reading of political newspapers and literary periodicals, and the selling and drinking of ardent spirits.

Finally, it is to be particularly remembered, that a proper observance of the Sabbath requires not only the practice of the duties, and the avoidance of the sins mentioned in this lecture, but abstinence from all worldly, unholy feelings and thoughts. God looketh on the heart. All religious duties may be externally performed, and yet the Sabbath is violated, unless the heart be right. A renewed, a holy heart is indispensable to a real compliance with the requisitions of the fourth commandment.

My youthful hearers, viewing the conduct of many of our fellow citizens in the light of this commandment as explained by our Lord, it is not to be denied, that the Sabbath is violated to an alarming extent. And there is much reason to fear, that this evil is increasing with the prosperity of the country. The rapid growth of our cities and villages-the increase of luxury and wealththe multiplication of canals, and steam-boats, and rail-ways-the impatience of restraint and the laxness of many professed observers of the Sabbath, all, all contribute to roll the tide of desecration over that holy day. The whole land groans under this abomination. And if God is strict to mark iniquity-if he sent his chosen people into a seventy years' captivity because they would not keep the Sabbath, how much have we, as a nation, to fear! Nothing but timely repentance and reformation can avert his fierce anger. O, let the young men of our land lay this subject to heart. They can do much to increase, and much to prevent the profanation of the Sabbath. This generation of youth have the question to decide, whether the Sabbath shall be a day of amusement and business, or whether it shall be devoted to its proper objects. The responsibility on them is tremendous. Save the Sabbath, then, from desecration. Give it the whole weight of your influence. Remember that the day, which shall witness an universal prostration of the Sabbath, will shine, though with dimmed lustre, on the cemetery of our republican and Christian institutions and of the hopes of the world.

LECTURE VI.

MORALITY NECESSARY, BUT INSUFFICIENT TO SALVATION.

MATT. XIX. 16-22.-And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God; but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother, and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

In all enlightened, well-regulated communities, morality is held to be essential to the highest prosperity of man. Its praises are on every tongue. It has been often recommended in the most splendid creations of the poet's fancy, by the didactic instructions of the theologian, and from the chair of the professed teacher of moral science. And yet, in common discourse, morality is a term of very indefinite signification. Customs and practices, which some think are conformable to the rules of morality, others deem to be palpable violations of the same. This arises from the fact, that men appeal to no common standard, to determine the moral quality of actions. Though there is a standard of appeal, which is safe and decisive, most men seem to be unwilling to bring their conduct to so high and holy a test. They are afraid of the consequences. They anticipate an unfavorable decision.

But such is the homage which vice pays to virtue, that men are anxious to keep themselves in countenance while they are living, if the Bible be admitted to judge, in habits of fearful delinquency. Hence, rules of life and manners are created, in different communities, by public opinion, or, more properly speaking, by the prevailing taste of those communities. These rules are purely conventional; and, formed under these circumstances, they are, almost of necessity, more lax and accommodating than those contained in the Scriptures of truth. It was in this way, that theft came to be considered a virtue by the Spartans, provided it was not discovered; and that war was regarded by the martial Romans, as not only proper, but, in the highest degree, honorable. Hence it is, too, that the laws of chastity are so commonly violated in France, and that duelling is so frequently practiced in some parts of the United States. According to these lax rules of judgment, what is right in one country is wrong in anotherwhat is honorable on one parallel of latitude, may be dishonorable on the next. "Mountains interposed" determine the quality of actions, and pronounce the same actions, on the one side, wrong; and, on the other side, right.

It is evident, therefore, that, apart from the Bible, the moral quality of actions can never be determined. If the Bible be not the standard, men have no standard. But, all believers in divine revelation admit the Bible to be the standard, by which all actions are to be tried. They hold it to be an authoritative, infallible standard, and one from which there lies no appeal.

The young man, whose history is given us in the text, sustained a character, according to the judgment of this world, of the most irreproachable morality. So far as his outward conduct was concerned, he had kept all the commandments from his youth up. But when Jesus, to test the soundness of his morality by the rules of the Scriptures, told him to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor-to make an entire and un