SERMON XVIII.

ON A PROFESSIONAL LIFE.

To the Candidates for the Baccalaureate, in 1796 and 1805.

PROV. IV. 20-27.

"My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear to my sayings.

"Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart;

"For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

"Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

"Let thine eyes look right on, and thine eyelids look straight before thee.

"Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

"Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil."

THESE words are a part of the instructions given by David to Solomon; of a great and wise prince to a promising son. The character of the father has been rarely excelled; his instructions never. The influence, which they had on the son,

was of the happiest kind; and their tendency to profit all men was such, that God, who had originally given them to the father, thought proper to record them in the sacred Canon for universal use. Thus recommended, they cannot fail to have weight on the present occasion.

In this paragraph the following things are plainly and especially urged on Solomon.

1. That he should faithfully observe the precepts of his father, verses 20-22.

2. That he should keep his heart with all diligence; that he should watch carefully over his thoughts and affections; as being the springs of action, and the true source of a good or evil character, verse 23.

3. That he should, in like manner, watch over his lips; and take effectual care not to be snared by the words of his mouth, verse 24.

4. That he should examine the course of life before him with seriousness and diligence; and determine coolly and cautiously beforehand concerning all his conduct, verses 25 and 26.

5. That, when he had thus considered his course of life, and determined on what was right and proper to be pursued, he should closely adhere to his determination.

On the present occasion I stand as a father to the youths whom I am now to address. Through the past year they have been wholly committed to my parental care; and are now to receive my last parental office. The solemn and interesting nature of the occasion will, I presume, apologize for me, if I confine my observations wholly to them. I wish to say many things to them; but all that I can ever say to most of them must probably be said at the present time.

Without further preface, let me, then, young gentlemen, my pupils, my children, endeared to me by many affecting considerations, address to you the following counsels. I trust you will find them, though not the counsels of your real parents, nor of a wise and inspired prince, yet the sentiments of a sincere friend, and sentiments accordant with inspired truth. One interesting circumstance will certainly attend them, they

will probably be the last which most of you will ever receive from me.

The words which I have selected for the occasion, as the theme of discourse, are wholly suited to your situation. Nothing can be more important for you to do than to treasure up the good counsels which are given to you; especially when you are counselled to keep your hearts with diligence; to watch over your lips; to ponder and establish the course and conduct of your lives; and, when you have once determined wisely concerning it, to adhere to your determination with unshaken firmness. At the same time, when At the same time, when you remember, that these directions were given by David, pursued by Solomon, and sanctioned by God, additional motives will scarcely be necessary to engage your obedience.

You have now finished your academical education, and are about to enter into the busy world. A part of some kind or other you must act in it; and you doubtless intend, that that part shall be honourable to yourselves, and useful to mankind. To make it such, prudent measures and vigorous efforts must be adopted. Allow me, in the following observations, to point to you the one, and to prompt you to the other. Some of these observations I shall make because of their inherent importance, and some because they may never perhaps be made to you by others.

Most of you will, probably, and within a short time, enter into one or other of those which are appropriately called the learned professions. With this object before me, let me request you to remember, that the

First duty incumbent on you is to qualify yourselves for the profession which you adopt.

Although this is, in the highest degree, expedient for you, yet it is by no means to be considered in the light of mere expediency. It is an indispensable duty. In offering yourselves to mankind, in either of these professions, you declare publicly and solemnly, that you have faithfully endeavoured to qualify yourselves for discharging the duties of it; and with equal publicness and solemnity you announce yourselves to be thus qualified. This profession your countrymen would

certainly believe, had not experience, in various instances, proved to them that their confidence was unfounded. Disappointed as they have sometimes been, they still have an undoubted right to believe the profession, on your part, to be sincere, and the qualifications, professed, to be real and adequate to the character assumed.

The great qualification here intended is the understanding necessary to the skilful discharge of your professional duties. The only possible method of obtaining this qualification is study. Without study you will experience deficiencies which no genius can supply. Genius can invent and model, but it cannot furnish information. Facts, laws, doctrines, can never be known unless they are learned; and they can never be learned unless they are studied.

Few subjects are viewed by youths with more prejudice, or more self-deception, than genius and application. To genius have been always attributed qualities which it did not possess, and effects which it never accomplished. Its splendour is indeed great and dazzling; but its usefulness has been commonly small, and its value trifling. Pride has perverted it, vanity misguided, vice tainted, and idleness destroyed. Like the car of Phaeton, it has alarmed, where it should have blessed, mankind; and, while it should have enlightened and warmed the world, it has only set it on fire.

In the meantime, its efficiency is commonly and egregiously mistaken. No man was ever great in intellect but by means of intense application. The diligence of Demosthenes, of Aristotle, of Plato, and of Cicero, needs no comment. Even Homer, the heaven-born poet, studied men and things as diligently as the book worm his volumes. Bacon, Boyle, Berkeley, Newton and Locke, were scarcely more distinguished by endowments than by application. What is to be justly attributed to the genius, and what to the study of each, it is perhaps impossible to determine. Suffice it to say, that without superior diligence, they would probably have all, long before the present time, been forgotten, or remembered merely because they abused their talents, and because when it was in their power, they neglected to become either great or useful.

Reading is not the only mode of studying. Conversation, reflection, observation, and writing, have each their peculiar advantages.

Reading, wisely directed, puts into your possession, within a few days or hours, thoughts which others have spent years in collecting; and furnishes you with the best thoughts of the wisest men on the most important subjects.

Observation presents to you facts, and frequently interesting facts, which you will gain from no other source, and of which you, at the same time, possess the most undoubting certainty.

Conversation furnishes you with truths which were never written, and awakens in you valuable ideas, which otherwise you would never have entertained. At the same time, it teaches you that readiness of thought and of expression, so remarkable in men accustomed to correspond largely with the world.

Reflection, or meditation, makes the knowledge which you gain from the sources already mentioned a part of your own system of thinking, and arranges your thoughts in that regular method, without which they would be a mere heap of rubbish.

Writing, or meditating by the pen, performs the same work in a more exact and perfect manner; and, as it allows abundant opportunity for reviewing and reforming them, so it conducts you more certainly and safely to truth and rectitude.

Multitudes of men who read little, observe, converse, and reflect much, and are therefore in a respectable sense studious. To this fact it is probably owing that genius has stood in so high reputation. Some men have been great with but little reading, and have therefore been thought great merely by dint of genius; whereas they became great by their diligence as truly, and as much, as the most laborious student. Would you be great men, imitate their diligence. Travel often, and far, in the same paths. Make, at the same time, the utmost advantage of your books. He who has a library and will not use it is a sluggard possessed of a golden mine; who wears