than he in witnessing the restoration of an immortal soul to its Father and its God;-and surely it would, if possible, enhance such joy, if he could be assured that, even in a single instance, this humble record of his words was conducive to effect that object which was nearest to his heart when they passed through his living lips; and that thus, "though absent from us in "the body," he was still instrumental in the blessed work of "converting a sinner from the error of his way, "and saving a soul alive.”

That He who is the Author of every good and perfect gift, may accompany them with the healthful and saving influence of his grace to the heart of every reader, is the fervent prayer of

THE EDITOR.

SERMON I.

ECCLESIASTES, xii. 1.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.

We all know that we shall have to remember our Creator at one time or another. We cannot but know that he has many ways of inviting us to remember him-" the sun that he "makes to rise upon the evil and the good--the "rain that he sends down upon the just and "the unjust-the fruitful seasons, by which "he fills our hearts with food and gladness"the weekly returns of his holy Sabbath-the ministry of the Gospel of salvation-and the table which he spreads before us, which he has instituted as a peculiar memorial of himself, and at which he invites us to eat of the bread of life, and to drink from the fountain of living

water.

And we cannot but know that he has also the means of making himself remembered, and that he will not always allow himself to be for

gotten, but that he has certain agents at his disposal, by which, when he pleases, he can command our attention, --the sword-the famine the pestilence-the death-bed-the last trumpet-" the worm that dieth not, and the "fire that is not quenched."

Such a Being cannot be remembered too often, or too soon. There is no one here that will venture to say, that there ever existed a man from the foundation of the world who remembered him too much, or began to fix his thoughts upon him too early. We need scarcely go farther, then, to discover what is to become of those who habitually forget him; who only think of him when he is started into their minds by something violent or accidental, and who say, "It is yet time enough to remember my "Creator." Why they might as well say when death comes, it is yet time enough to die. It is hard to conceive the fate of these men, if they are cut off in this state of forgetfulness, to be any thing but evil and misery; in fact, it would put our invention to no easy trial, to imagine what good thing they would be capable of enjoying in the other world. Look into their own breasts;-they hope for nothing, they promise

themselves nothing; for they cannot think of these things when they forget Him who is the Author and Giver of these things. If then there were no other reason for remembering our Creator in the days of our youth, than that we may never have an old age vouchsafed to us, in which we may recall him to our thoughts; that between us and that old age there may be a great gulf fixed that we shall never pass; if this were the only reason, should it not be enough? Nay, the sin of thus trifling with him and our own immortal souls, by deferring their consideration to a future opportunity, may be the very means of provoking him to withhold that opportunity for ever.

But there is another reason for remembering our Creator in the days of our youth. The days of our youth are the days of our blessings. It would be hard to find throughout the whole range of creation, a more glorious and interesting object, than youth just entering into active life, just rejoicing as a giant to run his course. Set him alongside of the noblest animal of any other species; compare him with the old and decaying members of his own-and what a difference! In those days we enter into life with

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a shower of God's blessings upon our heads: we come adorned with all the choicest gifts of the Almighty; with strength of body, with activity of limb, with health and vigour of constitution, with every thing to fit us both for labour and for enjoyment; if not endowed with a sufficiency, endowed with what is better, the power of obtaining it for ourselves by an honest and manly industry; with senses keen and observing; with spirits high, lively, and untameable, that shake off care and sorrow whenever they attempt to fasten upon our mind, and that enable us to make pleasure for ourselves, where we do not find it, and to draw enjoyment and gratification from things in which we see nothing but pain, vexation, and disappointment.

But, above all, in the days of our youth, the mind and the memory, with which we have been endowed by the Almighty, are then all fresh, alive, and vigorous. Alas! we seldom think what an astonishing gift is that understanding which we enjoy-the bright light that God has kindled within us-until our old age comes, when we find that that understanding is wearing away, and that light becoming dim. Then shall we feel bitterly, most bitterly, what it is