eth them as a garment?" And what other explanation can be given to this strange appearance in the administration of God, except that which the psalmist declares that he found? "When I thought to know this (he says), it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God:-then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou calledst them down into destruction! How are they brought into desolation as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee, thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory."

In confirmation of this argument, the fears of bad men and the hopes of the good are circumstances of no inconsiderable weight. In the midst of the greatest worldly prosperity, and while there are no grounds of apprehension from men, why should it so frequently happen that a bad man has no peace of mind? Why should he fear where no fear is? Why should conscience take the alarm when every thing conspires to lull him into security? A great crime may be committed so secretly, that the perpetrator shall have no sort of reason for apprehending detection. Why, then, may he not live out his life in quietness; and when death at last comes to release him from the world, why should he not sink into the bosom of the earth without apprehension. or dismay? Why, but because he feels that his guilt has not been hid from every eye; that One has seen it, from whom alone it was of importance that it should be concealed; and that the stroke of death will not terminate his existence, but will send him trembling into the

presence of his Judge? This apprehension alone can account for the intolerable agonies which accompany remorse. When a bad man is seized with this apprehension, he then feels, like Cain, that "his punishment is greater than he can bear." Hence it is, that examples have been found of men who, pursued by the terrors of conscience, have openly declared to the world crimes which would otherwise never have been discovered; and have submitted to punishment in this world, with the secret hope that their guilt would thus, in some measure, be expiated in the sight of Heaven.

The hopes of good men, under the greatest depression of outward misfortunes, point likewise at this great truth. When a good man is forsaken by the world, and is subjected to the miseries of poverty and the loss of friends, he still finds something within which brings him consolation. It is not merely a good conscience, but it is hope founded on a good conscience. He has an internal-assurance, that however melancholy his present condition may be, there yet is something good in store for him. This hope enables him to bear up, and carries him in triumph through the storms of the world. Whence is this hope? is it a delusion, or is it an assurance from one who cannot lie?

Such, my brethren, seem to be the observations which, in all ages of the world, have led men to conclude, that their existence does not close with the present scene of things. To some these observations may appear quite satisfactory, and that the subject did not require any farther light to be thrown on it; but to others they may appear to be merely presumptions, and, after all, not very strong. If they do not strike the

per

mind in a peculiar manner, their force may not be ceived. There was, therefore, still room left for a revelation on this important point; and such a revelation has been made through the gospel. The evidence for the truth of our resurrection, founded on the gospel, is extremely simple. It rests on the assurances of our Saviour, confirmed by his own resurrection from the dead. To these points I will beg leave, on a future occasion, to call your attention.

SERMON XI.

PROOFS OF IMMORTALITY FROM REVELATION.

II TIM. i. 10.

"And hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

IN a former discourse, my brethren, I brought into one view some of the most striking observations which have, in every age, led men to conclude that their existence does not terminate with the present scene of mortality. To some, perhaps, such observations might seem to be of little value, since we are now happily in possession of a much surer ground of confidence upon this point than the unassisted light of nature can supply. Yet it is at least a pleasing meditation to contemplate the mind of man, even in its rudest condition, anticipating in some degree those sublime truths which it was left for the gospel clearly to reveal; and it must be grateful to the Christian to hear the sound of that voice, which has everywhere cried in the wilderness of the world, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."

It is in this view, as something preparatory to the information afforded us by revelation, that it is chiefly interesting and important to examine the natural evidences

of our immortality. There is, however, a prejudice to which such an inquiry may sometimes give rise, which it shall now be my business to obviate. The inquirer into the proofs of natural religion may perhaps be so well satisfied with the result of his investigation, that he may think it of little importance to search farther, or to examine the pretensions of any particular revelation. As this is a prejudice which not unfrequently leads into a very wide field of error and delusion, I believe it will not be a useless employment to trace the fallacy which lurks under it.

In the first place, then, admitting, what I am much disposed to believe, that the evidences of our immortality from reason are fitted to produce the highest degree of conviction on the minds of those who will candidly weigh them still the philosopher ought not to judge of men in general from himself, or suppose that a revelation is unnecessary for the instruction of the human race, because it may be so to a few individuals. The natural sentiments of all men, indeed, point to some state of existence beyond the grave; and you can never banish from the human heart the hopes and the fears of futurity; but, except among a few inquirers of deeper reflection than the rest, these sentiments exist only in a rude and untutored form; and men will cling with eagerness to every source of information, true or false, by which they may be rendered more satisfactory and distinct.

Thus we find the religion of the great body of mankind to be always something more than their natural sentiments, and to consist, in all appearance, rather of what they are taught, than of what they feel to be true.