time undertaken for me by my sureties:-to act thus is the profession, which I took upon myself in my own person at my Confirmation. May God give me grace to adhere constantly to that profession, and to endeavour faithfully to observe the solemn promise and vow, made at first in my name, and by myself afterwards ratified and confirmed!"

It is thus, my young Christian friends, it is by such recollections and meditations as these, that the rite of Confirmation may be rendered instrumental by God's grace to the religious benefit, in after times, of those who are confirmed: so that the solemn ceremony, in which you are this day about to take part, may become an occasion of good to you on every future day of your life, by reminding you and prompting you to the discharge of your Christian duties. There is one duty, however, in particular, to which I would in conclusion draw your attention, as being immediately connected with this ceremony: for as Confirmation is the renewing and ratification of the promise made in your name at the ministration of the sacrament of Baptism, so is it your introduction to the other sacrament of the holy Communion of the Lord's Supper, to which the Church considers you not qualified to be "admitted, until such time as you be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed." But that qualification having been now obtained, I trust that under the con

tinual guidance and exhortation of your ministers you will soon become partakers of the holy Communion, in which the Church now calls upon you to partake, being, as it is, one of our blessed Lord's appointed means of grace, and one of those commandments, which you are about to promise that you will keep and will walk in all the days of your life.

Take good heed, I pray you, to the word that has been now spoken; and God Almighty give you his blessing for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!

DISCOURSE XIII.

THE CHURCH'S JUDGMENTS ON RECEIVING THE

HOLY COMMUNION.

MATT. xxii. 5.

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandize.

INDIFFERENCE to the publick duties of religion is an evil, of which the ministers of religion have frequent reason to complain. This indifference betrays itself in a variety of ways. Some persons absent themselves altogether from the services of the Church. Others attend them but occasionally, and after long periods of interruption. Others are contented to be present during a portion of the service, irreverently breaking in on the devotions of the congregation, and caring little, provided they can be present during the delivery of the sermon. Others, the moment the sermon has been delivered, hasten impatiently and abruptly

away, regardless of the blessing which is to follow. Others again, although they may in body be present, are absent in spirit, having their thoughts occupied upon any other subject than that most important business for which they are professedly assembled. Of all these in their different degrees may be said, that which our blessed Saviour in the parable saith of the Jews, to whom was made the gracious offer of God's mercy in the Gospel, they make light of it, and go their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandize."

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But the subject, more especially in my thoughts at present, is that very deplorable neglect of the holy Communion, which prevails to a great extent in most of our congregations; indeed, in almost every congregation, the disproportion between the number that attends the general service, and that part of it which attends upon the celebration of the Lord's Supper, is most prominent and distressing. Whatever regard to their religious duty may have brought the large body of persons to the house of God, that regard appears to evaporate as soon as the sermon is concluded: and when that special act of Christian worship, which Christ Himself hath ordained in remembrance of Him and of his sufferings, and in acknowledgment of the blessings which He hath thereby purchased for us, and as a mean and pledge of his grace, is about to be celebrated, the great, the very great majority of

those, who have promised to "continue his faithful soldiers and servants unto their lives' end," habitually abandon their post. "They make light of" their Saviour's love, "and go their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandize;" retiring at least to some other place than that to which their duty calls them, and their sense of gratitude as well as of duty ought to prompt them to

come.

The business of the ministers of religion in cases such as these is obvious and imperative. Our judgment of the obligation, under which our congregations are held, is decided: our acquaintance with their neglect of that obligation cannot be dissembled: our duty is to endeavour to correct or diminish the evil, "that we may not be partakers of other men's sins'." If the neglect, of which we have such reason to complain, proceeds from ignorance, we must endeavour to instruct you in your Christian obligations: if it proceed from thoughtlessness, we must endeavour to awaken and arouse your attention: if from lukewarmness, to animate and strengthen your devotion: in any case we must exert ourselves, by the blessing of God, to "bring you to a better mind;" that so, by conscientiously discharging our ministerial commission, and, if possible, by persuading you to