stroke of lightning, walks on with trembling lest the next flash should be directed to himself; so should we be found walking on the day of national humiliation, before the Lord of Hosts.

Fellow Citizens, and Fellow Sinners! if I have wearied your patience by the length of my discourse, impute it to my zeal as your Minister, and to my affection as your Brother. And as any particular Application of it is precluded by such enlargement, let it suffice to recollect its general aim :-TO ADVANCE AND ENFORCE THE UNIVERSAL DOMINION OF HIM, WITH

OUT WHOM EVEN A SPARROW FALLS NOT TO THE GROUND; AND TO POINT OUT THAT STATE OF MIND, IN WHICH WE SHOULD STAND BEFORE HIM ON THE PRESENT OCCASION.

In a day of atheistical rebuke and blasphemy, like the present, you will doubtless meet with some, who will despise such considerations. What serious truth will not ignorance, joined with vice, despise? You may properly, however, inform them, that ENGLAND was once lost to an invader; and you will do well to bid them mark the circumstances in which it was lost. "The English," says Rapin, "spent the whole night in carousing and singing, as if they were sURE of victory. The Normans, on the contrary, were employed in preparing for the battle, and offering up prayers to God for success." You know the event: and you know who hath said, 'Them that honour me I will honour.'

And now I bow my knees to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' that my feeble labours this day for your welfare may not be in vain. We shall

certainly meet together once more; but probably not till THAT day when these truths will admit of no doubt. In the mean time, the grave will mingle the dust of Ministers and Soldiers; and that both may enter it, having first obtained a complete victory over it, may God of his infinite mercy grant, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

ANNIVERSARY SERMON;

PREACHED BEFORE THE

SOCIETY FOR MISSIONS TO AFRICA AND THE EAST.

Prepare ye the Way of the Lord.-ISAIAH xl. 3.

WE meet this day, as Members of the Church of England, to promote a design of evangelizing the Heathen; and sure I am, every true Member of Christ must be a hearty well-wisher to such a design. Whatever objection he may make to the manner in which it is taken up by us, or by any other body of Christians, still he must, from the bottom of his heart, adopt the language which we have been using this day in our service. 'God be merciful unto us and bless us, and show us the light of his countenance; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations' Ps. lxvii. 1, 2.

This Prophet, who speaks so expressly of that light that was about to arise on the Gentiles, here predicts another herald who should 'go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way.' It appears from the terms employed in this and the following verses, that an evident allusion is made to a custom which still obtains in some parts of the East; where, on the approach of an illustrious Personage, his way is prepared before him by levelling mountains, by filling up valleys, and by removing obstructions of every kind.

'Prepare ye,' therefore, cries the Prophet, the way of the Lord; or, as he elsewhere expresses it, 'cast up,

cast up the highway: gather out the stones: lift up a standard for the people: Isa. lxii. 10, and, for the encouragement of all those who shall be called to 'prepare this way' to the end of time, it is subjoined to the text, 'Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it'" ALL FLESH," cries he, 'shall see it'-for it shall be revealed to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

Omitting such a general discussion of the text in its connection as might be proper on another occasion, I shall confine myself now to the special purpose of our assembling, namely, that of preparing the way of the Lord among the Heathen; and, accordingly, shall make a few remarks on their MORAL STATE-the MEANS OF THEIR RECOVERY-and the MOTIVES TO ATTEMPT IT.

Let us glance at that affecting fact.

I. THE MORAL STATE OF THE HEATHEN.

The field is so wide, that I shall not even attempt to give any thing like a comprehensive view: a single division in a sermon would not admit of this. A few facts, however, may suffice: because, from them, the general state may easily be inferred; and because select features strike the mind more forcibly than general descriptions.

But, in order to make a just estimation of the horrid chamber of imagery before us, we must proceed with the lamp of revelation in our hand. It is by this infallible light, that the dark places of the earth full of cruelty,' Psalm lxxiv. 20, are rightly apprehended.

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