ment on men's minds (so inefficiently admitted) by a grand experiment of its truth, which shall carry its own evidence with it, and convey irresistible conviction to the conscience. The beauteous object shall have glittered and been admired by the multitude for awhile, but it shall have vanished in a moment from before their eyes; and, perhaps, the reason might be, that nothing but vision could have convinced them that all this fascinating splendour could have proved, after all, but a bubble. Would you know what human greatness is? Obtain your knowledge of it from a visit to the palace of Claremont. Behold, there, in a few hours, a royal mansion become a dungeon!--a lovely Princess, a breathless corpse !—the hope of Britain, an heap of dust!--and the first family amongst us, one of the most bereaved, pitiable, and disconsolate in the realm! But "so passes the glory of the world." SERMON II. 2 Chronicles, chap. xxxv. v. 24, 25. "And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.-And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold, they are written in the Lamentations.” PERHAPS within the compass of human recollection no event of the kind has occurred which has given rise to a mourning equally real, general, and deep, with that which our country now exhibits, and reasons may be assigned which fully support and justify this universal grief. Death we know, as an abstract event, whenever and however it takes place, is awful and important. It consists in the passage of an immortal soul into Eternity, as well as the commitment of an human body to the grave. But still they are the circumstantial concomitants of death, which principally constitute the tenderness of its touch on the feelings of surrounding mourners. Death is awful in the case of decrepit old but here we have the withering of blooming youth-" this is a flower coming up, and cut down"-here the sun does not set age; in the west after a long and a tedious day, but " it is yet noon." goes down ere It is possible for life at any age (from circumstances) to become a burden, and the language of wretchedness may proceed from the lips of youth-" I loathe it; I would not live always." Imbittering circumstances may make a palace an house of sorrow-turn robes of state into fetters-and hang a pointed sword by a thread over a throne; and if any thing can be supposed to contribute to the bitterness of the life of an exalted female, surely it must be her being forced into the hateful chains of reluctant marriage-being obliged to give her hand and retain her heart-being made the victim of the state, and a sacrifice to public policy and interest. But what a blessed contrast to this was the case of the Princess Charlotte : here appeared all the freedom, the affection, the cordiality of choice all the honourable sweetness of wedded love-the union of hearts as well as the junction of hands, and the prospect of a permanent connexion, together with a numerous progeny, sanctioned by law, by conscience, and the approbation of God. But, alas! this sweet and sacred tie is unexpectedly and abruptly rent asunder, the nuptial torch extinguished and trampled under foot, and we have the painful (not to say unusual) sight before us of a royal husband, almost brokenhearted, bewailing his loss and refusing to be comforted. Sermon by the Rev. Isaac Purkis, preached at Bethel Chapel, Deptford. JER. chap. ix. v. 20, 21. "Hear ye the word of the Lord, O ye women; and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing; and every one her neighbour lamentation: for death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces!" IT was an admirable trait in the character of her Royal Highness, that it was not her chief ambition to appear in the drawing-room, to be admired in the assembly, to trifle away precious time, and indulge avarice or prodigality at the cardtable; to be gazed at in the theatre, and to dazzle in public places; but, with the mild radiance of the ruby, to shine in the bosom of her family, to exemplify the virtues, and possess the enjoyments, of domestic life. The society and comfort of her Prince, and the happiness of her domestics, were the grand objects of her Royal Highness's solicitude and pursuit: thus to them might be applied the descriptive lines of the poet, "What is the world to them, THOMSON. Here we have abundant cause for grief-that one, whose example might have tended to check dissipation and riot, a disregard to home and a love to public amusements, should be so early called away by death. The departure of this amiable Princess, whose example might have reformed the nation, is a just cause of regret to every one who bears the name of wife, of mother, or of daughter, in the land. Sermon by Joseph Kerby, V. D. M., preached at the Old Chapel, Cliff, Lewes, Sussex. ISAIAH, chap. xl. v. 6, 7, 8. "The voice said, cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.-The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.-The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand for ever." · AND does Jesus himself weep at the grave of Lazarus, and shall we as Christians forbear to weep on such a distressing event as this? In fact, his overwhelming and distressing case comes home to the feelings of every man, especially those who have a darling wife to lose and under such peculiar and distressing circumstances as the present afflicting providences. No death has been more deeply lamented than that of this amiable Princess; she was affable, though properly dignified, and generous without ostentation. Her poor neighbours shed tears on the intelligence of her death, for they had often shared her liberality. The integrity of her character, ensured the esteem of all; she was truly charitable, for she selected her objects, and she has left a glorious example for the rich and the great, to go and do likewise. The Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold, were never separated but for a few hours; and that was, when Prince Leopold has been called upon to pay his respectful duty to the Prince Regent at his levees, or on other public occasions. Charlotte the beloved, and Leopold, knew no happiness without each other, and they lived and pursued the life of domestic happiness; as a pattern to all in humble life to imitate, their study and conduct were to make every one happy upon their establishment; in which they fully succeeded, every thing being conducted with the greatest regularity and good management. The more we contemplate the character of our lamented Princess, the more we feel our loss, as a national calamity. Every wife would have gazed upon her, as a bright example of those actions whose performance rewards itself; and constitutes the chief blessing of society. Such a model, in such an age, may be a subject of lamentation to our children's children. Every trace of our truly excellent Princess Charlotte, is gratifying to the distressed nation at large, and every publisher feels a melancholy satisfaction in collecting and detailing every fact that serves to keep alive these honourable sympathies of the nation; and you, my dear christian friends, will rejoice to hear of the exemplary life of the Princess whom you deplore. Sermon by the Rev. B. Kennicott, A. B., preached at MATTHEW, chap. xxv. v. 13. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." LOOK at death, my brethren,-see ye not in that faithfu mirror, the instability, the nothingness of this world's goods? Whatever be your opinions, your mistakes, your prejudices, let death dissolve the enchantment, and rivet in your hearts the conviction, that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit;” but religion and love, piety towards God, and goodness towards man. This fatal period awaits us all,-to God alone is it known, how soon it may arrive,-how soon the fate of the departed Princess may be our own; we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." Shall I intrude upon the sacred grief of the royal father? No man's sorrow will be like his sorrow! Oh! my brethren, he has lost the only child of her mother; of her, who lives estranged from him in a distant clime. No just appeal can be made, but to the hearts of those, who have lost an only child; no other hearts can know half the bitterness of his.-May thy childless state teach thee, thou afflicted parent; may it teach us all "so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." And thou, poor, distressed mother, as thou wilt be, when the death-announcing tidings strike on thy heart-let us not entirely forget thee; surely thou hast some claim still on our sympathy and condolence. Thou shalt be had in remembrance, and we will mingle our tears with thine. Another sufferer remains, my brethren, with the strongest |