Though

hibits. Thou hast remembered thy covenant which we trust does exist with many of this people, and hast not blotted out their name from among the churches of the land. for a long time thou didst seem to withdraw from them the special tokens of thy favour, thou hast returned and put it into their hearts to build this house for the honour of thy great name, and for the celebration of thine ordinances. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath exalted them to heavenly places in Christ, and who doth now give them the prospect of union and all the social order of the gospel. We bless thee for the exceeding great and precious promises that thou makest unto thy people, and that in the use of the ordinances of thine appointment, they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. We thank thee that thou dost encourage us to come before thee as at this time, in the assembly of the saints, and commit our way unto thee. We believe that thou art, and that thou art a rewarder of all them who diligently seek thee. Oh that our hearts might feel what our lips utter! and that with the devout spirit of thy people, we might now dedicate this house unto thee! To thee it belongeth, and thy people in building it, have only taken of thine own, and given to thee.

To thee, the only living and true God, whose name is Jehovah, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, we now dedicate this pulpit.-May all that is ever uttered in it, be such as thy Gospel approves-may no man ever dare to enter it, who shall teach thy people any thing contrary to sound doctrine, the faith once delivered unto the saints! May no unhallowed lips be opened in its sacred enclosure, and no unauthorized hand touch this sanctuary of truth!

To thee, we dedicate these seats.-May all those who shall occupy them, worship thee in spirit and in truth! and may they receive the word into good and honest hearts, bringing forth fruits unto eternal life!

To thee, we dedicate this communion table.-May those who shall sit at it, be spiritual members of thy church, obedient to all its ordinances, and heirs of all its glory!

To thee, we dedicate these walls. May the sounds of salvation echo through them, and the voice of prayer and praise, such as God shall approve, be heard within them!

To thee, we dedicate this whole house-to be appropriated exclusively to the worship of Jehovah in the assembly of the saints. Let God Almighty accept it—and let the acceptance be ratified in the book of everlasting remembrance! And when the number of the people shall be proclaimed at the summing up of this world's accounts, may it be found written that this and that man was born here!

Arise, O Lord, and enter into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests here be clothed with salvation, and thy saints shout for joy. Here may the ministers of Christ be the sons of consolation to all the obedient, and the sons of thunder to all the disobedient. Here may the word of God be quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Here may the gospel be the power of God unto salvation to multitudes, and here may the Holy Spirit be poured out, as rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth. May many an impenitent sinner be broken down here under the influence of thy truth, and many a saint be quickened in thy holy way. And when thy people in time to come, shall be in distress or in darkness, thou having withdrawn from them the light of thy countenance; or when they shall be put to the worse before the enemy, having been led astray by this alluring, this deceitful world; or when thou shalt have smitten them with the rod of correction; and they come before thee in this house to make supplication unto thee; then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive their sin and heal them. Let this house long stand, and be a witness for thee against every evil doer; and let the church who expect to worship in it, continue from generation, to generation, so long as the sun and the moon shall endure. And when the time shall come, that we and all this present

generation, shall be gathered unto our fathers, and belong to the great congregation of the dead, may others arise to speak for God, and to glorify him in this house. May God always be greatly feared in the assembly of the saints that shall meet in this place, and be had in reverence by all them that shall be here about him. And when the desolations of time shall have laid this fair fabric in the dust, may other hands engage in a work of benevolence like it, and others again, if time shall so long continue, till all the faithful shall be gathered into the general assembly and church of the first born that are written in heaven-where there is no need of a temple, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, are the temple thereof.

And now at thy footstool, would we lay down all our honours, and all our wealth, and all our talents, and ascribe to thy great name, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, "glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

Brethren, you have built this house for God; and it is now his by special dedication. Let not future years then, witness against you, that all this ceremony has been no more than a solemn farce. Let it not be told in eternity, that this day you mocked God with a solemn sound upon a thoughtless tongue. Let every sabbath witness your assembling here, according to the obligations that have been set forth in this discourse. Let every man feel the duty which God has so fully enjoined; and if he at any time neglect it, let all the guilt rest upon a troubled conscience, till pardon has been obtained from Him who healeth the backslidings of his people. Bring your children hither; and let them know the way of holiness, "the good old way" in which our fathers walked, and all those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Within these consecrated walls, you are to sit, beloved brethren, and hear the solemn reproofs of the sanctuary, and the whole plan of God's salvation. Never let a discontented and rebellious heart rise up to defend you against the arrows

of divine truth. Let the conscience rule-and let it speak out in all the majesty of its voice, whether it administer comfort, or whether it overwhelm you with condemnation. Here you are to bring your offspring to the baptismal font, and acknowledge the property of God in them, and dedicate them with all the solemnity and joy of divine appointment to Him in whom you trust. Let this holy duty be punctually performed, and all the duties of religious education which flow from it that those who are bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh, rise not up in judgment against you, before the bar of God. Here you are to witness souls giving themselves voluntarily to God in an everlasting covenant; and here you are to commemorate the dying love of our Saviour Jesus Christ; and thus you will begin that communion here which the everlasting blessedness of heaven shall consummate. From this sacred place you will date a thousand religious impressions; and from the ages of a miserable or a happy eternity, according as you shall conduct yourselves here, you will look back upon this house and think with terror or joy of the truths which you shall have heard in it. No zeal in building it will then avail you, if it be not found by the unerring perceptions of the Infinite Mind, that you shall have sincerely used it for His worship. Personal holiness that shall have been built up in this house, will then be looked back upon with joy, when all the goodly decorations of it which now charm our eyes, and comport so well with the feelings of public worship, shall have been forgotten. The holy influence of the assembly of the saints here to be convened, will carry its delightful effects through all future duration ;-till the very remembrance of this world and all that it contains, shall be swallowed up in the boundless vast of eternity. How dreadful then is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven!

NATIONAL PROSPERITY PERPETUATED:

A

DISCOURSE:

DELIVERED IN THE

CHAPEL OF YALE COLLEGE;

ON THE DAY OF

THE ANNUAL THANKSGIVING:

NOVEMBER 29, 1827.

BY ELEAZAR T. FITCH.

Videte ne, ut illis pulcherrimum fuit tantam vobis imperii gloriam relinquere, sic vobis turpissimum sit, illud quod accepistis, tueri et conservare non posse.-Cic.

NEW-HAVEN :

TREADWAY AND ADAMS.

CHRONICLE OFFICE, PRINT.