to your spiritual interest. I once heard of a young man who was remarkably thoughtless and dissipated, whose father, in his last will bequeathed to him a large estate, on condition that he would, for so many years, spend half an hour every morning by himself, in serious reflection. The young man, in obedience to this injunction, began a compliance with it. At first it was a most unwelcome task to which he forced himself as a means of holding his property. He soon submitted to it with less and less reluctance, until at length he adhered to it of choice, and became a truly virtuous and pious man.

The only other means of attaining the knowledge and love of God which I shall urge, is the reverential observance of the holy Sabbath. As the consecration of this day to rest from secular labours, and to the service of God, is one of the most important means of keeping the world in order, and maintaining the reign of religion among men; so the profanation of this day, is one of those sins which tend pre-eminently to banish religious sentiments from the mind, and to draw down the curse of heaven, both on individuals and society. There can be little hope either of the success or the happiness of that individual or that community who habitually trample on that day which God has set apart for himself. The celebrated Lord Chief Justice Hale, equally distinguished as a jurist and a Christian, has left on record, "that he never

prospered in any secular employment, unless it were a work of necessity or mercy, undertaken on the sabbath; and, on the contrary, that the more closely he applied himself to the appropriate duties of that holy day, the more happy and successful were all the business and employments of the week following." The same, I am persuaded, will be the experience of every one who pays attention enough to this subject to mark the facts which occur in his own case. If, therefore, I were to hear that you were in the habit of pursuing your ordinary studies on the sabbath, or of engaging in the secular amusements in which many profanely indulge on that day, I should expect to hear little good either of your moral or religious character, and should have little hope of your ultimate success even in your intellectual pursuits. Rely upon it, you will never gain by robbing God, or by profaning any of his institutions.

My dear sons, consider these things. The blessing of God is the best riches, and he addeth no sorrow with it. That blessing can never be expected unless you sincerely seek and attain true religion. "It is, therefore, not a vain thing for you; it is your life." Upon this hangs every thing precious, every thing truly valuable for both worlds. There have, indeed, been instances of men who had no religion enjoying much temporal aggrandizement, and no small degree of honour among men. But how

much happier would they have been, and how much more solid honour and confidence might they have enjoyed, had they been sincere Christians, living habitually under the influence, and enjoying the consolations of the gospel of Christ! Sir Walter Scott, and even the cold-blooded infidel, Byron, each attained a distinction in his day, which many a youth has been tempted to envy. But was either of them a happy man? Especially was not the author of "Childe Harold" regarded by every sober-minded contemporary as, with all his talents, no better than a fiend incarnate. And when we come to the death-bed of both, what do we see but the absence of that hope and comfort which every wise man desires to enjoy in his last hour?

My dearly beloved sons! You must, one day, be serious, whether you will or not. At present the vanities of the world may absorb your attention, and hide more important objects from your view. But, be assured, the time is approaching when you will see things in a very different light. The fashion of this world is rapidly passing away. Scenes untried and awful are about to open before you. Death, judgment and eternity are hastening on apace. Then, when the sources of earthly comfort are dried up; when heart and flesh begin to fail; when you are about to bid an everlasting farewell to this world, and all its vanities; then, if not before, you will certainly lament the want of

sober consideration. Then, if not before, you will cry out in the bitterness of remorse, "O that I had been wise, that I had thought of this, that I had considered my latter end!" Here, then, I must leave you,"commending you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to enlighten your minds; to give you an heart to serve him; and to prepare you for an inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified."

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LETTER VI.

REBELLIONS.

Ars cujus principium est mentiri, medium laborare, finis poenitere.

THOUGH you have never been witnesses of one of those grand rebellions of which the history of our college has furnished some examples, yet you have seen enough of the elements and the inceptive workings of such insanity, to form a tolerable estimate of its real character. And I think I may venture to say, that the more you have seen of the causes and spirit of such lawless outbreakings, the less you have respected them, and the more you have been disposed to contemplate their fomentors and their conductors with mingled feelings of contempt and abhorrence. And I can assure you, my dear sons, if it were possible to impart to you the