The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-01 00:00:00

ST. MARY'S, LAMBETH.

The sermon at this church was preached by the Rev.
Mr. Langham, who took for his text the 32d chapter of
Genesis, and the 10th verse :---" I am not worthy of the
least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou
bast showed unto thy servant ; for with my staff I passed
over this Jordan ; and now I am become two bands."
The rev. gentleman noticed briefly the victories achieved
by our arms, and concluded an appropriate discourse by
some reflections on our successes over the Russians,
and the probable result of the war.

ST. MARY'S, NEWINGTON.
A sermon appropriate to the day of thanksgiving was
preached at this church in the morning by the Rev. C.
Moore. The preacher took for his text the 20th verse of
the 24th chapter of Josbna.—" If ye forsake the Lord,
and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you
hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you
good." He observed that, in obedience to the command
of the Legislature, we this day offered unto God. our
hearty thanksgiving for the success which He has lately
vouchsafed to our arms in the East ; and he, for one,
considered that our praise for His goodness was enhanced
from the fact that the directions to give thanks had ema-
nated from the rulers of our country. To his mind there
was not a more beautiful narrative in the Bible than
that which was to be found in the last chapter of the
let Book of Chronicles, in which King David, after
making provision for the temple which it was reserved to
Solomon to build, gave command to his subjects, " Now
bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation
blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down
their heads, and worshipped the Lord and the King."
He bad no sympathy with those who declared that
Royalty was overstepping its prerogative by commend-
ing public fasts and thanksgivings. The Legislature
was but acting on scriptural authority in commanding
a public recognition of the governance of Jehovah in the
affairs of men. Long might the day be before it arrived
when the plea should avail that the consciences of some
were aggrieved by the observance of fasts and thanks.
givings ! It was a fallacy to suppose that, whatever
their professions, they were Cbristians who raised objec-
tions to such things. The Lord had done good to us as
a nation. The late triumph seemed to tell us that, not-
withstanding our ieiquities, His loving mercy was still
over us. Let us, then, be on our guard that his good-
ness encouraged us not in carelessness or false security,
but let us give as a nation all the greater heed that we
provoke Him not to " turn and do us hurt, and consume
us, after that He bath done us good." It was unneces-
sary to dwell at any length on the many signal proofs of
the goodness of God to us as a nation. Our present
position among the countries of the earth was a pledge
how in temporal things His blessing had been poured
out upon us. Our land was the dwelling,-place of free-
dom—a refuge from oppression. We had in an especial
manner appeared to dwell under the Divine protection
and to receive the accomplishment of the promise " They
who honour me, them will I also honour." Toe Almighty
bad again done us good. Though the fall of the devoted
city had not resulted in the re-establishment of peace,
yet the arm of the tyrant must to a great extent be para-
lised by the blow. The great foe of liberty fondly ima-
gined this mighty fortress to be impregnable, and its fall
must have done much to shake his confidence in the
ultimate success of his schemes.
A. collection was made at the close of the sermon in
aid of the funds of the Newington District Visiting
Society.