the fields, the mind, wearied by commerce with men, resumes its vigour in solitude, and repairs its dignity.

We must not suppose, that righteousness depends upon our exertions alone, and not upon the situations in which we are placed; the love of Christ is so strong, in some men's hearts, that neither heights, nor depths, nor principalities, nor powers can avail to destroy it. But the greater part of us are what the circumstances, in which we are placed, incline to make us; in solitude, thinking sometimes of what man is, and of the God that made him; in the world, acting, and thinking as the world do act, and think, neglecting no pleasure, avoiding no display, avoiding only our own souls, and deaf to those warnings, which are the whispers of Heaven, and the calls to salvation.

It is indeed possible that an human being may pass a long life in the midst of society, without getting one distinct view of his religious character, and may wait till the pains of death make him look back,

and tremble; his sorrows have all been dissipated; his compunctions smothered; his old age forgotten; his object has been to blunt all those feelings which lead to salvation; to heal instantly every warning pain, which might make him change; to avail himself of all the diversions before him; to forget unpleasant duties; and then, after threescore, and ten years, of voluptuous oblivion, he wakes to the judgments of God.

In saying these things, I am well aware that the necessities of human life do not allow to us all to place ourselves in situations where the object of a rational, and moderate intercourse with our fellow-creatures may be best promoted. Some are compelled, by the accidents of the world, to mingle more with their fellow-creatures, some less; but it is the indispensable duty of all, who cannot avoid scenes of tumult, and perpetual occupation to remember that tendency which such scenes have to harden the heart, and to make man forget his Redeemer, and his God; it is their duty ever to call to mind,

that all these works of

men with which they are conversant, are but in fact, the works of him who made man; and in the midst of all the business, the pleasure, and the wonder which surround them, they must not forget the hour. of death, the day of judgment, and the being which punishes, and rewards; and let them, as often as can be, depart into the. solitary place and pray, that they remain unspotted from the world; that they be ever mindful of the insignificance of those scenes, in which they are engaged; labouring in their worldly vocation with hearts firmly fixed upon the salvation of Christ.