sorrow.

Can we return into it without. feeling the desire "of being fellow workers "with Him!" of lending our aid, feeble as it may be, in the diffusion of truth,-in the encouragement of virtue,-in the relief of suffering, or in the spreading of the "glad "tidings of salvation among the dwellings "of men." And can we permit the sun to be witness to our morning prayers, without wishing, that our course may be like his, to diffuse light and joy amid the society in which we dwell!

3. How strongly, in the third place, does the spirit of our Lord's prayer lead us to the recollection of the particular duties which we are called individually to perform. We pray that "his kingdom may come ;" not a temporal kingdom, but that mental and spiritual kingdom, which consists in the reign of Innocence, of Piety, and Virtue. Of that kingdom, the words remind us, that we are all members; that its advancement or delay depends upon our individual efforts; that the scene in which we are placed is the true scene of our fidelity; and that the humblest man who, beneath the thatch of the cottage, passes a life of obscure and patient duty, and " brings up

"his children in the nurture and admoni"tion of their Lord," is yet no less than a" fellow worker with God" himself in the present happiness, and in the final salvation

of mankind. How well fitted are such convictions to the various and unequal conditions of men! How exalted the principle from which they summon us, whether high or low, to duty; and even to those who are called to those labours of life, where " they "are weary and heavy laden," how noble are the struggles which they are thus summoned to undergo,-and how dear that "rest" in which it is promised their labours shall for ever close.

4. There is yet still a nobler reflection which these words are fitted to convey. In illustrating formerly what was meant in the words of our first address to God, I concluded by reminding you of the hope they inspired by the name of "Our Father who "is in Heaven." Let me now remind you, that the same consoling and animating doctrine is interwoven also with the general petitions we are now considering; and that, while we pray for the reign of human virtue, and human happiness under the gospel, we pray for it as the prelude to that greater happiness which reigns in heaven. Under such prospects, with what solemn joy may not the pious return into the world; with what firm eye may they not look upon the hardships they are doomed to undergo; and with what patient heart may they not receive every visitation which it pleases their Father to send !—

In that concluding scene, all mysteries will be revealed,--all doubts cease,--all inquietudes repose :-the pure in heart will see their God, and "from the east and the "west, from the north and from the south," the gates of Heaven will open to receive the meek, the pious, and the good.

When from such meditations we return into the world, we often return to mark the reign of chance and time,-to see the place vacant, which was once filled by those we loved or esteemed, or to follow to their graves those whom worth had dignified, or innocence had endeared:-sometimes the young who fell in the bloom of youthful promise; sometimes the mature, who have been summoned away amid all their plans of private good, or publick usefulness; and sometimes the aged, who sunk under the weight of years, and whose gray hairs have fallen into the grave, satiated with life and full of honour. In such circumstances, what is there that can console the hearts of those who have been bereft of all they held dear, and who refuse the voice of comfort? It is the preparation of this habitual prayer. It is the blessed belief that there is" a kingdom in Heaven, in which the spirits of departed virtue repose, in which they meet the Saviour whose footsteps they have followed, and the Father, whose will they have studied

to do. From the evils and the infirmities of life, they are removed to their "own border;" that border from which death separates us, but where there reigns Truth, and Wisdom, and Joy; that border which they have struggled to secure as their own, by deeds of goodness and benevolence while on earth; where they are received by all the just who have preceded them in the career of virtue; and where, under the influence of the Sun of Righteousness, the seeds of piety and goodness, which life has nourished, will be sown in a nobler soil, and "bring forth fruits worthy of im"mortality."

SERMON V.

ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.

LUKE xi. 2.

"And he said unto them, When ye pray, say thus :"

In the preceding discourses, I have attempted, in the plainest manner, to illustrate the nature and character of that celebrated prayer which our Saviour has left to his people as the model of their de

votion.

In this view, I considered, in the first place, the majesty and solemnity of its opening, and the various sentiments of trust, of veneration and hope, which the words "Our Father which art in Heaven," are fitted to excite in our minds.

After this grateful preparation, I considered, in the second place, the nature of the petitions with which it commences, the magnificent views which they afford of the reign and providence of God, and the wide and pure benevolence which they inspire .in every thoughtful bosom, when, amid all the ruin and sorrows of the world, we pray that "his kingdom may come," and "his