boams, and Pilates, and Alexanders, and Attilas, and Cæsars, and Napoleons, and Humes, and Voltaires, and Robespierres, but thousands of millions of others, less conspicuous for iniquity, have not made it their supreme object to " please God," and to "enjoy him" here and hereafter. Indeed, the great mass of men seem to suppose, that they were sent into the world merely to accumulate property, to gain renown, and to enjoy sensual pleasure. Their objects are purely selfish. They are living " unto themselves." They seem to have no higher views of the object of life, than the gratification of self, in some of its forms. The horizon of their views is narrowed down to the diminutive circumference of their own selfish interests.

It is perfectly evident from the Scriptures, that the indulgence of such contracted notions of the great end of our being, is a perversion of the object for which our Creator made us. There is perhaps nothing more important to persons just entering upon active life, than distinctly to understand the reason why they were made. If they were made merely to eat and to drink, and to rise up to play, if they were created merely to decorate their bodies in the most fashionable style, and live in the richest palaces, and roll in the most splendid equipages, and to be deemed wealthier and more honorable than others, then they should know it. But if they were created for a far higher and nobler end; if they are heirs of immortality; if they sustain, and ever will sustain the most important relations to all intelligent beings and to God, then, they should know that.

In bringing to a close the Course of Lectures, to which you have listened with so much candor and indulgence, and I would fain hope not entirely without profit, I know not what can be more appropriate, than to recommend to you a

LIFE OF ACTIVE USEFULNESS.

Such a life will be a fulfilment of the great design of your creation. All the preceding lectures have been designed to bear upon this point. It has been my purpose to throw out such suggestions for your consideration, as would tend to form your characters for the highest possible degree of usefulness. Particularly has it been desired, to induce you all, without one exception, to become Christians; for the "Christian is the highest style of man "-highest in excellence, highest in usefulness, and reflects the brightest glory upon your Creator and Redeemer. "He died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again."

According to the text, your highest usefulness in life will consist in living unto Christ-in promoting the great interests of his kingdom in the world. Your attention is therefore invited

To what constitutes the basis of the greatest usefulness;

To your obligations to live such a life;

To the encouragements to do it; and

To the results of supreme devotedness to Christ.

I. What constitutes the basis of the greatest usefulness in life?

Good native and acquired abilities are highly necessary. By good natural abilities, I mean just such as almost every youth possesses. That respectable measure of talent, which is generally enjoyed, is far more useful than occasional prodigies of genius. Splendid genius falls to the lot of but few, and is rarely distinguished for usefulness, because it is often associated with some eccentricity, equally splendid. Those minds which have exerted the widest and most beneficent influence on the world, have generally been those, which were nearly as far removed from

transcendent genius on the one hand, as from imbecility on the other.

More ordinarily depends on intellectual acquisitions than on native talent. Industry and habits of close application are indispensable to a life of distinguished usefulness. But it is not my design to dwell on this point, because it was presented to you somewhat at large on a former occasion.

Practical wisdom, also, lies at the foundation of the most useful life. This implies a quick perception of the springs of human action-a deep knowledge of mankind-the faculty of reasoning soundly, or of drawing just conclusions from given premises a nice discernment of what is proper and improper, of what is right and wrong and a skillful adaptation of means to accomplish proposed ends. A person distinguished for practical wisdom is but rarely, if ever, guilty of those little weaknesses and indiscretions, which blight the usefulness of multitudes, and which make you feel it to be somewhat unsafe to adopt their opinions, or to be governed by their advice. The cultivation of this important trait of character, or rather of this happy combination of mental qualities, cannot commend itself too forcibly to your attention.

But the principal ingredient in a highly useful

life, and which I feel more anxious that you should possess than any other and all others, is eminent piety. That men entirely devoid of piety are often, in various degrees, the benefactors of their race, is cheerfully admitted. But the whole history of the world shows, that men of sound religious principle and of piety have generally performed the most labor, and made the greatest sacrifices of ease and property, and health and life, for the promotion of the best interests of the human kind. It is only the man, who has learned the worth of his own soul, who feels much for the souls of others. It is only the man, who has fled from the city of Destruction, who sees the danger of remaining there. It is only the man, who has lost his load of sin at the Cross, who sees the immense burden of guilt under which others are laboring. It is only the man, who has fallen into the hands of giant Despair, who has had any taste of the agonies of perdition. It is only the man, who has ascended the Delectable Mountains and taken a near view of heaven, who feels a burning desire to elevate a suffering world to the felicity of that abode.

But there are various grades even in the piety of Christians, and their usefulness is ordinarily measured by the degree of their spiritual attain