heaven-sent treasure, which we are most of us enough inclined to value, but all of us, alas, far too little to improve. Let us, then, my friends, in these awful, these deeply interesting circumstances, pause for a few moments, and fix our attention upon that beautiful and appropriate, though melancholy, representation of our present condition, given by the aged monarch, in the words of the text, "we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers."

It is scarcely possible to conceive of any one so thoughtless as never to have had this view of human life suggested to him. There is so much in the general aspect of society, and so many circumstances are constantly taking place, likely to give rise to such ideas, that no one, whose mind has reached a sufficient degree of maturity to qualify him for exercises of reflection, can be thought a total stranger to them. Unfortunately, however, such conceptions of human life are, in many cases, much less seriously entertained, as well as much more speedily discarded, than they ought to be; and if, by recalling them on an occasion like the present, we can render the impressions left by them, upon any mind, deeper and more influential, our meditations will not have been in vain.

The leading particular, my friends, in which we, and all our brethren of the human family, resemble strangers and sojourners,-that, indeed, which includes every other point of resemblance, is the temporary nature, and, indeed, brevity, of the present existence. To our own observation of this we are referred by the concluding clause of the text, “we are strangers and sojourners, as were all our fathers."Yes, my fellow Christians, on the graves of those who have preceded us is written, in legible characters, the declaration of our own mortality. Year after year must we have seen death providing, even from within the comparatively narrow circle of our own acquaintances, new tenants for his dark and dreary mansions.Some of us, no doubt, were long since called upon to take part in the melancholy ceremony of consigning to the grave the remains of our parents. Others may have been more recently engaged in the same sad duty. Others, again, there are, in all probability, whose aged relatives, though still spared to them, give plain proofs, by their increasing infirmities, that they, too, are but strangers and sojourners. Nor is it our parents only, but, in many cases, our contemporaries, and even our children, that supply us with these sad mementos of our mortality. But why confine ourselves exclusively to our

personal experience?

Within the narrow limits

of this congregation, within the circle of those in whose concerns, as our fellow-believers and fellow-worshippers, we may be expected to take peculiar interest, and during the very year that has so lately reached its close, we have had too many awakening illustrations both of the brevity of our existence and of the uncertain tenure by which we hold it. When, twelve months since, my brethren, I endeavoured, perhaps in vain, to excite our serious attention to this subject, there were those listening who are now beyond the reach of any human voice, save that of the risen Jesus. What has been, will, in all probability, be again. For which of us, during the period now commencing, the bed of death is to be spread, and whether, on the next anniversary, I shall speak, or how many of you shall hear, can be known to God only. Can we, under such circumstances, avoid feeling the propriety of the representation contained in the text? Can we hesitate to acknowledge that we are strangers and sojourners?

But though the transitory nature of our earthly existence can be most clearly displayed by an appeal to experience, and must be abundantly evident to every one who can be prevailed upon to give the slightest attention to

events that are constantly taking place around him, the impression which ought to be made upon every mind by the consideration of it may, perhaps, be further strengthened by observing, that the same characters of imperfection and brevity will be found to attach themselves to all the pursuits and enjoyments of the present life, and, indeed, to every circumstance connected with it. Are not our ordinary occupations those of sojourners? What is, for the most part, the object we have in view in all our exertions? Is it not to obtain for ourselves, and those in whom we are more immediately interested, as plentiful a supply as possible of whatever seems necessary to the enjoyment of comfort and happiness during our continuance here? May not civilized society, in short, be properly enough described as an association of individuals, formed for the purpose of supplying one another the more easily and effectually with such temporary accommodations? Are not our pleasures, likewise, to a considerable extent, those of sojourners? Are they not such as we are enabled to snatch during the intervals of business? Do they not seem to derive much of their complexion from the peculiar circumstances of our present existence? Are they not of a nature, if possible, even more fluctuating and transitory than the life to which they belong? Are not

our very feelings and affections those of sojourners? Are they not such as frequently, when they have just reached their full strength and maturity, we are forced to relinquish, and take our departure, perhaps, to that far distant land, between which and all that we have loved the ocean of death forms an impassable barrier?— In a word, do not the changes that are continually taking place in society abundantly display the correctness of the representation here given of it? Does it not present to the eye of the observer a perpetual fluctuation? In all its situations, from the highest to the lowest, are there not vacancies constantly occurring? Do we not every year see some men suddenly disappearing from their accustomed places in society?— Is not the rising generation always making gradual encroachments upon that which preceded it? And does not one generation, after no very lengthened interval, seem to have almost totally given place to another? These things, my fellow Christians, are constantly taking place before our eyes. They come within the range of our own immediate observation. How appropriately and beautifully do the words of the text give expression to feelings which can scarcely fail to arise in a reflecting mind from the contemplation of them! "We are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers."