II. Treatise.

A.

Address to the officers who have undertaken and completed the erection of the building.

a. Thanks them in the name of the citizens.

1. Pointing first to the small size and uncomfortable rooms of the old house.

2. And then to the comfort which the new one affords.

B. Address to the teachers.

a. Exhorts them not to allow themselves to be discouraged in their noble but arduous duties.

b. Refers to the honor to which they are entitled for the good which they have done.

C. Address to the citizens.

a. Encourages them to send their children regularly to school,

b. And exhorts them to be grateful to the teachers, to co-operate with them in every way for the good of the school; and especially hopes that they will not imbitter the lives of those good persons by interfering unnecessarily in the private arrangements of the school.

D. Address to the pupils. Advises them to love and obey their instructors; and to honor their new building,

a. By keeping it clean,

b. And never losing sight of the main object for which they

attend school; viz., their education, which is to be obtained by obedience, and by attention and application to study. Holds out to them the golden reward which is to be theirs in future if they make good use of the present time.

63.

ADDRESS AFTER THE FUNERAL-SOLEMNITIES OF A BELOVED TEACHER.

I. Introduction.

a. A good man has departed from our midst: we have accompanied his remains to the grave, and paid to him

the last honors.

b. We have returned deeply moved; we have seen the sorrow depicted on the countenance of many who were not so near to him as we; to us, he was more than to others.

c. We witnessed the ceremonies, we heard the solemn chants, we listened to the words of his venerable friend, who extolled the virtues of the departed. It was not becoming for us to express our feelings there; d. But it is becoming, that here, in this hall, where he so often uttered words of profound wisdom, we should express the depth of our sorrow for one who was so near and so dear to us.

II. Treatise.

a. We have lost much in him: let us recall to our minds what

he has been to us.

1. He was a conscientious and faithful teacher, imbued with a full sense of the importance and responsibility of his high calling.

2. To his scholars he was just and impartial, without
distinction of persons. Only of him to whom much
was given did he require much; while, from the
less gifted, he required only good will to do what
they could.

3. He was unassuming, and never exalted himself at
the expense
of others. He gloried in the success
of his fellow-teachers, yielding his own advantage
whenever he saw that the cause of education
would thereby be benefited.

4. His mildness toward the offending was admirably blended with firmness; gentle without weakness.

5. He had the happy gift of communicating to us his enthusiasm for whatever is good.

b. Let us live so that he shall not have labored for us in

vain.

1. We will cherish his memory, and never neglect the

wisdom which he imparted to us.

2. We will choose him as our model in the faithful discharge of duty, the love of justice, mildness, and love of religion.

III. Though he has been taken from us, yet will he always remain treasured in our hearts; for the good never die, living as they do for ever in the good they have done.

64.

THE FUTURE IS NOT SO DARK AS MANY BELIEVE.

I. There are many proverbs which contain much truth; yet some of them are subject to limitation

of meaning among these is this, "The future is sealed to mortal eye."

II. This is not true to the extent which many persons believe.

a. No one can tell for certain all that will happen to-morrow, next week, in a month, or in a year, or where or in what manner he shall close his life.

b. And even the most clear-headed men are often disappointed not only in their hopes, but also in their fears, and at last are compelled to say, "That I never thought of."

c. But, nevertheless, we may often be quite confident concerning future events.

d. Indeed, the fact that the future inspires man with hope and fear, that some attempt is made to lift its vail by fortune-telling, spirit-rapping, &c., proves at least this: That there is cause for this hope and fear.

e. Besides, man possesses certain powers which enable him to look into the future.

A. Reason, by which he is enabled,

1. To apply to the future the experience of the past.
2. Sometimes with certain results; as, we shall grow
old and feeble, and finally die: spring will follow
winter: the sun will rise in the morning.

3. Sometimes with probable results; as, when condi-
tions are found in present history similar to those
which formerly existed, we may safely conclude,
from the law of cause and effect, that similar re-
sults will follow; the past being in many respects
the mirror of the future.

4. By reason, we can also see that all which happens must have its consequences; as, a loose and disordered life enfeebles youth, and brings on decay: idleness and wastefulness bring about poverty.

B. Free-will, by which man is, to a great extent, the arbiter of his own fate; as in choosing his state of life, how he will apply his youth, how he will spend the hours of study, on all of which the future, to a great degree, depends.

C. A certain interior sense or premonition often predicts to us some extraordinary event; as our sickness, death, death of a relative, or other danger or trouble (this is not to be considered as referring to mere superstition; and, as the cases in which we receive knowledge in this way are extremely rare, this mysterious sense must be considered with caution).

III. The knowledge, then, which we may have of the future is sufficient for our happiness: to know more would be rather for our harm than our good. Why?

65.

JOYS OF OLD AGE.

I. Introduction.

a. The life of man has often been compared to the course

of the seasons. Among other similarities, they have this in common, -as every season has its peculiar joys, so has every age of the life of man: the child has his joys; the youth his, and even the old man has his also. b. It is true, that with old age comes many an unpleasant

accompaniment, - bodily weakness (and, as a consequence, less pleasure in objects of sense), and also diminution of mental powers, memory, imagination, with the consequent increase of what are called the foibles of elderly persons, —caprice, distrust, moroseness, &c.

II. The old man has his joys.

a. He has not ceased to take pleasure in Nature: there is sometimes even an increase of this pleasure, for the grosser cares of life, — ambition, money-making, &c., · are past, and the mind is left in greater freedom.

b. Social pleasures are still his: he has more leisure, lives free from care, is not wearied, for time flies along without giving opportunity for being tired of its length. He is communicative, and dwells with delight on the past.

c. He has the joys of rest from the toils of life; and, in general, is happy in reaping the fruit of these past labors.

d. He has the joys which arise from the esteem and veneration which we manifest for the old, for their wishes and opinions.

e. He has the joys which arise from knowing, that, in spite of
his old age, he can still make himself useful,

1. By giving counsel from his long experience;
2. And employing his wealth for charitable purposes.