The duties of man arise from his several relations; and his first and chief relation is to his Creator, whose will is his first law, and towards whom an unreserved obedience and an unlimited affection constitute the first and great commandment. That civil government cannot subsist without regard to the will of God—or, in other words, without the sanctions of religion-is manifest from the universal experience and practice of mankind. In the administration of justice the solemnity of an oath secures, as far as any means can secure it, the credibility of evidence, by the awfulness of such an appeal to the all-seeing and omnipotent God; and it is almost needless to insist upon the feebleness and inadequacy of human laws alone to control the unruly wills and affections of sinful men. If it were not for the restraining hand of Providence and the counteracting influences of religion, the elements of ruin which exist in every

community would bring to pass its speedy destruction. Even where true religion does exist, yet, if its influence be only partial, the state of society must suffer in consequence, and be proportionally exposed to evil, distress, and ruin. It is impossible to contemplate the wonderful and instructive history of the Jewish nation without being deeply impressed with the conviction, that the measure of their prosperity or adversity was accurately adjusted by an unerring hand, in accordance with the flourishing or declining state of their religious principles. We can, indeed, have no difficulty in concluding that, in their case, the saying has been fearfully verified, that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is the disgrace," and, we may add, the destruction, "of any people." And when we trace the course of history by the ruins of ancient cities, once the glory of the earth, we mourn over the fate of a

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Babylon, a Tyre, or a Nineveh; and are taught the saddening truth that the mightiest and the widest empires, wanting true religion-the only conservative influence. of nations-rise but to fall, and sink into oblivion. And the records of morc modern history still give the same solemn warning to the nations of the earth. Scarce half a century has elapsed since the ungodly, in a neighbouring country, were permitted to fill up the measure of their iniquities; and, having destroyed the king who ruled over them, they proceeded to deny the God who made them. They raised for a while, in no bloodless triumph, the godless arch of infidelity over the tomb of their loyalty and religion; and turn your eyes, my brethren, to the present condition of that same infatuated people! The awful lessons of former revolutions seem to have been well nigh lost upon them; and they have not scrupled to reenact the like scenes of carnage and insur

rection. They who reason only according to the wisdom of this world will be inclined to ascribe to other causes the existence of such an unhappy state of things; but the faithful reader of those Scriptures, which were written for our learning, will be prepared to attribute, without misgiving, the disaffection and disorganisation of society that so generally prevail amongst our continental neighbours to the long continued neglect or profanation of the sacred ordinances of pure and undefiled religion. If the people have been habitually left to themselves or misguided in the way in which they have walked-if they have been without Christ -without Bibles-without Sabbaths-in fine, without God in the world-we need not be surprised at the lamentable consequences which have ensued. The prospect is, indeed, dark for France: we leave in ell its terrible obscurity the course of passing events be it ours, rather, with such

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examples, to be wise in time-be it ours to shun the crimes into which she has fallen, and to fail not in our prayers that the Disposer of All will be pleased to control the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; and, bringing good even out of this evil, to pour into the hearts of the better portion of that nation wisdom to repent of their past errors, and to re-establish order on that basis upon which alone it can be permanently settled-the sure foundation of the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments.

For who are they that unite and band themselves together to trouble the peace of kingdoms? Are they the wise and the good? Are they the men whose hearts are touched with a sense of piety and religion, who in any nation fear God and work righteousness? Or are they not even as the sons of Belial, the vain and the unprincipled-men of desperate fortunes and reckless of character, who