is a power which he has himself conferred. In him we live, and move, and have our being; and when, in our madness and folly, we refuse him the homage and service which he justly demands, it is against him in whose hand our breath is that we vainly strike. He bears with our folly, for he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust; yet he never relinquishes his claim to our entire and hearty obedience.

The Nature of his Requirements. — A further argument and obligation to obedience is derived from the nature of the divine requirements. From such a Being, infinite in power, and all the attributes of the most perfect character, and sustaining such peculiar relations to us, as creatures, dependent on his constant protection for our continued existence, as we are on his creative power for our first origin, from such a Being, and in such relations, any law which he might give, would carry with it the weight and binding force of a perfect moral obligation. The simple fact that he is a perfect Being, incapable of willing or commanding that which is wrong, and that he is our own Creator, and constant Benefactor, make it imperative on us to give earnest heed to the least and most trivial expression of that will which to us is law.

But, to state the matter thus, and leave it thus, would be to make but an imperfect statement of it. When we come to look at what this law is which he has given us, we find it one which, in itself, and apart from all consideration of the source from which it emanates, carries its own authority and power of obligation. It is a law not arbitrary in its mandate, and for which no reason can be assigned other than that the Maker chose to have it so; but, on the contrary, a law directly adapted to our nature and wants. It requires that which it is for our own highest good that we

should do; it forbids that which it is for our own highest good to avoid. Obedience to such a law brings our whole being into harmony with itself and with the demands of its own nature; disobedience results in the disarrangement and discord of all the powers of the soul, the disorder and ultimate ruin of the physical, the mental, and the moral man. Viewed in this its true light, the Divine Will is not so much a law commanding obedience for its own sake, as a kind and faithful guide sent to direct our steps in the uncertain wilderness of life, and to point us to those paths which lead to honor and immortality and eternal life. It is that Celestial Wisdom of which Hebrew poets sang, — the merchandise of which is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold; - more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire not to be compared to her;-in her right hand, length of days; in her left hand, riches and honor; her ways, ways of pleasantness, and all her paths peace;-a tree of life to them that lay hold on her, and happy he who retaineth her.

The Dictate of Reason. - Reason, aside from the teachings of revelation, points out the duty of obedience to the divine requirements. Animals have no law but that of appetite and instinct. They have no moral nature, and are therefore not proper subjects of moral government. Man is a being of a higher order, endowed with powers which fit him to take rank with the noblest orders of created intelligence. To him it is given to know the right and the wrong, to look onward from the act to its consequences, to trace events to their causes; to him is given the sense of moral obligation; to him the aspirations and hopes of the future. Such is his moral nature, that he cannot be happy, cannot reach the true good of his being, his own high destiny, but by likeness to and communion with

his adorable Creator. His nature demands this, is ever unsatisfied and restlessly yearning without it. His earnest soul, agitated by passions and conflicting desires, becomes as the troubled sea till it finds its rest in God - till it hears the voice of its Creator, walking upon its waves, and saying unto them, Peace!—be still!

Is man, then, in all his consciousness of freedom, and of power to do as he will, without a law? Is not this very nature of his a law unto him? This sense of right, this feeling of obligation, this consciousness of a higher end and purpose, this longing for something better, purer, than he has yet obtained are not these all a law unto him? And shall he violate this law merely because he has the power, and can do so if he will? Is not such a course utterly irrational, and a gross abuse of the freedom with which he is endowed?

Whether we look, then, at the character and perfections of the Being who claims our homage and obedience, or at the relations which we sustain to him, or at the nature of the law he has given us, or at our own moral nature and the dictates of reason respecting the same, we find equally, and from all sources, the clearest vindication of the divine right to our service and allegiance.

As to the nature of the obedience which we owe to the Divine Will, it is sufficient to say that it must be cordial and sincere—not a matter of form merely, but a matter of the heart; otherwise it is in reality no obedience, since the very requirement that is made of us is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. It should, moreover, be a prompt and ready obedience not reluctantly given, as that from which we would gladly be excused but for the force and pressure of circumstances, but the free, spontaneous offering of a will

ing mind. It should be a decisive obedience, comprehensive of all the powers and faculties of our being,—the obedience not of a divided and distracted kingdom, but of a heart firm in its loyalty, and true to itself and to its rightful sovereign.

CHAPTER III.

OF WORSHIP.

THE reverence and love which we owe to God, and that obedience which springs from these, and constitutes their natural and appropriate expression, have been already considered in the preceding chapters. But those affections and dispositions of heart which lead to obedience, lead also to the worship of God. That exalted and glorious Being who is the object of our reverence and our love, and who claims our obedience, is also the proper object of our adoration and worship. No intelligent mind can for a moment contemplate the character and attributes, the works and the ways of Jehovah, what he is, and what he does, and not feel that he is worthy of the direct adoration and homage of every created being.

The worship of the Supreme Being seems to be an instinctive principle, an impulse of our nature, a law of the soul. As such, it shows itself under all the forms and conditions of social life, in all ages, and all countries, in all the various religions of the race, whether true or false, superstitious or reasonable. Whoever builds an altar, or in the silent recesses of his heart breathes a prayer; who

ever bows himself toward the rising sun, or stretches forth his hand in supplication toward the moon walking in her brightness, or the stars that gem the brow of night; whoever calls upon an unknown God, or worships the invisible spirit that filleth immensity with his presence, and is not far from every one of us, is but acting in accordance to this impulse and instinct of his nature. He who never worships, has in reality no religion, and knows no God.

In discussing this subject two distinct topics present themselves to our attention, the one relating to worship in itself considered, the other to the observance of sacred times and special occasions for worship Prayer, and the Sabbath.

I. OF PRAYER.

Its Nature.-Prayer is not necessarily direct, or vocal; not of necessity limited to any set form, or time, or place. It is not always even the express utterance in words, or presenting in thought, of any specific petition or desire. There may be prayer without any of these conditions. The silent breathing of the heart; the silent going forth of the soul to its God in adoration and praise, or in humble penitence and contrition; the faith that rests placidly on his mercy for pardon and the forgiveness of sin; the hope that looks joyfully toward the hills from whence its help cometh; the love that finds delight in communing with so great and so glorious a friend, these various states and exercises of the mind are all, in one sense, but so many forms and varieties of prayer. The communion and converse of the soul with God, in whatever manner or form, is in reality prayer. It is this which constitutes the prayer, when words and forms are used; and the words and forms may be dispensed with, but the prayer still go on; while,