chisms may be learned at school; but habits, whether good or bad, are most commonly acquired under the paternal roof. The fear of God being constantly inculcated as the only sure foundation of every thing that is good and praiseworthy;-every means, whether in the way of encouragement or correction, should be diligently used by parents for forming their children to such habits, as, in after life, will render them sincere practical Christians, and useful and respectable members of society. Were this duty conscientiously attended to, (and let parents remember that it is a duty which they came under a most solemn engagement to perform, when they dedicated their children to the service of their God and Redeemer in the sacrament of baptism,) how different an aspect would society present to us from what it unhappily does, in too many instances, at present! Idleness, fraud, profane swearing, lewdness, drunkenness, dissension, and neglect of religious duties, would then disappear, and industry, fair dealing, temperance, peace, mutual good-will, and a regular discharge of every pious duty, succeed in their place.

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Let us, my Christian friends, do what in us lies to produce this happy change; and, finally, on all occasions, and in every situation in which we may happen to be placed, and in the discharge of every relative duty, let the fear of God be our governing principle; let it be our constant care, as it is certainly our indispensable duty, as Christians, so to fear him here, that we may behold him without dread and astonishment hereafter; and be able to approach the awful

tribunal of our Judge, in humble confidence that he will there, in presence of an assembled world, acknowledge us as his own, and pronounce in our favour the blessed sentence; "Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." Amen.

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SERMON II.

ON REPENTANCE.

MATT. iii. 1, 2.

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

It was foretold, that before our Lord should appear publicly as a prophet, to declare the merciful purposes of God, and the nature of the kingdom he was to establish, the Jews should be prepared for his reception by the preaching of his forerunner, John the Baptist. "This is he," we are told, "that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." And accordingly, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

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Of John the Baptist, who was born six months before our Saviour, the angel gives this account to his father Zacharias, (Luke i. 15—17.) He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb: and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the

spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,-to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." And this prediction we find fully verified in his character and manner of life,-in his doctrine, and in the remarkable success of his preaching. For, "the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey." "He preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." And, "there went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, confessing their sins."

This portion of the Gospel history is very instructive, and merits our most attentive and serious consideration. It is important, as it serves to confirm our faith, by shewing the exact fulfilment of a prophecy, in the fact of John's appearance as the harbinger of the Messiah. But at present, I shall confine myself to his doctrine of repentance; from an examination of which it is hoped, that the nature of true repentance, and the necessity of it, in order to our being qualified for the Messiah's kingdom, will fully appear.

It is impossible, because inconsistent with that constitution of mind which our Creator hath given us, that one who goes on in the habitual practice of any wickedness or iniquity, can satisfy himself, that he is acting a proper part. He must therefore, fall upon some contrivance or expedient for removing, or, at least, allaying, the uneasiness produced by reflec

tion, which occasionally intrudes, and gives him pain, in spite of all his endeavours to banish or avoid it. The arts are numberless, which are resorted to for soothing the conscience and obtaining relief. Some try to reason themselves into a belief, that what is called their sin, is really no sin at all; and the method they take is, to throw the blame of their transgressions (if transgressions they be) upon the Author of their nature; who, they endeavour to persuade themselves, cannot be offended by their yielding to the impulses, and obeying the dictates of that constitution, which they have received from him. But such persons seem to forget, that reason and understanding, and conscience, are also constituent parts of the being which God hath given them; and that by these faculties, if they will only make use of them, they are both enlightened and admonished in regard to what their Maker requires of them. And they also forget, that the ability of self-controul and self-government, which they possess by means of these faculties, together with the helps furnished by the religion which they profess, for strengthening and increasing that ability, would be sufficient, if they chose to use it, for restraining and duly regulating the inferior appetites and passions of their nature. This plea is too absurd to be listened to for a moment; but the case of such, I am afraid is one of the most hopeless. Sin having obtained, and long exercised an undisputed dominion by the help of this delusion, will not be easily dispossessed

or overcome.