pursued, and on which he hath called you "to follow him?"-and whether this is the character of those "spirits made per"fect," who, after having finished the journey upon which you are now entering, "stand before the throne of that God for " ever ? "

SERMON XXI.

ON WINTER, AS THE SEASON OF RELIGIOUS

THOUGHT.

PSALM, Ixxiv. 17.

"Thou hast made summer and winter. "

UPON a former occasion, I addressed myself to the young of our congregation, in reference to that season of amusement which winter generally brings; and I endeavoured to explain to them some of those dangers to which the unrestrained love even of innocent amusement naturally leads, and what are the melancholy effects which it too frequently has, both

upon their future conduct and happi

ness.

There are many others, however, to whom winter arrives, beside the young and the gay;-there are other sentiments than those of joy, with which the hearts of many meet its approach; and there are higher instructions which it is fitted to give, than those which youth alone can derive from it. It is to this description of our congregation, to to the serious, the thoughtful, and the mature, that I now wish, for a few moments, to address myself; to show them what are the lessons which they may draw from the appearances they witness, and to suggest to them some of those reflections which the season naturally awakens, and which it would be wise in us all to render familiar to our minds.

I have before had occasion to observe, that, while the great end of the variation

of seasons is the support and maintenance of the material world to which we belong, it has yet also an indirect effect in the moral and religious instruction of man; and that, by this silent means, day unto day "uttereth unto him speech, and night "unto night teacheth him knowledge. " There are emotions which everywhere characterize the different seasons of the year. In its progress, the savage is led, as well as the sage, to see the varying attributes of the Divine Mind ;-and, in its magnificent circle, it is fitted to awaken, in succession, the loftiest sentiments of piety which the heart can feel. When spring appears, when the earth is covered with its tender green, and the song of happiness is heard in every shade, it is a call to us to to religious Hope and Joy. Over the infant year, the breath of Heaven seems to blow with paternal softness, and the heart of man willingly par

ticipates in the joyfulness of awakened Nature. When summer reigns, and eve ry element is filled with life, and the sun like a giant pursues his course through the firmament above, it is the season of solemn Adoration ;-we see then, as it were, the majesty of the present wherever we direct our eye,

God; — and "the glory

"of the Lord seems to cover the earth,

When au

"" the waters cover the sea. as tumn comes, and the annual miracle of Nature is completed;" when all things "that exist have waited upon the God "which made them, and he hath given "them food in due season," it is the appropriate season of Thankfulness and Praise. The heart bends with instinctive gratitude before Him whose beneficence "neither slumbers nor sleeps," and who, from the throne of glory," yet remember"eth the things that are in Heaven and "Earth. "