Star.
London, England, 1824-01-09 00:00:00

TIIE PRAYER.

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" Oh ! thou great and glorious Lotus GOD! Thou high and holy
one, who inbabitest eternity, and despisest not the meanest of 'thy
works, we humbly beseech thee to look down in compassion upon
us, thy poor vile and sinful creatures, who now present our prayer s
and supplications unto thee. Have mercy upon us—O Loan, have
mercy upon us! According to the multitude of thy tender mercies,
blot out all our trmsgressions, and remeni!)er our sins and iniquities
no More. And do thou, in pity to our infirmities, dispose. our
hearts, nod strengthen our resolutions, to serve and feas thee, the
only Goo, all the dis of our lives..
" Gra.it u.s the Grace of thy Holy Spirit, that we may every day
become better, and wiser unto salvation; that we may be enabled
to reform and amend all that is amiss in the frame and temper of
our minds, and in the course and attion of our lives; that we may
it ortify our lusts, govern our passions, and direct our whole con-
versatton aright. Assist us mercifully, 0 Gtol), to do all that is
good ;to avoid all Cult is evil ; and hually, to partakers of thy
Heavenly Kingdom.
" We Mouldy beseech thee, 0 Loan, to bless and preserve us,
shine unaortffy servants, who are at this ti.n, assemhicil in thy
name, to be present in the midst of us, and to assist us in thy Holy
Service of Devotion In which we are engaged ; and gra:3, that those
truths a hick shill by delivered, oat of tby Revealed Word, may
have their 'lnc effect, and lasting ieflues.ce upon the hearts and con-
sciences, %vim the lives stn] conduct of us all.
" These Prayers, 0 Heavenly Parties, we humbly offer up unto,
the Thrt.ne of AlcrcV, in- the Name and through the marks told
mediation of our Lord and SaviDtir Jisus Cll MST, in whose most
einnprehensive form of words we slim ip all our petitions."
i-hr Prayer being concluded; sitter a short and solemn
pan*, the Reverend Gentleman renlarked, that this
season of Advent was appointed by the thifrch, not only
the advent, or tomtit, or appearance of tifiatrs CHRIST
an human that, e on earth, but also to put tit antivally
in mind of his second coming, that we may.prepdtte our
heart, and ' • d.,. our thoughts and actions, to meet
him at his second Coming tp judge the world in righ•
teousoess. No subjict could be more appropriate to thii
soierou and affecting season of the year, than the gene-;
ral judgment by Jesus Chtnisr.
• He then, in a manner which is described to us by a
Gentleman present to have been the most impressive
NI ever witnessed on any occasion, proceeded to the
deliirery of the Saralee. •

We understand that 'the following h-the substance of
!the sermnn ;
Tie text was•-g 6 For we ionst_all appear before the judgment
seat of Coats?; that every one may rectise the things dune in his
body according to what he bath done,. whether it be good or evil."
—2il Cot inthlans, chap. v. vet se 10.
The Reverend Chaplain commenced by observing that St. Paid, •
in the chapter from eellich the text wss taken, commencecPby
pressing his assured hope of immortality ; and in expectance of that
• and of general judgment, he laboured to keep a good conscience,
and to prepare himself in the pilgrimage of We for the' path of
death. St. Paul was anxious to quit this earthly tabernacle for a
house n,ot made with hands, and to be pre.ent with the Loan; but
that, however the Alllloll2l' should dispose of hint. he should make
it his constant labour and study so to coiteluer lthissetS, that burl, in
woeht and at his presentation into the next, he might hope to
he approved and-accepted by his Gees and that to this end his ae-
; aloes were daily governed and directed. It was rather euraorili-
[ nar that • dsuch '• •and terms, aril
yes or s expressed plain am e
coming from such a source, had not the effect which they ought to
have in the concerns of human knee The fleathen, from the force
of natural reason, admitted the certainty of an hereafter, and acted
upon that op' • ; but he was sorry us say that the Christian,
who, in confirmation of his natural teasok, had the authority of Re-
velation, was often touted indifferent to the doctrines of his holy reli-
gion. But nos to dwell on the persuasion and belief of all Heathens
and Pagans in every age and couritr y, in this respect, on the dictates
of every man's natural conscience, his self-approbation of secret
virtue, hi. ulf-cosideninanon of secret vice, the hopes and fears
that agitate every man's breast on account of his most private ac-
tions, and the inmost thoughts of his heat r, evert- all, he said, so
many;proufs ot his belief in a future judgment. The uncertainty of
human ilk, and the inequalities of its prospects, were matter of such
notoriety, that any man acquainted with the world must be asto-
nished bow men often di:regarded the sober truths laid down in the
chapter from wie.ch this text was taken. The Reverend Chaplain
then enlarged upon the inconsistency between the professed be-
Uri of a Christian and his general conduct. Indeed, judging
from the conduct of some Christians,' it would appear that the
hope of future rewards was as inoperative as the terror of
fu-
ture punishments. The description of everlasting torments and
the ti irons of hell had been so often given, that it was not
sisesssary for him now to repeat it, but he thought that the
satter doctrines of reason were better calculated thaa high co-
louring to impress upon the mind oldie sincere Christian the neces-
yof acsing upon St. Paul's doctrine. 111 the second place, he
said, that neither was it necessary to take an extensive view of the
unequal distribution of happiness and misery in this life : how vir-
i tunas and holy men were often afflicted in this world, and that,
too, even for righteousness' sake, and that profligate, daring, and
impious mess, often flourish and prosper—they came not into ttou-
ble, neither were they plagued like other men; hence the justice of
t Gem seemed to require that at the final consummation of all things,
this seeming injustice should be rectified, and that Coo would
one day fully vindicate the righteousness ot his government,
ac-
quit the honour of his justice, and that there would be held
a general assizz of all men that ever breathed on the face of
the whole earth, when they would all have a fair and open
'trial, and Gott would render to each according to his works.—
The Chaplain then enforced the truth of the divine judgment, and
after making a pewerhil impression upon his auditory by the elo-
quence of his argument, he exclaimed " Hear the words of your
liannusa---0 The day is coming in which all who are in their graves
shall hear the voice of their Judge, and shall come forth ; they that
have done good, unto le resurrection of life; and they that have
dune evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.' He remarked upon
the astonishing indifference of some persons to the divine declaration,
and the impossibility of their conducting themselves in the manner
some did, were the. impressed with its truth. lie was particularly
soh= and impressive in dwelling upon the profligacy and pro-
faneness of some who were not deterred by a sense of religion from
the commission of sin, just as if eternal justice were asieep—just
as if all their wicked actions would be buried with their dead bo-
dies, and should never rise again in judgment against their immortal
souls. He contrasted with such impious indifference, the calmness,
the consolation, and hope of a true Christian, who built his hope
on the fundamental beef of happiness hereafter, and illustrated
the value of such a hope by the practice of St. Paul, and the sere-
nity and piety of his life. The Chaplain then said, that It would
be easy to draw a terrific' picture of the great and terrible day of
judgment, bet he preferred the arguments which cooLreason sug-
gested, to those which terror and amazement inspired. He in-
voked the attention of the prisoners to,the plain and powerful
expression of the Holy Scriptures. Suppose then, said he,
that "you saw the Heavens opened and the Son or DIAN coming in
great power and glory, and all his holy angels with him. Sup-
pose that you heard the mighty cherubim, in burning rows, sound-
jug the loud trumpet of archangels, and a mighty voice piercing the
Heavens and the earth-7' Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment !'
Suppose you saw the Throne set, and the great JUDOS sitting upon
the Duette of his Glory ; and all nations gathered before him ; and