Will you then, my friends, still ask what advantage has the Universalist? or what profit is there in believing his doctrine? Can you reflect upon its beauties and glories upon that cheering garb in which it clothes every object in creation upon the benign influence which it is calculated to exert; that, if practised, it will make you wiser and better; if believed, it will make you happier; that it will prepare you for the joys and troubles of life, and the solemn hour of death; can you reflect upon these things, and then be so unfeeling as to ask what advantage there is in believing this doctrine? I pray God that you may all be brought to enjoy those advantages possessed by the true believer, and to experience that profit arising from a knowledge of the truth.

Brethren, if the remarks which I have made be correct, our duty is plain. If such are the advantages, (and I have named only a few,) enjoyed by a belief in the truth, it is our solemn and imperious duty to be more deeply engaged in its advancement in the world. We are promised an abundant reward for all our labors in this holy cause, in the joys which we shall impart to others, and the satisfaction we shall experience ourselves. Let us, then, be awake and alive. Let us hold fast the faith of Christ, and contend earnestly for its promotion; that when death shall come, we may have the pleasure of knowing that we were faithful to ourselves, to the truth, and to God. In this faith, then, may we live; by its principles may we be

governed; in its hopes may we confide; and then, though the storms and tempests of life should beat against our frail bark, we shall be able to outride them all and go down to the tomb, cheered by

the assurance of a happy re-union, in a world of bliss, in the mansions of peace-where joys unspeakable shall be our portion forever. Amen.

SERMON VIII.*

Address to Young Men.

cr Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded."-Titus ii. 6.

YOUTH is the most important period of human existence. It is in the spring-time of life, that we form characters, acquire knowledge, devise plans, and lay the foundation of our future happiness. The impressions made upon our minds, and the principles imbibed by us in the morning of our existence, exert a mighty influence over the remainder of our lives. "Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined." The mind, in this stage of its progress, bears a striking resemblance to a garden. in spring. The good seed must then be sown, or you will have neither fruit nor flowers. Nor is this all. There must be pruning and nursing. The tares must be timely uprooted, or the seed will be choked, and you will reap a harvest of weeds for your toil. So with the mind of man. This is formed for virtue. It is capable of receiving the most lasting and salutary impressions. But it is in the spring-time of our existence that the good seed must be sown. Then is the time for uprooting

* Delivered at Waltham, Mass. Oct. 8, 1837.

the weeds of vice-for extracting evil and cultivating good; and if we perform this duty faithfully, we shall not fail to reap a rich reward of enjoyment as the fruit of our toil.

In the light of these remarks, you will perceive with what propriety the sacred writers have urged upon us the importance of paying proper attention to the education of the youthful mind. One great design of the moral teachings of the Bible is, to induce parents "to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; " to "train them up in the way they should go, that when they are old they may not depart therefrom."

In laying before his son Timothy the duties of his office, and meting out to him proper instructions, the Apostle was specially careful to enjoin upon him the importance of giving proper directions to those who were in the morning of existence. In my text, he instructs him in regard to those who had advanced from childhood to youth. "Young men likewise exhort to be soberminded."

That class of the community here addressed occupy an important position in life. Those who are now young men, are destined by their Creator to exert a mighty influence upon the future destiny of this republic. Soon those venerable men, who now crowd our halls of congress and seats of legislation, will be the silent tenants of the tomb. Soon those who now guide the helm of our national affairs will live only in the memory of the

past their voices will be hushed in silence-their persuasive eloquence will be mute in death- and their labors on earth will end forever. Then their stations must be filled by those who are now in the morning of existence. It will then be left for those who are now young men, to decide whether the sun of our political glory shall go down in darkness, or continue to shine with unfading splendor. Upon this class of the community, duties will then devolve of immense magnitude and importance. An influence must be exerted by them which will have a mighty bearing upon the welfare of millions yet unborn.

How important, then, it is, that those who are now young men, should prepare themselves for that part, which they are destined to act upon the great theatre of human life. How important that they now form those characters, and establish those principles, which in after years will yield them a harvest of enjoyment and honor!

Acknowledging myself as one of that portion of community of which I am speaking, and which I have the pleasure this evening to address — and realizing that my interests are intimately connected with theirs, I trust my young brethren, now before me, will bear with me for a few moments, while I endeavor, in plainness and simplicity, to heed the command in the text. "Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded." The par

ticular virtue here recommended is sobriety of mind, which to every young man is of the utmost