struck upon the rocks in the dark night. It was a time of great distress;-and for a few moments, there was the noise of the captain giving his orders, the howling of the storm, the cries of the poor sailors and passengers, who expected every moment to be drowned. Then this wicked boy wished himself at home. But he had only a few moments; for a great wave came and lifted the ship up high, and then she came down upon another rock, and she was shivered in a thousand pieces. Every soul on board was drowned, except this same wicked boy. By the mercy of God, he was washed up and carried by the waves to a great rock, so that he could creep up, much bruised and almost dead. In the morning, he was seen sitting on the rock with a book in his hand. It was his Bible,—the only thing, except his own life, which had been saved from the wreck. He opened it, and there, on the first leaf, was the hand-writing of his father! He thought of the goodness of that father, and of his own ingratitude, and he wept. Again he opened the book, and on every page was the hand-writing of his heavenly Father; and again he wept at the remembrance of his sins against God. His heart was broken. He was truly penitent; and from that hour to this he has lived as a Christian. He is now the commander of a large ship, and makes it his great business to honour Jesus Christ. This was true repentance.

But I must tell you, in a few words, wHY it is necessary for every one to repent of sin.

1. Because all have sinned. I need not try to tell how many times. I might as well try to count the hairs on that little boy's head, who stands at that pew-door, and keeps his eye on me while I am speaking. We all have sinned against our parents, by not obeying them and being kind to them; we have sinned against the Sabbath, by not remembering to keep it holy; against the Bible, by not loving it and not keeping its sayings; against conscience, which stands close to our heart, and, like a sentinel keeping watch, cries out when we sin; against the Holy Spirit, by not doing as He says, when He makes us know our sin and duty; and against God himself, whose commandments we break. Oh! our sins are like a great cloud. Did you ever see a cloud of dust or sand in a windy day? And could you count the little particles of dust in it—all of them? No, no. But our sins are quite as many.

2. None will forsake sin till they have repented. You might stop a man from stealing by killing him or shutting him up in prison. But this would not stop his wishing to steal; and that wishing, in the sight of God, is sin. One of these children might have his tongue cut out, so that he could not talk, and so that he could never again tell a lie; but if he thought a lie in his heart, this would be sin; and cutting out his

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tongue would not stop his sinning. The Indians, some years ago, tried to stop their people from sinning; and so they gave them strong emetics, in order to have them throw up their sins; but this did no good. The sin was in the heart, and not in the stomach. One of these Indians, who had thus taken emetics, went to Pittsburgh, and bought a barrel of rum to sell to the other Indians. On his way back, he called and heard the Moravian missionaries preach the gospel. "He was so convinced of his sinfulness and misery, that he resolved to alter his manner of life. He accordingly returned the barrel of rum to the trader at Pittsburgh, declaring that he would neither drink nor sell any more spirituous liquors, for it was against his conscience. He therefore begged him to take it back, adding, that, if he refused, he would pour it into the Ohio. The trader, as well as the white people who were present, was amazed, and assured him that this was the first barrel of rum he had ever seen returned by an Indian: but he, at the same time, took it back, without further objection."

Nothing but repentance would ever have led the Indian to do this. Repentance, and nothing but repentance, will make any one leave off sin. 3. None will serve God unless they have first repented of sin. Christ says that no man can serve two masters. Suppose a child has a large apple in each hand, and, without laying down

either, she goes and tries to take up two large oranges. Could she do it? No. Because her hands are already full. Just so, when the heart is full of sin, you cannot have the love of God in it. If you would stop sinning, my dear children, you must repent of sin. If you would serve God, and have Him for your Father and Friend, you must repent. You all can do it. You all have been sorry when you have grieved your parents, and you can be sorry when you have offended and grieved your blessed Redeemer. Oh! if you will not, you will grow up sinners, live sinners, die sinners, and be sinners accursed by God for ever and ever.

IV.-ANGELS' JOY WHEN SINNERS REPENT.

"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."-LUKE XV. 10.

No. Did anybody A great many have. David did. Christ And in the Bible

DID any of these children ever see an angel? No. Did I ever see one? ever see an angel? Yes. Abraham did. Lot did. did. Peter and John did. you read of many who have seen angels.

But though you never saw an angel, yet you all know what an angel is. Angels are good spirits, who love God more than they love one another, and more than they love anything else. They live in heaven. And what do you think they are doing there? Idle, do you think? No. They are never idle a moment. Sometimes God sends them away on errands, just as your parents send you. Sometimes they come down to this world to do good to good people here. When a good man dies, they stand by his bed, and carry his soul up to heaven, just as you are led by the hand when you do not know the way.

And though we cannot see them, yet I suppose some are here in this house of God now, seeing you and me, and looking to see if this Lecture