to the glory I now enjoy! it was there God crowned with his blessing the efforts of his mi nisters who there alarmed the profligate, recalled the wanderer, edified the saint, who, by their example, brought thousands to immortal glory. As then, my brethren, you wish these glorious objects, contribute of your worldly substance this day to your God, who will infallibly promote them in this his house; and remember that this may be the only opportunity you will ever have, of evincing your love for God on an occasion similar to the present: these lips which now for Christ's sake, exhort you, may be sealed in death; you who hear may be turned into dust and ashes, long before another temple may be dedicated to him in your city. If he has promised that a cup of cold water, given in his name and for his sake to one of his members in distress, shall not lose its reward, what rewards will he not give to you, who contribute to the utmost of your power to raise a temple to his honour and glory, in which thousands, for whom he died, will be relieved from distress eternal? he has given to you all you possess; but remember that out of it he tells you to lay up for your selves treasures in heaven. He does not strike you with anathema and death, as he formerly did Ananias and Saphira, for daring to retain only a portion of that wealth which they had received from him; but he consents, as the prophet says, that you shall call the land by your name, and that you retain the greater part of the possessions you have recived from him, provided you contribute a portion to promote his honour and glory. He wishes that, while you build for yourselves palaces and splendid houses, you contribute to build but an humble house wherein

his name may be invoked. He wishes that,

while paintings of boundless price cover the walls of your superb habitations, you but contribute to the mere decency of his.

Then let your offerings prove worthy of your religion, your love for your God, and your zeal for his glory. And may that supreme, all propitious Being, to whose service this house is consecrated, and without the light of whose countenance their labour is lost who built it, may he vouchsafe to favour the pious hopes of its founders, by shedding down his blessings, and imparting to every faithful worshipper within these walls, the effectual, though imperceptible influence of his grace. May the seed of true religion here sown, as in a good ground, grow up, and watered with the dew of Heaven, be abundantly productive of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, love, peace, charity, and every virtue! may our lives be as pure as our religion is holy! may the piety of the supplicants be the principal decoration of this structure! may the beauty of holiness appear equally in our manners, and in the conduct of our devotions! may we here find the way that leads to everlasting life! and may this, which is now none other than the house of God, be to us all, the gate of Heaven. Amen.

This Sermon was preached after the Consecration, and at the opening of St. Patrick's Chapel, French Street, in the Year 1806. The collection amounted to £300.

SERMON XIII.

SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.

On the Parable of the Sower.

A Sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. Luke viii. 5.

OUR divine master, Jesus Christ, possessed the qualifications of a prophet in the highest perfection. No one ever taught like him; he spoke with authority, not as the Scribes. Sensible, however, that his instructions could have no salutary effect unless duly received, he earnestly exhorted the multitude, who attended his ministry, to take heed how they heard; and to assist them in this great duty, he lays open, in the parable before us, the principal motives and conduct of the various sorts of persons who hear the gospel. The parable of the sower was designed by our Saviour to represent the different effects which his doctrine then had upon different persons, and which religion and the word of God will have in all times and places. The advantages accruing from instruction by parables

are so considerable, that they were used by the ancient prophets, the Eastern sages, and the Jewish doctors; and it is obvious that our Saviour had various inducements to this practice. Besides the consideration that it added beauty and vigour to his discourses, and rendered them more agreeable to a people accustomed to this manner of speaking, it enabled him to throw a veil over some things which it was not fit to declare in express terms.

And as to the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, the full explanation of them being reserved for wise purposes to the preaching of the Apostles, this parabolical mode of instruction was the fittest to convey that degree of light concern ing them, which was judged most proper during the term of our Saviour's own personal ministry. Hence he tells his disciples, a little before his last sufferings: "These things I have spoken to you in proverbs: the hour cometh when I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will shew you plainly of the father."* Now, as the parables were intended for our instruction, as well as theirs, to whom they were first delivered, it is of importance that we rightly understand them. To this end I shall, in the present discourse, lay down two or three rules to assist you in the interpretation of them in general, and afterwards give an explanation of the parable of this day's gospel. And thou, omnipotent God, give strength and energy to thy word, delivered by the most unworthy of thy ministers; that word which, when accompanied by thy grace, no human power or grandeur can withstand; that word which can tear up the cedars, and root out the holds of sin from the human heart. May it have

* John xvi. 23.

this effect on the hearts of my hearers, and melt them into compunction.

In order to understand the parables, the first rule I shall lay down is, to attend carefully to the occasion of them. No one, for instance, can be at a loss to explain the parable of the prodigal son, who considers that our Lord had been discoursing with publicans and sinners, and that the proud and self-righteous Pharisees had taken offence at his conduct. With this key we are let. into the true secret of this beautiful parable, and cannot mistake in our comment upon it. With inimitable softness and compassion, our Saviour encourages the hopes of the penitent sinner, by describing the tender pity of a venerable parent towards an unduitiful child; and with admirable address he reproves the invidious temper of pharisaical professors, by representing the jealousy and disgust of the elder brother, at the kind reception the younger met with: understanding thus, from the occasion of the parable, what is the grand truth or duty meant to be inculcated.

Secondly, our attention should be steadily fixed on that subject. If we suffer ourselves to be diverted from it by dwelling too minutely upon the circumstances of the parable, the end of him who spoke it will be defeated, and the whole in volved in obscurity. Were a man to spend a whole hour on the circumstances of the ring and the robe in the parable just referred to, or on the two-pence in that of the good Samaritan, it is highly probable both he and his hearers, by the time they got to the close of the discourse, would lose all idea of our Saviour's more immediate in-tent in both these instructive parables; which› leads me to add, that great caution should be observed in our reasoning from the parables to the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. The principle

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