PREFACE.

I submit the following Sermons to the public, not without reluctance, yet with humble confidence in Him whose cause and whose religion they are intended to promote.

I would not, of myself, have chosen for my sentiments the unstudied form in which they now appear; for I do not think that discourses written only for the pulpit are suitable for the press. The class of composition I conceive to. be entirely different. For the pulpit there is required that commonness of topics which the exigencies of a congregation demand; that slightness of construction which permits the passing lightly over many points, and the dwelling disproportionally on others; that authority of statement which becomes the Mi

nister of God when instructing those committed to his charge; that diffusiveness of style and illustration by which the thought may be detained before the mind of the hearers; and yet that force and abruptness of address by which it may be pressed upon their consciences;in a word, all that informality of character and looseness of expression which shall best approximate the whole to a popular address.

But he who ventures to request the public attention, should have something of moment to communicate; and should bring to his task some power of investigation, some continuity of reasoning, some delicacy of discrimination, some accuracy of expression, some terseness of style, and especially much of that cautious humility of suggestion which becomes one who is addressing many wiser and better than himself. Nothing, therefore, but a request which I did not think myself at liberty to disregard, would have led me thus to come before the world.

The Object of these discourses is to promote that one great end of all ministerial instruction, Practical Piety. They are addressed not so

much to the intellectual as to the moral man. Christianity is grounded on the moral feelings and necessities of human nature, and to these, therefore, it speaks, by these it must be appreciated, on these must it work. It is not an abstract science, whose propositions may be rigorously demonstrated; it is a moral discipline, whose principles must be intimately felt. It comes not to bring information concerning things without us, but to raise up piety and virtue within us. It consists not, therefore, in the profession of certain doctrines; but in the experience of certain dispositions, and the exercise of certain conduct, towards God and towards man. Consequently, its truths are valuable only so far as they are applied to the promotion of these dispositions and this conduct; as their bearings on the moral man are understood, and their workings in the life are realized. The end of all ministerial instruction is Christian Virtue; and all Virtue has its seat in the Will, and by the energy of the Will must be produced. To the Will, therefore, we must have respect, and the consecration of the Will we must demand. Without this, we may know and we may feel Religion, but we shall

not practise it. We may talk on controverted subjects, or luxuriate in devout emotions, but we shall not LIVE to Him who died for us.

The Method which I have pursued is that which all substantial instruction, (and the business of a Pastor is Instruction,) seems to me to demand. To receive truths effectually we must receive them connectedly. They must have some relation both to our existing thoughts, and to one another.

And hence it is that Christianity begins with the elemental feelings of our nature, and builds itself on them. It does not outrage the common principles of man, but claims kindred with those principles, and answers their demands. And in proportion, therefore, as those principles are roused and strengthened, will the Gospel be prepared for and advanced. We must not throw abroad our seed at random, indifferent whether the ground be wrought for its reception or not. It is only from a mind prepared with some degree of moral and religious sentiment-of honesty and conscientiousness of reverence and submissiveness-of humility and fear-that the fruits of ge

nuine Repentance, Faith, and Holiness can spring.* And that Instruction, therefore, is as essentially the Gospel, which silently prepares for its reception, as that which claims exclusively its name and honour.

Nor are the truths of Christianity less closely connected with each other, than with the common nature and necessities of man. They mutually imply, or demand each other. They may be approached from various points, and may be set forth in various relations; but seldom can they be profitably taught without some sequency of plan. The following discourses, therefore, though each is complete in itself, are for the most part consecutive, and are fragments of an intended whole.†

* Luke viii. 15.

+ The first Series (1--XIII.) is Doctrinal, and commencing with what I conceive to be the ground of all Religion, the sacred Awe of a finite being in all his relations towards the Infinite-proceeds to speak of that Acquaintance and Fellowship with Him by Faith, whose issue is Devotedness and all Good Works. The second Series (XIV-XVIII.) is Exegetical, and was intended to exhibit the Scripture notion of Spirituality, and to indicate its source in the influences of the Spirit, together with the means of acquiring and cherishing it. The remaining Sermons are Miscellaneous.