are the fruits of the spirit of God, and which taking from us all bitterness and wrath, make us kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, through Christ, hath forgiven us.

Many other considerations might be adduced, but I can only refer you in conclusion to the direction of my text. You will observe, that when Nathaniel was opposing his doubts whether any good could come from Nazareth, the only reply of Philip, was-come and see.' He came, he saw, and believed; and in thus doing he obtained a nobler triumph than did the Roman Dictator, when in similar terms to these, he boasted of his victories. For Nathaniel subdued his prejudices: he made conquest of himself, he became obedient to the faith, and I detain you not to describe, how happy, how glorious was the result. It has obtained for him an immortal crown. We learn from his example, that honest inquiry is the surest remedy of prejudice; and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which demands your faith, invites and will reward your inquiries. Are you in doubt, my hearer, of its truth and authority? I say unto 1 you, as did Philip, come and see. Examine its spirit; weigh its evidence; learn of its doctrine ;—not of man, that may sin, and must die, but of him, who spake as never man spake, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom. Do you ask, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?'-I answer in the words of an eloquent expounder of my text: 'Yes! even the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world; the brightest pattern of moral excellence; the noblest example of christian virtues; the fullest concentration of christian graces; the most illustrious personage, that ever adorn

ed the earth, came from that despised city. The tidings of salvation, the message of God's love, sounded forth from Nazareth.'

And, may we, my brethren, so welcome these tidings to our souls, and so receive the truth, which Christ Jesus hath brought us, that we may enter with him into that kingdom of light, where all the darkness shall be passed; and multitudes from all nations, redeemed into the liberty and peace of heaven, shall look back with wonder at their prejudices; and, partaking of a common salvation, shall confess with grateful hearts, that 'infinite good came from Nazareth.'

SERMON IV.

BY REV. N. L. FROTHINGHAM, OF BOSTON, MASS.

SIGNS IN THE SUN.

DELIVERED ON THE DAY AFTER THE ECLIPSE OF 12TH. FEB. 1831.

LUKE, XXI. 25. THERE SHALL BE SIGNS IN THE SUN.

If there is any form of superstition more natural and noble than all the rest, it is certainly that, which contemplates the heavens, and studies the will of the Divinity in their holy fires. It is proved to be the most natural by being the earliest; and indeed what objects seem so fitted to be the emblems and oracles of religion as the sun, the moon, and the stars? We must acknowledge it to be the noblest also, because it concerns itself with the sublimest of all created things. There they are rolling forever, so bright, so pure, so unalterable, so high above the earth's surface, so calm above the earth's troubles, that it was almost a virtue to have the imagination caught up among their spheres, endeavoring to divine from their aspects and motions the purposes of God. How poor and low, compared with these, were all other means of divination,-the flight of a bird, the sacrifice of a beast, the cup of Joseph and the arrows of

king Joash, the images of the Chaldeans, the vapors of Grecian caves, and the various magical devices, by which deluded men have sought to penetrate to the secrets of nature and the issues of events! Far more elevating was the observation of what appeared to be the greater and smaller lights of the glorious sky. They indeed only appeared to be the greater and smaller, since the remotest of those, whose twinkling rays but just trickle upon the eye from their inconceivable heights, may be masses, to which the moon is but a grain of sand, and the sun himself but a spark. But this is a lesson of modern science. It was natural that the two most conspicuous luminaries should chiefly attract the eyes of the observer. And we cannot think it strange if he supposed their unusual appearances to be prodigies, and feared that the face of God was hidden and some public calamity drew nigh, if their shining was at any time unexpectedly and unaccountably withdrawn.

There shall be signs in the sun,' says the text. What these signs were is explained to us by the parallel passage of Matthew's gospel ;-'the sun shall be darkened.' This manner of speaking was very common among the ancient prophets, when they would describe a coming season of disaster. As the forerunner of such a season, at least as the emblem of it, they spoke of the sun cast into eclipse, or obscured with shadows of an uncommon and therefore seemingly portentous kind. This mode of thinking and expression was not peculiar to the sacred writers. How should it be? It was one

6

of the most irresistible impressions of the human mind. The sun will give signs to you,' says one of the Roman poets. Who will dare to accuse him of being false?