On the Joy and the Bitterness of the Heart. PROVERBS, XIV. 10. The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and On the Dissolution of the World. 2 PETER, iii. 10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. On the Relief which the Gospel affords to the Distressed. [Preached at the Celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.] The harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of PSALM xvi. 11. Thou wilt show me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are plea- 1 SERMON XXV. ON CANDOUR. 1 CORINTH. xiii. 5. Charity-thinketh no evil. RELIGION and Government are the two great foundations of order and comfort among mankind. Government restrains the outrages and crimes which would be subversive of society, secures the property, and defends the lives of its subjects. But the defect of government is, that human laws can extend no farther than to the actions of men. Though they protect us from external violence, they leave us open on different sides to be wounded. By the vices which prevail in society our tranquillity may be disturbed, and our lives in various ways embittered, while government can give us no redress. Religion supplies the insufficiency of law, by striking at the root of those disorders which occasion so much misery in the world. Its professed scope is to regulate, not actions alone, but the temper and inclinations. By this means it ascends to the sources of conduct; and very ineffectual would the wisest system of legislation prove for |