Christ in this parable represent the prodigal as receiving such a joyful welcome on his return? It was because he wished to encourage all men, who have gone away far from God, with the assurance that they, in like manner, shall be forgiven, when, with penitence and contrition, sick and tired of sin, they return to their Heavenly Father, confessing their sin, and asking his mercy. My friend, it is not a bare forgiveness that your Heavenly Father is prepared, for Christ's sake, to bestow upon you, he will give you his welcome, as well as his forgiveness; he is now, as it were, waiting and watching for your return, and he will meet you on your way, and speak peace to your anguished heart; and he will bring you to his house, clothe you with the robe of perfect righteousness, and set before you a feast of which your famished soul shall abundantly partake. So now, if that prodigal represent you in his folly, his sin, and his suffering, let him also represent you in his repentance, in his return, and in his joyful admission into his father's house. And may God say of each poor wanderer, in the presence of the adoring angels that surround his throne, "This, my son, was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found!"

come.

LECTURE IV.

"THERE'S A GOOD TIME COMING."

BEFORE we consider the prospects and probabilities of "a good time coming," and the means by which that "good time" is to be secured, it may be well to observe that, compared with the past, a good time has already We glory much in the progress that has been made in these modern days; and although that glorying is perhaps often carried a little too far, there is good and substantial reason for it, nevertheless; and those who know most of the past will probably be most deeply convinced that, in almost all respects, the times have changed for the better, and not for the worse. There are certainly some parts of the world in which no improvement is discoverable-some nations, whose present condition, compared with their past, gives tokens of decline and decay. This may be said of Italy, of Spain; and even of that country which so loudly boasts that it is the foremost in the march of civilization-France; we cannot say that satisfactory progress has marked her history, for, although the world is indebted to her for many scientific discoveries and useful inventions, still, after a struggle;

of nearly one hundred years, she has failed to secure the inestimable blessing of freedom, and, to her utter humiliation, she crouches at the feet of an unscrupulous despot. In this country, however, we have neither been retrogressive nor stationary. There always have been, and I suppose there always will be, men of a gloomy faultfinding turn of mind, fully persuaded that we are going to ruin. Our decline has been predicted often; and whenever any great measure, which involves some important alteration, is proposed, that measure is pronounced by the prophets of evil to be fatal to our prosperity; but still, in spite of all these melancholy forebodings, the fact is indisputable-we have advanced, and are advancing yet. There is no expression in the English language which I am more at a loss to understand, than that well known and oft-repeated phrase, "the good old times." In what age can we discover those “ good old times?" Our history, dating its commencement at the period of the Roman conquest, extends over nearly two thousand years; but within this ample scope, I do not know that we can fix upon any age, long or short, which, compared with the present, is worthy of being called "a good old time." In the very early centuries of our history no one will think of looking for those much-lauded "good old times," for every one knows that they were times of utter barbarism. It is almost in vain to seek "the good old times" in later centuries-centuries of feudal tyranny and ecclesiastical despotism, of extreme ignorance, of dark superstition. There were no "good times" then; in fact, it is wonderful that the great body of the people could endure their miserable existence. Perhaps they were

good times for the great barons, the bishops, the abbots, and the priests, all of whom profited by the enslavement and ignorance of the people; but the population at large had to live in such a state of wretchedness as is enough to fill us with horror; horses have far better times now than men had then. The reign of Elizabeth has been much belauded, and in some respects it is undoubtedly worthy of praise; but when we bear in mind the fact that vast numbers, of both Protestants and Catholics, suffered for their religion under her gentle sway, we can have no very happy idea of that age. Elizabeth was certainly a most accomplished person; she was well versed in Greek, Latin, Italian, and French; she was equally conversant with another language-the language of Billingsgate; and when her temper was up, which was very frequently the case, she made no scruple of swearing, like any trooper; and as to the purity of her Protestantism, you may judge of it from the fact, that she always had a crucifix, with lighted candles, in her private chapel, and was in the habit of praying to the Virgin Mary. Tyrannical as she was, her reign was looked back upon with admiration; but this need cause no surprise, for she was succeeded by such a family of fools and scoundrels, under whose mismanagement the country suffered all the evils of civil war, and, after that, was humbled and disgraced in the sight of the civilized world.

There certainly were no good old times in the seventeenth century; and do not think that, in the last, the eighteenth century, those good times are to be found. In many respects, that age was far worse than its immediate predecessor. It was an age remarkable

chiefly for its irreligion, its ignorance, its vice, its brutality; altogether, it is a period of which we have reason to be utterly ashamed. If you think that the present century is peculiarly the age of frivolity, of shams, of dishonesty, of intemperance, of immorality, you are very much mistaken. The evils of which we complain are no novelties. We find most of them, if not all of them, together with others that have disappeared, in full play in the last century; whether you contemplate the political, the intellectual, the social, or the moral condition of the country, you find little to admire, much to despise and to loathe. There were, certainly, many men of learning, many men of genius; and the English literature of the last century, adorned with the names of Addison, Johnson, Goldsmith, Gibbon, and Hume, is of a high order; but that literature was known to but a very limited and select circle; the great mass of the people were left in profound ignorance; and literary men themselves do not appear to have had the remotest idea of enlightening the working classes. Literature and science were luxuries proper only for the upper ordersignorant the people were, and ignorant they must remain, and in that ignorance the safety of the nation was believed to exist. Well aware that "knowledge is power," the upper classes trembled at the idea of the spread of intelligence amongst the working population. Give them instruction, they will immediately become dissatisfied, they will think themselves as good as their natural superiors, they will be impatient of all control, they will treat their employers with disrespect, they will imbibe revolutionary and leveling principles, and the