and behold there a continuation of those joys! What would not this religion be worth to the beloved wife, as she is about to tear herself away from all earthly endearments, and even from life itself? It would tell her to fill up the grave of her departed husband, with the rough sands which had been dug from it, and live herself, to plant the willow by its side to cast its shade over his sleeping dust.

To her, as she contemplates the keen tortures of the crackling flames which are to curl around her living body, at which all nature revolts, and the soul sickens, the assurance that duty did not demand so cruel a sacrifice, would fill her soul with inexpressible joy.

This assurance the religion of Christ would give her. Then, who can calculate the value which she would place upon it?

But, it is not to the unenlightened heathen

alone that this religion is valuable.

It is

equally valuable to all men! It tells the Christian how to live! It shows the sinner in his lowest degradation, how to arise, and return to virtue and peace! Christ is the living example— -"the way, the truth, and the life." His life was a perfect developement of all the duties and obligations which

rest upon man. Look at him, then, as your practical teacher in all things; view him in every act and in every word, and you see perfectly illustrated the laws of your own being!

What value, then, can we place upon this system of religion, which he communicated to the world? What treasure shall it be likened unto? It is a priceless thing! It is adapted to the wants of man under every circumstance of life! It lays no burdens upon his shoulders! It imposes upon him no restraints which his own good does not require! Its duties are such as are connected immediately with his own happiness! He is required to love God supremely, and his neighbor, as he loves himself. This is his whole duty; and, in performing this duty, he' is only following the impulses of his own soul. He is only doing that which his own best good demands ! He is developing the inborn energies of his own soul! The details of this law are specified in the whole history of Christ's life. "He went about doing good"-relieving the distressedcomforting the afflicted, and speaking peace to troubled consciences!

Such is the religion of Christ practically.

It contemplates the whole race as one great family of like interests and sympathies; and as such, directs each member in the discharge of its individual duty. It is the perfect rule of life. "It sanctions no wrong or injustice. It allows no fraud or deceit, but requires man to deal justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with God; to visit the fatherless and the widow in their afflictions, and to keep unspotted from the world." No roar and bloodshed can exist when this religion prevails. No strife and hatred can rage in bosoms, touched by the power of heaven's appointed king!

Peace, unity and love among all menharmony and sympathy and fellow feeling must exist where the religion of Christ is embraced in its fullest extent! This is the perfect state to which we are capable of attaining, and to which this system of grace contemplates bringing us.

But, it is not only the rule of human conduct, and the practical director of the native impulses of our souls as it respects our duty to our fellow-men, but, it reveals great and sublime truths concerning God and his gov

ernment over us.

It communicates to the longing soul the

knowledge of its high origin and destiny. It reveals God as the Father of all; and heaven as the home of all. It communicates to the mind of earth's weary pilgrim, the most cheering views of God's purposes in the creation of man. It opens heaven to his anxious soul as the ultimate destination of our race and bids him be reconciled to all the dark and mysterious allotments of providence, assuring him that though darkness is round about the throne of God, yet justice and mercy are the attributes of his character, and that all his judgments are executed in love!

Such is the religion of Christ practically and doctrinally; and is it not correctly called a treasure of inestimable value? It is adapted to the wants of man in every condition of life. To the rich and poor- the high and low the free and the oppressed—it furnishes a never failing source of consolation, and fills the believing and obedient soul with joy and peace!

In conclusion, I would urge upon you, my respected hearers, the importance of securing this treasure, even though it be at the cost of wealth, honor and fame! It is the one thing needful-the wisdom and consola

tion of life! Seek for it, then, as for hidden treasures, and it will be your counsellor in life-your comfort in affliction, and your hope in death. AMEN.

PRAYER.

OUR FATHER which art in heaven, we reverence Thy name above all names, for Thou art the great and the Holy One, who inhabitest eternity-the Creator of all worlds the Fountain of all life-the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and the giver of every good and every perfect gift. Help us to come before Thee, as we ought, with our hearts imbued with Thy love, and our souls full of the consciousness of our entire dependence on Thee for life and for every needed blessing that our spirits may be lifted on high, and we may feel that we are worshiping our God in the beauty of holiness.

Thou hast given unto us Thy blessed Son,