*

This being the disposition of the people, happy is that institution which prevails in a part of this island, of putting arms into the hands of the people, of making every citizen a soldier in his turn, and, by this means, having a force at hand to rise in arms at any sudden emergency. When such a system of military arrangements takes place, the prosperity of a state becomes independent of single men; there is a wisdom which never dies, and a valour which is immortal. A state may hire troops, but valour is not to be bought; the wealth of a nation will procure soldiers to fight its battles, but let it not be forgot, that the possessions of the fearful are easily seized, that a timorous multitude falls into rout of itself. Ramparts may be erected, and the implements of war may be furnished, by a pacific people; but let it be remembered as an eternal truth, that there is no rampart which is impregnable to valour, that arms are only of consequence when they are in the hands of the brave, and that the only price of freedom is the blood of the free. When an ancient Spartan was asked what was the wall of his city, he pointed to a band of brave men,- -8 defence more permanent and more effectual than the rock and the cement with which other cities are fortified.

IV. The public welfare consists in the national character. That righteousness exalteth a nation, and that vice is not only a reproach, but also a depression to any people, are truths so universally received, as to require little confirmation. All lawgivers in all ages have thought so, and made it their object to cultivate justice and temperance, and fortitude, and industry, conscious that public virtue is the source of public happiness. Philosophers and moralists have been of the same opinion, and have taught, with one consent, that the morality of the people was the stability of the government, and the true source of public prosperity. Practice and experience have confirmed the truth of these speculations. If we consult the history of the most renowned nations that have made a figure in the world, we shall find, that they rose to greatness by virtue, and sunk to nothing by vice; that they obtained dominion by their temperance, their probity of manners, and a serious regard to religion; and that, when they grew dissolute, corrupted, and profane, they became slaves to their

*Originally published before the institution of Scottish Militia.

neighbours, whom they were no longer worthy to govern. Public depravity paves the way for public ruin. When the health and vigour of the political constitution is broken, it is hastening to its decline. When internal symptoms of weakness appear, the least external violence will accomplish its dissolution. Besides the natural tendency of virtue to make nations great and happy, if we have just notions of divine Providence, if we believe that the perfections of God are at all concerned in human affairs, then virtuous nations must be his peculiar care, and under his immediate protection: he will counsel their counsellors, cover their armies in the day of battle, and crown them with victory and peace.

SERMON XXX.

HEBREWS ix. 27.

It is appointed to men cnce to die; but after this the judg

ment.

DEATH is the conclusion of all events; of all that ever have been, and of all that ever will be. The schemes of the base, and the plots of the ambitious, the projects of the visionary, the studies of the learned, all terminate here. However different the paths be that we take in life, they all lead to the grave. Whilst, therefore, we make death the subject of contemplation, and meditate upon the house which is appointed for all living, let us take this thought along with us, that we shall bear a part in those scenes which we now describe, and that we are meditating on a fate which will one day be our own.

I. Let us consider death as an event, the period of which is uncertain.

In the days when Noah entered into the ark, they did eat, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage; and the flood came, and destroyed them all. On the day that Lot went out of Sodom, they did eat, they drank,

they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; and it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. As it was in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot, even thus, my friends, shall it be to you when the day of death cometh. In the present state of things the soul of man is blind to futurity. Surrounded with material objects, and occupied in present affairs, we make these the sole objects of attention; we find in them the only sources of attachment, and overlook those spiritual and distant events on which our future life and happiness depend. Hence we are always surprised with our latter end, and the day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night. No instruction can make us so wise as to consider our latter end; no warning can incite us to set our houses in order, that we may die; and no example give the alarm so strong, as to set us on serious preparation for meeting with God. Void of thought, and careless of futurity, we live on from day to day, like the victim that plays and dances before that altar where its blood is to be shed. Even after the longest life, and under the most lingering sickness, death comes unexpected; the arrow is still unseen that strikes through the heart.

This is not peculiar to a few men; it describes a general character, and is exemplified in all the classes of life.-This infatuation does not arise from ignorance. You all know that death in certain; you all know that it is generally unexpected. You assent to every thing that we can say upon this head, that there is no action of life but what may lead to its end, and no moment of time but what may be our last. You need not be informed, that death spares no age; your own observation presents you with many instances of persons cut off in all periods of life. In that church-yard, you see graves of every length; on those monuments of mortality, you read the histories of the promising boy, of the blooming youth, of the man in middle life, and of the hoary head, mingled together in sad assemblage amongst the abodes of the dead. You can reckon up instances of persons cut off in a sudden and unexpected manner; of a Herod who was struck amidst the applauses of the people: of a Jezebel who was thrown headlong from that window where she had prepared to display herself to the people; cf a Belshazzar who was slain at a banquet, when he was carousing with his princes, his concubines, and his wives; and of a Holophernes,

who met his fate, surrounded with his army, and crowned with victory and fame.

With all these in your memory, you act as if you were immortal. Even the death of those who fall around us, and before our eyes, affects us not with serious concern. One person opposed us in a favourite object, and we rejoice at his decease; another stood in our way to preferment and power; the death of a third opens to us a prospect of rising to wealth and fortune: we profit not by all these lessons of mortality; the voice from the tomb sends us back to the world, and from the very ashes of the dead there comes a fire that rekindles our earthly desires. We look upon all our neighbours as mortal; we form schemes to ourselves upon their decease, but forget all the while that we ourselves are to die. O foolish and infatuated race will you always continue deaf to the voice of wisdom? Will neither the instructions of the living, nor the warnings of the dead, induce you to serious thoughts? Will you continue to lengthen your prospects, when perhaps you stand upon the very verge of life; and can you enjoy the feast, when the sword hangs over your head by a single hair? Who knoweth what a day may bring forth; the morning has smiled upon multitudes, who, before the evening, have slept the sleep of death. Who knoweth how soon you may be hurried to the judgmentseat of God? The ears, which hear these sayings, may soon be shut for ever; and the heart which now throbs at the thought, may, in a little, be mingled with the clods of the valley. Some, who last Lord's day worshipped within these walls, are now gone to the eternal world, and God only knows how soon some of us may follow.

Seeing, then, that life is so uncertain, that the thread thereof breaks at every blast, let me exhort you to set apart some time for serious meditation upon your mortality. Let it be on some solemn occasion, in the silent hour of night, when deep sleep falleth on man, when midnight closeth awful all the world, and nought in nature is awake but God and thee; there in deep and solemn meditation, think over the terrors of that house which is appointed for all living, and with the ancient patriarch, say to corruption, "Thou art my father," and to the worm, "Thou art my mother and my sister." Ask seriously at your own heart, "Should these eyes never open upon the light of another day; should the awful mandate issue forth from

the Almighty Arbiter of life and death-" This night, this night thy soul shall be required of thee;" Could you, without fear and trembling, face the tribunal of God, the Judge of all? If frighted nature starts back and trembles at the thought of instant dissolution, make your former life pass before you in review, compare it with the law of God. If your former mispent time comes up before you in sad remembrance; if your past transgression stare you in the face, and point to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone,-instantly, and without delay, whilst the gate of heaven is yet open, whilst the throne of mercy is yet accessible, prostrate yourselves before God in deep humility and abasement; mourn over the sins of your past life in bitterness of soul; believe in a crucified Redeemer, who died for the sins of the world; implore compassion and forgiveness from the Father of mercies, through the merits of Jesus Christ. Thus continue fervent in prayer and supplication, and in the exercise of faith and repentance. Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eye-lids, till you have made your peace with God, till you feel within yourselves that peace which passeth all understanding, that joy which is unspeakable and glorious. Thus continue, at solemn and stated occasions, to consider your latter end, till death shall grow familiar to your mind, till the grave shall gradually lose its terrors, and the Sun of Righteousness arise upon you in full glory.

II. Let me remind you, that a good life is the best preparation for death. You may lay it down as a maxim, confirmed by universal experience, that every man dies as he lives; and it is by the general tenor of the life, not a particular frame of mind at the hour of death, that we are to be judged at the tribunal of God. It is a dangerous mistake which prevails amongst men, that it is sufficient for their eternal happiness, if they feel some serious emotions at their latter end. If your life has been wicked, what will it avail you, that, on your death-bed, you have been actuated with sorrow for your offences? Judas Iscariot felt such a sorrow when he went to his own place. Late conversions are not to be trusted to, and death-bed repentances are generally nothing more than the first gnawing of the worm that shall never die. Suppose death to halt a little, the sick person recovers, washes his couch with floods of penitential tears; a thousand vows of amendment are made; but, if repentance lasts no longer than