and earth; and to consider whether, in that last day, we are to appear as cowards to our country and our faith, and as purchasing an inglorious safety, by the sacrifice of every duty, and every honour of man, or as the friends of order, of liberty, and of religion, and allied to those glorious spirits who have been the servants of God, and the benefactors of mankind. Over the conflict which is to ensue, let it never be forgotten, that greater eyes than those of man will be present; and let every man who draws the sword of defence remember, that he is not only defending the liberties of his country, but the laws of his God.

Let, then, the young and the brave of our people go forth, with hearts inaccessible to fear, and undoubting of their cause. Let them look back into time, and see the shades of their ancestors rising before them, and exhorting them to

the combat. Let them look around them, and see a subjugated world the witnesses of their contest, and the partners in their success. Let them look forward into futurity, and see posterity prostrated before them, and all the honours and happiness of man dependent upon the firmness of their hearts, and the vigour of their arms. Yes! let them go forth, and pour around our isle a living barrier to injustice and ambition; and, when that tide of anarchy which has overflowed the world rolls its last waves to our shores, let them shew to the foe as impenetrable a front, as the rocks of our land to the storms of the

ocean.

And Thou, O God of Nations, and Lord of every host, "without whom no"thing is strong, and nothing is holy," if it be with such views that thy people of this land now assemble before Thee ;-if they are, indeed, armed in defence of Thy

eternal laws, and in the cause of the everlasting gospel ;-if Thou hast called them to be the instruments of thy Providence for the future welfare of mankind, let thy spirit go forth with them, which of old went forth with the brave and the virtuous of thine own people. Awaken in their hearts that love of Thee, and of thy laws, and pour into their souls that contempt of danger and of death, which befit those whom thy Omniscient will has summoned to scenes of difficulty and alarm; and, while thy Providence has so long watched over this favoured land, and while it now remains as the beacon to lead mankind again to happiness and truth,-grant that thy people may feel the extent of their duties! and know, that, while they are defending the independence of their own country, they are defending the sacred cause of order, of virtue, and of religion, throughout the world.

SERMON VIII.

ON THE RELIGIOUS AND MORAL ENDS OF KNOWLEDGE.* *

PROVERBS, iii. 13. &c.

"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding! -She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

is in her right hand;

Length of days

and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

IN these beautiful words Solomon describes the effects of wisdom upon the

Preached at the commencement of the Academical Session in Edinburgh.

honour and happiness of human life.— However warm or magnificent the praise which he bestows, it is not the extravagance of youthful enthusiasm. It is the sober decision of age and experience: the opinion of one who had known every pleasure which life could offer him; and who, in his grey hairs, tells the successor to his throne, that "wisdom is more pre"cious" than all the splendours which surround it, and "that all the things he “could desire, are not to be compared " unto her."

I have chosen these words, my brethren, for our present consideration, because there appears something in the time not unsuitable to their application. The season has now returned, when the annual business of education again begins; when, for some months to come, the young of our congregation are to be employed in the acquisition of knowledge; and