afflicted. This happy day, when every good man on earth is called to join with the angels in heaven, in singing "Hallelujah, for the LORD GOD omnipotent reigneth." Glory, and honour, and thanksgiving, and praise, be unto Him, for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON VII.

ST. LUKE Xxii. 15.

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

PROCEED now to consider the principal festivals and fasts which our church has appointed to be kept holy, and to point out the duties required of us on those sacred days. The example of our LORD, as well as the command of his Apostles, and of their successors in the government of his church, binds us to perform these duties. We are told several times in the gospel, that our blessed Saviour kept the solemn feasts of the Jewish church; and it appears from the chapter of which my text is a part, that, on

G

the same night as he was betrayed, he celebrated the great feast of the Passover with his disciples. The necessity of these duties is so generally allowed by all Christians, that I will not detain you longer on that subject, but proceed to explain the meaning of the chief festivals of our church, and the manner in which they ought to be observed.

The birth-day of CHRIST, commonly called Christmas-day, has been always observed by his disciples with gratitude and joy. His birth was the greatest blessing ever bestowed on mankind. The angels from Heaven celebrated it with a joyful hymn; and every man who has any feeling of his own lost state without a Redeemer must rejoice and be glad in it. On this great day he will lay aside all worldly business, he will appear in the presence of GOD, and he will not fail to receive that holy sacrament, by which we partake of the benefits of our Redeemer's birth and death. He will rejoice from his heart, and call his neigh bours and friends to rejoice with him. Christmas has been always considered as a season of joy, of friendship, of hospitality, of charity; as such it always ought to be considered. We should express our love and good-will to each

other; we should show kindness to all who belong to CHRIST, for his sake. We should give of our bread to the hungry, and do every thing in our power to make our fellow-creatures happy. A few holidays are generally allowed to all men in honour of this blessed season; they may be spent in harmless pleasure, in innocent mirth and joy. A good man has the best right to be cheerful, for he only is at peace with GOD. Let him also be at peace with all mankind. At this holy season particularly, we should banish all strife and contention. If any man have been injured, now is the time to forgive. If any man have done wrong, now is the time to own it, and to ask pardon. Our Saviour CHRIST came to us in great humility; and no degree of pride must accompany the devotion of a Christian. If we have done wrong, let us never be ashamed to own it. If we have been unkind to a friend, or even to an enemy, let us not hope to feel Christian joy till we acknowledge our error. Then, at peace with all men, and with our own conscience, let us be merry and joyful. This is the day which the LORD hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it; "for unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and his name shall be called Wonderful,

Counsellor, the Mighty GoD, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.'

But while we point out this blessed season as a time of joy to every servant of CHRIST, I grieve that, in any Christian congregation, it should be necessary to say, that it is not a time of intemperance. No time, indeed, ought to be such; but it surely is strange and shocking, that this most holy season is sometimes disgraced by gaming, drunkenness, and every kind of vice. Is this a Christian's joy? Is this the return which our GOD expects, when he allows us to rest from our labours, and be happy? O my friends! consider the ingratitude, the dreadful wickedness of those who spend such a season as this in vice. Gaming is always madness and folly. It is trusting the comfort and happiness of our future lives to chance. It is perhaps ruining our families, losing all the fruit of years of honest industry, and reducing ourselves to beggary; or if it be successful, it inflicts the same misery on another. Who can enjoy money so gained? But these gains generally go to cheats and sharpers, who will render a dreadful account of them at the day of judgment. Those whom they have cheated

*Isaiah ix, 6.