rel*; afferting that their fpiritual coin, for which, good men!, they defired only worldly honors, and perifhing gold in exchange, was the true riches, and evidently bore an heavenly divine impreffion While thofe to whom they would put it off, purely for their eternal benefit, could, alas poor blinded men! difcern upon it no image or fuperfcription more facred and venerable,than the mere terreftrial one of the mortal coiners; the image of the earthly, not of the heavenly ADAM.— O deteftable hypocrify and villany! Such in fact were both the fpirit and the practice of many of those men, who are now followed by multitudes of proteftants, as the greateft luminaries of the chriftian church fince the apoftles days, and the preachers of" found doctrine", by way of diftinction from others, at least as learned, and of a far more peaceable, pious and virtuous conversation; which is, indeed, paying these reputed unfound men,, but a very indifferent compliment.

BUT, to return to the apostle and his epistle, from thofe who were fo unlike him both in doctrine and manners-His epiftle having been written with a view to direct Titus in his behaviour as a minifler of the gofpel; and particu larly, though not primarily, refpecting that material branch of his duty as fuch, his doctrine, or preaching; the particular directions relative hereto, are doubtlefs obligatory upon the preachers of the gospel in fucceeding ages; as is, at leaft generally, allowed. And, by the way, how

* Flectere & nequeo Superos, Acheronta movebo.

ever

Ma. vii.

ever fuperior Titus may be fuppofed to have been in fome refpects, to any or all of the minifters of the gofpel at this day; yet the directions given him by the apoftle, are given with fuch an air, in fuch a manner, as fuppofes him to have been only on a level with them in another, viz. as an uninfpired man, who was to receive the doctrine which he preached, and the rules to be observed by him, immediately from the apoftle, not from the Spirit of God, who fpake in and by him. I think myfelf, therefore, (one of the leaft confiderable, indeed, of thofe who have the honor to fuftain this facred office) obliged to preach found doctrine, and the things which become it, according to this account and reprefentation thereof, in all its branches: But fhall now confine myfelf to that fingle point, to which my text relates; the " exhorting young men to be fober-minded".

IT has been the remark of many perfons,and, I fuppofe, not wholly without foundation, that, amongst my honoured and beloved hearers of this fociety, there is a pretty large proportion of

young men"; a larger proportion, perhaps, than in moft of the other affemblies in the town. I can truly fay, I am, as it is certainly my duty to be, tenderly concerned for their intereft, reputation and honour; for their real good in this world, as well as their eternal happiness in the other. And, tho' I have not been unmindful of them in times paft; yet, methinks, it will be no more than a proper piece of refpect, and mark of my unfeigned love and regard to them,

if

if I adapt and devote a number of discourses more particularly to their fervice, agreeably to the apoftolic injunction in the text. This is what is propofed; and may almighty God, by his bleffing, render thefe difcourfes as truly useful and falutary to them, as they are fincerely defigned for that end!

AFTER fome remarks on the principal terms in the text, the method which, by divine permiffion and affistance, will be purfued, is as follows. It is intended,

FIRST, Somewhat diftinctly to explain to my young brethren, the nature of that fobriety which is fpoken of in the text; and to recommend it in a curfory way.

SECONDLY, To point out, particularly, fome of the many fins, follies and criminal exceffes, which are repugnant to it; and against which young men efpecially, may need to be cautioned.

THIRDLY, It is propofed, more largely and diftinctly, to exhort them to this fobriety of mind, and to diffwade them from the contrary. And,

FOURTHLY, To fhew them the extreme folly and danger of delaying to be fober-minded, till they are farther advanced in years; the common, and often fatal error of the young.

LET me make fome remarks on the principal terms of the text, before I proceed to the main defign, as represented above.

And,
I. THE

1. THE perfons who are to be thus exhorted, are young men." It It may not be amifs just to obferve here, that what is tranflated young men,in two words,is only one in the original: the "young", or "younger", in the plural number, with a mafculine termination to denote the fex intended; there being nothing befides this termination, to warrant the addition of the word " men,

as

in our common tranflation: with which, however, I would not be thought to find any fault on this account. For the original word is in general well enough rendered thus. Under this term, or thefe terms, [young men] may be comprehended all perfons of that fex, between children, and thofe whom we commonly call middle-aged perfons.

HUMAN life, or the age of man, has been varioufly divided, One, and, I believe, a pretty ancient method of dividing it, is into four pefiods; viz. childhood and youth, complete, perfect manhood, and old age. Those who divide it thus,reckon the ftate of childhood, from the birth to fourteen years; of youth, from fourteen to about twenty five; of complete, perfect manhood, from twenty five to fifty; and of old age, from thence-forward till death; whether that come at the end of three-fcore years and ten, or, by reafon of ftrength, not 'till fourfcore years; or tho' people fhould live ftill longer" in labor and forrow."

ACCORDING to this divifion of human life, you perceive that all betwixt fourteen and twenty five years, are to be reckoned in the clafs of

+ Pfa'm xc. 10.

young

young men. And as to those who either a little fall fhort of, or exceed thefe years; they may yet well enough be comprehended in the text, under the denomination of young men. Neither the holy scriptures, nor moral difcourses in general, aim at precifion in fuch matters as thefe. It would, indeed, be no better than trifling to infift, in discourses of this kind, upon the punctilio of a few weeks, months, or even years.

IT may be farther remarked here, that when, in common discourse, we fpeak of young men, we often mean thofe that are in a single state, or the unmarried, in contradiftinction from the married, tho' SOME of the former are OLDER than many of the latter. But the apoftle does not appear to fpeak of young men in this restrained fenfe, exclufively of the married; but rather to include both; tho' he might probably have a more particular view to the former. That he does not fpeak of the unmarried by way of diftinction from the married, is at least probable from what he had juft before faid concerning the young women, as he calls them; [ver. 4.] fome of whom he, nevertheless, fuppofes to be married, to have husbands, and children: "That they may "teach the young women to-love their husbands, "to love their children, &c." From hence it may be naturally inferred, that the apoftle, in the next verfe but one, fpeaking of young men, did not intend to be understood of the unmarried only : Efpecially if it be confidered that fome of thefe, who have never entered into that state of life, which he fays" is honorable in all," instead of C being