ing voice of the Old Teftament; fet not your heart upon them. Let not the rich man glory in his riches: he that trufteth in his riches fhall fall. He that trufteth in the abundance of his riches, strengtheneth himself in his wickedness. Give me not riches; left I be full, and deny thee, and fay, who is the Lord (a)? In the New Teftament, the aweful exclamation of our Saviour, How hardly fhall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God (b), would of itself be fufficient, after the most ample deductions which could be required on account of the peculiarity of the occafion on which it was uttered, to establish by the fanction of his immediate authority the antecedent declarations of prophets, and the fubfequent teftimony of apoftles, concerning the deftructive influence of the idol of mankind. That the love of money is the root of all evil; that there is no degree, no fpecies, of criminality to which the thirft of gold may not prove a fuccessful incentive; that they who will be rich, they who are refolved on the accumulation of poffeffions, fall into temptation and a fnare, and into many foolish and burtful lufts which drown men in deftruction and perdition: that, while fome have coveted Jer. ix. 23. Prov. xi. 28. Pf. lii. 7. (8) Mark, x. 23.

(a) Pfalm lxii. 10. Prov. xxx. 8, 9.

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after wealth, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many forrows, they have apoftatized from Chriftianity and overwhelmed themselves with remorse, anguish and dfepair: this is the recorded refult of the judgement and experience of St. Paul (c). But among the facred writers there is no one more frequent or more energetic than St. James in denunciations against tranfgreffors, whom riches plunge into enormities. The two leading fources of evil, which are reprefented in the infpired writings as derived from the influence of riches. over the heart, are worldly-mindedness, and felf-dependence. Against these fortreffes of guilt, fometimes battered feparately, fometimes affailed in the fame onfet, the sacred artillery of Scripture is unremittingly directed.

In the verses immediately under your confideration the apoftle points the vehemence of his attack against felf-dependence. Go to, now, ye that fay," To-day or to-morrow we will

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go into fuch a city, and continue there à year; "and buy and fell, and get gain." Whereas, ye know not what shall be on the morrow. what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth

away. For that ye ought to fay; If the Lord will, we shall do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all fuch rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not; to him it is fin.

Thefe words comprehend feveral leffons highly important in themselves, and closely connected with each other. My intention is to set them before you in order; and to apply them, one by one, under the bleffing of God, to your edification.

I. Go to now, ye that fay;" To-day, or tomorrow, we will go into fuch a city; and con"tinue there a year, and buy and fell, and get

gain." In this paffage St. James directs his reproof against that disposition so common among men, to form diftant and presumptuous plans. Did you know nothing more concerning human life than is to be collected from the ordinary language which resounds in our dwellings and our streets; you might conclude that every circumftance in this world is capable of being fixed and settled beforehand by us almoft, if not altogether, to a certainty. You hear men expreffing their purposes respecting their future proceedings in terms, which scarcely admit the fuppofi tion that there can be any doubt whether the scheme

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scheme on which they meditate will be accomplished. If a person mentions a journey which he proposes to undertake fome months hence; how ufual is it for him to speak of it as though it were an affair placed wholly within his own power, and to be decided merely by his own inclination. If fickness, or fome other change of circumftances, prevent him from executing his defign: how ready is he to give way to fretfulness, and to adopt the language of disappointment; as though he had experienced fome strange and unusual event contrary to the natural course of juft expectations. Others you hear speaking in terms equally confident concerning projects ftill more distant. One perfon informs you, that when he fhall have employed two or three future years in making himself master of his trade or profeffion at the place where he now refides; he fhall remove to fuch a town, or into the neighbourhood of fuch a manufactory, where like others before him, he shall speedily acquire a fortune. Another obferves, that after he fhall have conducted his business until his children, who are now fcarcely advanced beyond infancy, are able to take the management of it upon themselves; he fhall then withdraw from the concern, and fhall enjoy himfelf in leisure and retirement. Another

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wearies you with a detail of the alterations which he means to carry into effect, and the manner in which he defigns to live, when upon the death of fome relation, at prefent neither old nor unhealthy, he fhall inherit an addition to his eftate. Another is occupied in laying plans for the difpofal of a fucceffion of daughters in marriage: and tells you that when he fhall have fettled the youngest, he fhall detach himself from the large circle of fociety in which he deems it neceffary to con-tinue until that object is attained, and shall remove into a more private and quiet part of the country. These remote purposes are` ftated with decifion and unconcern, as though they could be completed to-morrow. Or if an expreffion, alluding to a poffible uncertainty in human affairs, be interwoven it is too often accompanied with a tone and a countenance which evince that it comes not from the heart; but is inferted only to preferve appearances. The end to which St. James intimates that thefe fchemes are most commonly directed is gain. It is the end of the pursuits of moft men.. Our bleffed Lord looked upon riches with an eye very different from that of the world. He faw, that they generally proved grievous hindrances to religion. To that memorable expression, in which

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