sion when vast eternity is at hand! But O, again I ask you, Can you, will you, thus requite the Saviour of the lost? Can you look on him afflicted, tormented, suspended between heaven and earth, defiled with blood, and sinking beneath an intolerable load of sorrow; can you look back to Calvary, and continue to treat him thus? I know the world tempts you to do so; but will you let the world prevail? Did he leave heaven and the brightest throne of glory to encounter such horrors. for you, and will you not give up what the vain world can offer for him? Let it do its best were its riches, pleasures, honours, yours, are these things better than the heaven to which Jesus fain would lead you? He came to save the lost; will you refuse to let him save you? The graves opened, and the rocks rent, at his crucifixion shall graves open sooner than your heart, and even rocks be softer? Were you to see a beloved friend ascend a scaffold on your account, then see his lifeless body bleeding, the eyes, that loved to look on you,' closed in death, and all this for you, and in your place, you could not be unaffected. Again, I remind you, that for you your injured Lord bled; and bled not by a sudden, but a lingering death; and can you remain unaffected because you see not the mournful spectacle, when you know that it once was seen, till Heaven indignant Heaven, turned the day to darkness, and hid the bleeding Saviour? Unless you turn to him, as far as you are concerned, all this will be in vain. As to you, it will be in vain that he came from heaven, and became the poor man of sorrows. As to you, it will be in vain that his hands, his feet, his side, were pierced, and that he became the sufferer of the cross, the victim of death. O let him not have to say to you, You will not come to me that you might have life!" Flee to him for salvation! O give him your youth! Trust him with your soul. Make him your all in all; and in him be blessed for time and eternity. But if you refuse to do this, if you continue to slight his love, and to deny him all that such goodness claims, then, young sinner, expect hereafter no gentle flames, no tolerable damnation; for know that the deepest and most wretched hell will not be more wretched than such iniquity will deserve. Your sin will be nothing less than preferring

Satan, who tries every method in his power for your destruction, to that blessed friend who bore such sor rows for you. You will be covered with a load of ingratitude, blacker in one respect, than that which sunk the devil and his angels to the lake of fire; they sinned against a gracious God, but, if you continue to slight the Gospel, you will sin against a gracious God, and a suffering Saviour too. Even devils themselves may then rise up in the judgment to condemn you, and to declare those who could be insensible to such goodness, and indifferent to such a friend, in this respect at least, more horribly wicked than themselves.

Sect. 12. Prayer, for those youthful Readers, who feeling the greatness of divine love, desire to be the Lord's.

Compassionate Lord, what miracles of love hast thou displayed! How beautiful are thy works, the sun, the moon, the starry sky! how great, there, are the wonders of thy power; but 0, in the Gospel, how much greater are the wonders of thy love! How numerous are those mercies, which hourly come from thee, but, O how much the gift of thy Son surpasses them all! Amazing love! that thou shouldst give such a gift to such a world. O let this love fill all my heart, and engage -all I am and have to thee. O let me view it as manifested to me a sinner. With wonder and gratitude, may I look on Jesus, as given by thee, to snatch even me from perdition; and may I be sweetly constrained to yield up myself, body, soul, and spirit unto thee. O my God, poor are my praises, cold is my gratitude. I owe thee more for the gift of Jesus, than millions of tongues could utter, or millions of years declare. I would lie abased before thee, for having offered thee so little. Oh my injured God! my forgotten Saviour! my neglected soul! Had I ten thousand hearts thy love demands them all; yet much of my life has passed, and angels and men have seen me denying thee this one, poor unworthy heart. Great God, could I feel the evil of such sin aright, this heart would burst with sorrow, and these eyes would weep, till death stopped the flowing tears; but imperfect in every thing, I am imperfect in my penitence. Yet let me feel so much as shall lead

is my heart, so far at least may it glow with love, as shall lead me to lie cheerfully at thy feet, seeking all my good in thee. Farewell earth! farewell all the allurements of a dying world! my God demands my heart; my God shall have it. And, O thou blessed Lord, form me according to thy will, and make me, in some good measure, holy, harmless, humble, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Guide me by thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory.

And, O thou compassionate Saviour, what praises, what gratitude I owe to thee! Why didst thou stoop, "beneath the grave, to save a sinking world!" Why pass by sinful angels to visit sinful men! Why raise man to the heaven, he never enjoyed, and not restore them to the heaven they lost! Why sink so low, to raise us so high! Why suffer for such a worm as I! Even so, Lord, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Blessed Jesus thy divine goodness undertook, thy power performed this miracle of miracles; this more than wonder. No merits didst thou see in man. None wilt thou ever see. Never can we repay the debt of gratitude. Never love thee half enough. O gracious Saviour, O divine Sacrifice! thou didst bleed; didst bleed for me; didst come to wash away my stains; to seek and save me who was lost. Let me live to thee; and in my life adorn thy gospel, and glorify thy name. Let me die to thee; die with an assurance that I am thine; die, saying in my last hour, Beloved Saviour, through thy merits and thy death, a poor polluted worm, deserving hell, ascends to heaven. Amen.

CHAPTER IX.

Early piety peculiarly acceptable to God, and pecub iarly honoured by him.

SECT. 1. True Religion of infinite moment long beyond the period when worldly concerns will be insignificance itself.... s. 2. Piety in any pleasing to God, but carly piety peculiarly acceptable....s. 3. Early religion honourably distinguished by God....s. 4. Acceptable to the Lord, as it displays the truest love....s. 5. Because it shews the truest gratitude.... s. 6. From its being comparatively rare....s. 7. From its hav ing to surmount many discouragements....s. 8. Prayer.

SECT. 1. THE affection of earthly relatives and friends, you doubtless esteem of much importance to your happiness; but allow me to remind you, that there is one infinitely greater friend, whose approbation is of more consequence, than that of all earthly friends united. Allow me to remind you that the King of Kings deigns to regard early piety as peculiarly acceptable to himself; and this is a weighty reason for its choice. If, then, you would be happy, here, and happy for ever; useful on earth, and glorified in heaven; I beseech you to make this blessing yours. I beseech you to remember, that the esteem and love of mortal friends, if obtained in youth, and enjoyed through following years, and if ever so important, for all the term of life, will sink into insignificance itself, when death shall dislodge your soul from its feeble habitation, and eternity receive you to its endless abodes. But to possess that early acquaintance with Christ, that early piety which is peculiarly pleasing to God, will most nearly concern. you, long after you have done with the world; long after not one trace of you or yours remains on earth; long after the shroud, that dress of the grave and the coffin, that dwelling of the dead, are mixed and lost in the dust that covers them; long after the graves have given up their dead, and the Judge fixed their eternal • doom. Tell me my young friend, of that worldly con‐ cern, which will be of any importance to you, when the year 2000 comes. Alas! you cannot. The world then, as now, may be gay and thoughtless; but to you, long, long, long ere that period comes, there will not remai

one bitter dreg of any worldly sorrow, or one pleasing memorial of any worldly joy. The sun will shine as brightly then for others, the earth be as gaily dressed for them, as now for you; but long ere that time ar rives, those who are in vigorous youth, or decrepid age, will be mixed in the same dust. The clods of the valley, almost for ages, will have covered both, alike forgetful of a busy or a pleasurable world. The grass of the field, for years and years, will have flourished and faded about the spot where you and I shall lie. O vain and passing world! how wretchedly are that youth, and health, and strength, misemployed, which are employed for thee! Seek, my young friend, a better portion than such a world can give. Pursue his favour, whose favour will be found better than life, when the world itself has passed away like a shadow, that vanishes when the sun goes down.

Sect. 2. Religion, in any situation, or in persons of any age, is acceptable in the sight of the Most High, and is deemed true wisdom by him. In a passage already referred to, it is said, The fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding have all they that do his commandments.1 A person may be poor, ignorant, unknown, mean, and of small capacity, yet if guided by the counsel of God, this poor unlettered man shall be esteemed, by his Maker, as wise and of good understanding; another may be great and noble, skilful in all knowledge, able to discourse in halfTM a score of languages, and the world may be astonished at his talents; yet, because he knows not true piety, God would pronounce him a fool, a man of no understanding. So precious is true piety in the sight of the Lord.

But while piety, in any situation or age, is pleasing to the Most High, yet learn from the divine word, that youthful piety has peculiar charms. No sight upon earth is more lovely, than to see young persons, in the very bloom of life, devoting themselves to the Saviour, who died for them, and ornamenting his religion by giving it their best years. Religion may be regarded by the aged convert from sin and folly, but it must be honour

1 Psalm cxi. 10