clamorous with hunger, to the care of that Father whose hand is ever open? Parents have stood beside the grave of their beloved ones, and was it not Religion that spoke peace to their hearts and wiped away their tears? Or tell me, of all those who have gone to their eternal home, was there one who on his death-bed repented that he had remained constant to his religion, and died an Israelite? O let me entreat that you will this day renew your resolution to remain, together with the children God has given you, faithful to that law which enlightens the mind and purifies the heart, which strengthens your energies and ennobles your inward man. Resolve anew, to bring up your sons and daughters to virtue and religion, that God may dwell in their hearts and in their lives. Resolve anew, this day, my friends, to cherish the seeds of a better and more religious life; and come all who can, young and old, rich and poor, come and water the tree of life. We are, it is true, but a small flock, but that must not dishearten you: the number of the best among men has always been small, and one excellent man, one excellent woman, outweighs a hundred common minds; in an irreligious age especially, one pious soul is of great worth. Again, you must not be discouraged because there is amongst us, in our homes and in our families, much that is waste and decayed, dead, or like to the dead. He, who can restore what is decayed, and re-animate what is dead, He still lives and rules. Listen! "THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME, AND CARRIED ME OUT IN THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD, AND SET ME DOWN IN THE MIDST OF THE VALLEY WHICH WAS FULL OF BONES, AND CAUSED ME то PASS BY GETHER, BONE TO HIS BONE. AND WHEN I BEHELD, LO, THE SINEWS AND THE FLESH CAME UP UPON THEM, AND THE SKIN COVERED THEM ABOVE: BUT THERE WAS NO BREATH IN THEM. THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, PROPHESY UNTO THE WIND, PROPHESY, Son of Man, AND SAY TO THE WIND, THUS SAITH THE LORD God; COME FROM THE FOUR WINDS, BREATH, AND BREATHE UPON THESE SLAIN, THAT THEY MAY LIVE. So I PROPHESIED AS HE COMMANDED ME, AND THE BREATH CAME UNTO THEM, AND THEY LIVED, AND STOOD UPON THEIR FEET, AN EXCEEDINGLY GREAT ARMY (Ezekiel chap. xxxvii.) These bones betoken the little flock of Israel. Say not, Our bones are withered, and our hope is lost. Rise from the dust, breathe in the Spirit of God, and you will become an exceeding great army. In the kingdom of spirits it was ever thus; because in that kingdom, men are not reckoned by actual number but by the amount of their will, their power, their zeal and their labours. The smallest of all nations stood in Mount Sinai, but God gave his blessing to the feeble instrument by whose teachings the world was to be enlightened. We possess these teachings, and need only to scatter abroad the seed. Brethren, centuries pass away! God only knows how long we may have to labour in this sacred cause; He only knows how long we may be permitted to tarry here: He only knows whether we shall leave to our children much or little of this world's goods. Have you no desire for immortality even on earth? In our pious children we shall leave to the world the most glorious memorials of ourselves; in the establishment and extension of our temples the most undying monuments. Let us be unwearied while raising such monuments for ourselves; let us never tire of labouring to erect such a structure, as may reach even unto heaven, and gain us an entrance there. Amen. 171 SERMON IX. THE ISRAELITE'S CONFESSION OF FAITH. DEUTERONOMY vi. 4-9. If the exhortation that lately sounded from this place, calling on you to remain true to the covenant of your fathers, has not yet died away in your souls; if it has seized on the world within you, and found a willing reception there; then I need but to touch lightly the chords of the holy instrument, in order to find you, even now that the festival is over, still disposed as for a festival, as beseems men, who, in following consistently the Divine commands, give the fairest testimony, that reason and wisdom have become to them the clear guiding stars of a pious and virtuous life. By the Divine help, I showed you, at our last solemn meeting, what such a life is, while I laid open to you the Spirit of the Mosaic religion, and displayed to you the treasures which this religion freely offers to all, who know and love it. But to religion belongs also the acknowledgment of religion. If a child really loves its parents, it will surely never hesitate to declare, readily and frequently, 'These are my best and dearest friends, to whom I owe life and prosperity.' The affectionate wife acknowledges heartily that the days of her existence are devoted to her chosen companion, and the friend takes openly his friend's part. If such acknowledgment is refused or withheld, the child cannot be said to love the parents, nor the wife the husband, nor the friend the friend. It is no otherwise with regard to our relation with our Friend, Protector, and Parent above. If you belong to Him you will confess, at all times, that you are His; you will often and willingly say, that you have found Him, and tell what He is to you, and that you mean to remain faithful to Him. Indeed, it cannot be otherwise. Religion is an inward life; now the inward life will and must express itself outwardly. The light to which it is compared in the Scriptures, is one that you cannot hide; it must shine, till it is extinguished. Hence, whoever has any religion, confesses it: whoever does not profess a religion, has none, though he may, possibly, maintain the contrary: what he thinks he has, is not religion, it is scarcely its shadow. Our weekly portion of Scriptnre for to-day, presents itself very opportunely; the Mosaic Religion was the subject of my discourse on the occasion of the festival, and now, immediately after the feast, the daily reading leads us to the consideration of the CONFESSION OF THE MOSAIC RELIGION, with which, in its fullest meaning, may your hearts be filled, not this hour only, but as long as you live. Amen. HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD. AND THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY |