of these evidences, is as good a ground for you to stand upon, as you are compelled to take a thousand times a-day as to the practical results of scientific and abstruse investigations. The vast body of mankind are always acting on the judgment of others, in matters of which they cannot fully judge for themselves. These are reasonable grounds enough for you, as to the historical evidences. And when these are joined to a conviction of the intrinsic excellency of the Christian religion, and a perception in some measure of its holy effects, they place you on an impregnable bulwark which no sophistry of the wicked can assail. You have found the pearl of unknown price. You have found the infallible remedy for all your moral diseases. You have reached the port and haven of truth. You have come up from the pit and cave of vice and darkness, to the noon day su, of divine illumination and grace.

4. Act, then, fully on the revelation you profess. Secure all these advantages by a more entire submission of heart to God. Remember that the Christian evidences can only bring you to the doors of the sacred temple. To enter that temple must be the fruit of grace. It is not the proof of authenticity or credibility that can change the heart. It is not the magnificence of miracles that can infuse the love of God. It

is not the wonderful accomplishment of prophecies that can subdue our sins. It is not the propagation or beneficial effects of the gospel that can produce holiness in our lives. It is not the conviction of the inward excellency of the Christian doctrines, that can engage our obedience to God. It is not the persuasion of the force and obligation of all the combined proofs of our holy faith, that can generate a correspondent frame of heart.

All these proofs are only as an introduction to a further end. It is the grace of God's Holy Spirit, sought for by earnest prayer, that alone can renew the will, sway the affections, and purify the heart of fallen man. It is the power of that Saviour whose gospel you receive, that alone can strengthen you against temptation, and form you to holy love. And this is the end to which we would lead you.

You were born in a Christian land, you have been brought up in the Christian religion, you have partaken of the Christian sacraments, you have, many of you, been lately ratifying your vows in the face of the church. Put then Put then your Christianity

into practice. If you listen to the seductions of vice, I warn you of the consequences. If you lend an ear to its sorceries, your senses will be bewildered, your understanding clouded, your heart hardened. The evidences of Chris

tianity will fade and escape from your view.
You will remain a mere speculative believer, if
you sink not into open unbelief. But if you
follow conscience; if you avoid the company
and practices of the wicked; if you dismiss
indifference and prejudices and worldliness of
mind; if you implore the grace of God by
fervent prayer; if you act on what you know,
you will be secure and happy.

Rise, then, to the true dignity of your nature.
Repulse the suggestions of a depraved heart.
Adhere to the great revelation of mercy in the
gospel. Behold your heavenly father recon-
ciled. Behold all his love exhausted in the
amazing gift of his own Son to die as a sacrifice
for your sins. See around the person of the Son
of God all the truths of revelation concentrated.
Behold every part of the divine doctrine casting
its glory on the face of Jesus Christ. Let the
authentic and credible records of your faith lead
you up to the feet of this Saviour incarnate for
your sake, performing his mighty works, pro-
mulgating his healing doctrine, fulfilling all the
ancient prophecies concerning himself, deli-
vering new and most august predictions, pro-
mising his Holy Spirit to his disciples, and
ascending up to heaven to carry forward all the
designs of redemption, to accomplish all the
other prophecies of the divine word, and to close

the whole dispensation of his mercy at the final tribunal of his judgment.

Choose the good part. Take your side with truth, and holiness, and wisdom. Yield not to the wretched dictates of a proud, or the base appetites of a sensual heart. You are made for eternity. You are capable of the knowledge and love of God. The grace of God will not be denied to fervent prayer. That grace can rectify, elevate, purify, save you. That grace can make your youth chaste and devout, and your age pure and honourable. Thus will you answer all the anxious efforts and labours of your parents, your ministers, your friends. Thus will you experience the true and elevated ends of Christianity in its peace and tranquillity of conscience, in its gift of the forgiveness of sins, in its consolations under sorrow and affliction, in its sustaining power at the moment of death. Thus will eternity only begin your happiness. It will be disarmed of its terrors. Your feelings and wishes will be in conformity with the inevitable course of things. Futurity-the dread of the wickedat which the sceptic turns pale-on the verge of which even the hardened unbeliever begins to doubt,—will be to you the day of triumph, the moment of victory, the instant of final and never-ending blessedness. For then will that

To the candid and sincere mind all is light in the Christian doctrine. To the heart preoccupied with vice and irreligion, all is darkness. Christianity is a probation of the state and feelings of all to whom it is addressed. If it be examined with any thing of simplicity, its evidences shine forth brightly upon the view, they convince the understanding, they awaken the force of conscience, they bow the will; and the enquirer prostrates himself at the footstool of the divine majesty, revealing his grace to his dependent and sinful creatures. The whole soul receives the impression of the glory and wisdom and foreknowledge and power and mercy of God. The discoveries of revelation fall in with the wants and miseries and forebodings which visit every heart. The remedy proposed suits precisely the fears of the guilty mind, and the apprehensions, which natural religion, illuminated by the Christian revelation shining around it, injects into the stoutest breast.

Especially, young persons who have been educated in the Christian doctrine and have observed its holy effects in those who obey it, cannot but be sensible of the claims which religion has upon their faith and obedience. Most of those whom I address are in this state of mind at least. They know that the