ance. And it sometimes pleases that Heavenly Father, whose tender love is chiefly bent on the spiritual improvement of his creatures, to depart, as it were, from the more usual course of his providence; and, by some awful visitation, to present the lesson under a form which no heart can easily resist. And such is the solemn event which we are now called to contemplate. If permanence could have been conceived to belong to any human life or circumstances, it might have been imagined to be the lot of her whom we have lost. Here was the freshness of youth, the vigour of uninterrupted health, a frame carefully nursed up by all the resources of skill, and tenderly watched over by all the assiduities of love-a frame borrowing from rank all the advantages which plenty and leisure confer, and uninjured by the indulgences or excesses which abundance is too apt to produce—a frame, moreover, guarded, I may say, by the wishes and the prayers of a mighty people. And yet, where is this frame now? A single day has taught us the fallacy of our calculations on the durability of any thing herehas extinguished this bright spark of life-has strewed all this strength and honour in the dust!

Sermon by the Rev. John Macaulay, LL.D., preached at St. George's Church, Hanover-Square.

1 SAMUEL, chap. xx. v. 3.

"There is but a step between me and death."

EDUCATED for a throne, of which, in the natural course of events, it was fondly hoped, she would hereafter become the ornament, she never suffered her high rank to interfere with the performance of every suitable act of kindness even to the lowest domestic; and with respect to those individuals, who, in their several lines of occupation, were privileged to supply the demands of use or elegance, her condescension was extended not only to themselves, but to their families. Numerous instances of this irresistibly engaging deportment,

will, in various ways, become known, and will perpetuate the memory of such transcendent, but alas! departed worth, in the public mind; while by those exalted relatives to whom her admirable qualities were most intimately known, and by whom they were most highly prized, the irreparable loss they have sustained, will be unceasingly lamented. Nor is it easy to determine whether the anguish of their feelings will be soothed, or the sense of their calamity augmented, by the universal testimonies of respect and sorrow manifested in every part of the empire; for, certainly, never were stronger marks of respect and sorrow voluntarily exhibited among any people (and truly voluntary they are) than on the present most lamentable catastrophe-a catastrophe, indeed, which, extending its influence beyond the pale of consanguinity, cannot but deeply interest the feelings of every Briton. Tears dim every eye,— grief is depicted on every countenance; and the solemn and decorous indications of sympathetic condolence, manifested in the Labiliments of mourning, which I behold around me, are but the faint and imperfect expression of the internal sensations of every bosom.

Sermon by James Lindsay, D.D., preached at the MeetingHouse, Monkwell-Street.

PSALM XXXix. v. 5.

Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity."

IT is here, indeed, in the bosom of domestic tranquillity,in a voluntary retirement from the gaieties of fashion and the adulations of the great,-in her preference of simple pleasures and improving occupations,—in her affability to her dependents, her consideration for the poor, and above all, in her unremitting devotedness to the man of her heart.... It is here that we behold her character in its fairest, most attractive features; it comes home to our bosoms in all the loveliness of virtue, and makes public approbation assume the softer tone of private sympathy. In thus preferring the peace of solitude

to the ostentations of grandeur,-private duties to public amusements, the comfort of a husband, to the admiration of a court, she gave an unequivocal proof of right principles and a solid understanding; and by persevering in the same course, if it had pleased God to spare her life, she would have secured the respectful attachment, and fitted herself for the successful government, of a free, a generous, and a truly loyal people. For be it ever remembered, that no situation is so favourable to the growth both of public spirit and of private virtue, as that kind of retirement, which this youthful pair had chosen, a retirement in which, at a distance from the fascinations of the great world, leisure was afforded for useful reading, and for that meditation which enlarges the mind and elevates its views. Here too the offices and endearments of the domestic state were nurturing all those gentler feelings of the heart, which, under the influence of religious principle, are the only effectual check against the projects of ambition, and against the abuse of power to the purposes of selfishness.

Sermon by the Rev. Henry Lacey, preached at Salters' Hall, London, and at Plaistow, Essex.

swer.

JEREMIAH, chap. xv. v. 9.

"Her sun is gone down while it was yet day."

AND do we ask, "wherefore has the Lord dealt thus with us?" no serious and observing mind can be at a loss for an an"For the transgressions of the nation are the people stricken." "The Lord's hand was not shortened that it could not save" our Princess, nor was his ear heavy, that it could not hear" our prayers in her behalf; "but our iniquities separated between him and us, and our sins hid his face from us that he would not hear." Immorality and vice were grown up amongst us to an height, which seemed imperiously to call for some heavy judgment, to check its advances, and bring down its haughtiness and strength. Multitudes "proclaimed their

sin as Sodom"-made their crimes the topic of unrestrained and public conversation: instead of hiding their vices, they boasted and gloried in them, as if it were an honour to emulate and excel each other in rebellion against God. Who then can wonder that so different, so serious a theme has been furnished for their social intercourse-that so sudden and powerful a restraint has been imposed upon their evil passions-that they have been compelled for once to think of death and eternity! Some of our public journals have recently been polluted with sentiments and language, so daringly opposed to truth and holiness-so directly subversive of divine as well as human authority-that it was high time for some calamitous event to occur, to force the thoughts of their degraded writers into a more serious channel. A contempt of the gospel and of the worship of God-which always takes the lead in every thing that is vicious in principle and profligate in characterhas been gaining strength in several fashionable as well as unfashionable quarters: and although none expected it would be punished and restrained by such an event as that which has befallen us, every one must be convinced that the magnitude and prevalence of the evil deserved to be visited, if it had been possible, with even a heavier loss. "The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned!"

Sermon by the Rev. George Hughes, M. A., preached at Walthamstow, Essex.

2 SAM. chap. i. v. 27.

"How are the mighty fallen?"

THAT grief, which is so loudly and universally expressed, reflects high credit upon the people; it shews them not insensible to departed worth; and proves, that their admiration is not to be secured by the pomp and splendour that surround, but by the virtues that adorn the throne; yet it adds a keener pang to the recollection of the illustrious husband, and too

truly attests the value of the dear departed associate of his domestic hours, when he beholds her character so justly estimated, her memory so much revered. At the same time, may it be some consolation to the suffering relative, that the same voice, which so loudly deplores the privation, bears ample testimony to the distinguished manner in which he has fulfilled the duties of the christian, the husband, and the man. Long, will he live in the hearts of a grateful nation, endeared to them by his unobtrusive merit, and consistency of virtuous conduct!

Weep, daughters of Jerusalem, your feeling hearts will well know how to appreciate the visitation we deplore. You, who know the value of conjugal love, of domestic endearments, of a virtuous home-you, who have wept for joy over the living pledge of mutual affection, and with a delight peculiarly your own, have traced the virtues of the father gradually maturing in your child-you will poignantly feel the anguish of the mother, bereft in the midst of suffering of her hope of consolation;-you will be alive to the horror and distraction of the husband, when the same hour that robs him of his child, steals from him the mother also.

Sermon by the Rev. Jacob Snelgar, preached at the Chapel, near Church Row, Hampstead..

ECCLESIASTES, chap. xii. v. 5.

"The mourners go about the streets."

EVERY human being is an immortal creature, destined to live through eternity; hence infinite importance is attached to his present circumstances and individual character. This conception ennobles our view of mankind; leads us to consider them, under the most interesting feelings; and impresses on us a consciousness that, whatever they may require, we may need for ourselves.

Were there, indeed, no hereafter, we should still contend