when they kneel at the Lord's table. Then let the influence of this recollection have its fullest sway. The heart that was once bursting with grief, let it now swell with gratitude. The eyes that were dim with tears, let them now beam with faith and joy. The voice that was broken with sobs, be it now raised in the accents of praise. The hands that were clasped in despair, be they now uplifted in hope. The knees that once sunk beneath the pressure of a broken spirit, be they now bent in holy reverence, in heartfelt devotion.

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Behold, Jesus still bids us "Weep not!" "Weep not!" "For the Lord is risen indeed'." "Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." Weep not," then; but "Praise the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me praise his holy name'."

To conclude. Let this hope, after having been our consolation through life, be our support in death. Let us arm ourselves against the approach of that hour, by continually looking with the eye of faith, to the glories of the resurrection. Let us be prepared to receive the King of Terrors, with the calm and dignified fortitude which becomes a Christian,

'Luke xxiv. 34.

* 1 Cor. xv. 20. 'Psalm ciii. 1. Version of Liturgy.

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knowing through whom the "victory" is given. Let us cherish a stedfast faith in our Redeemer, and endeavour to live in constant obedience to his precepts.

Let us endeavour to have that within us, which will whisper, " peace, Weep not;" will diffuse serenity, and support hope in our own breast; will cheer, comfort, and stimulate to the practice of piety, and to the love of religion, our sorrowing relatives and friends. So shall we cause the light of Christian joy and consolation, to shine within us and around us; to shed a lustre upon the troubles of life, and illumine and brighten even the sad objects, which occupy the chamber of death. Our departure from this world of sin and sorrow will resemble the last gleams of the evening sun; when, after a dreary day of storm and tempest, it bursts forth from the clouds, and sets in calm and glorious effulgence.

The storm has ceased, the winds are hushed. The thick clouds which obscured it, are now fast receding on every side; it sheds around it a mild and chastened lustre; tinges with rays of beauty even the gloomy masses which encircle it; sinks with a serenity and splendour, which is the harbinger of a fairer day on the morrow; and assures us that it

will rise again in cloudless majesty, and in unsullied splendour.

That we may be enabled thus to descend calmly and joyfully through the gate of death, full of faith, and strong in hopes of rising to everlasting day through Christ Jesus, may God, of his infinite mercy, grant. May he, that animated and raised the widow's son, may he animate us with his Holy Spirit; may he now raise us "from dead works to serve the living God":" to serve him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength; to serve him here with gladness, and with faith; hereafter in purest freedom, in everlasting bliss. Blessed in these hopes, which are set before us; let us, with one accord, ascribe unto God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all power, &c, &c.

SERMON XIV.

THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES.

ON THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

LUKE. V. 5.

And Simon, answering, said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing ; nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.

To a mind desirous of employing itself in pious and profitable meditations, how inexhaustible, how various are the materials furnished in the Scriptures. Scarcely a passage can be found, from which may not be derived reflections conducive to holiness and edification. Besides the sublime doctrines, and the simple but comprehensive precepts of the Divine Word; the servant of Christ is continually presented with bright examples of triumphant faith and fortitude, with alarming instances of overtaken and awfully requited guilt.

Faithful and impressive are the portraits he there beholds. He sees man both such as he is, and such as he ought to be. He beholds him, at one moment adorned with all the splendour of Christian graces, at another deformed with the dark spots of human of human corruption: now glorious in his approximation to the image of God; then degraded in the miserable display of the frailty of man. sees our strength and our weakness, our powers and our imperfections; he sees the feebleness of human nature, and the efficacy of Divine grace.

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Even from transactions, such as cannot from their nature ever be expected to take place with any other individual, than the person to whom they immediately refer; such as are apparently or professedly not intended to be mentioned in any other light, than as facts connected with the sacred history, and with the establishment of the Gospel; even from transactions such as these, reflection can derive rich stores of instruction and edification. For the individuals of whom these things were recorded were men; and we are men-frail, erring, fallen men-men with the same passions, the same imperfections, the same necessities, the same interests, the same hopes, the

"Gen. i. 26. Coloss. iii. 10.