nate distinctions which come within the reach of ordinary men; after which we see the multitude of men in such eager pursuit and on which they seem to set so overcharg ed a value? "None of them can by any means save a man from death; none of them gives a man power over the spirit; in that war there is no discharge. Oh what an im pressive lesson does the late event, read to earthly ambition, whatever its form, and whatever its object,-whether ascendancy of rank, or of wealth, or of pleasure, or of power, or of fame! If we talk of rank, be hold he that was highest of degree-himself an order, and the highest order of the realm -the fountain of nobility-the golden pinnacle of the social pyramid-he has been smitten in his pride of place, and has died like other men. If we speak of wealth, behold he whose treasures a nation filled un sparingly from year to year-whose palaces were statliest in structure, and costliest of decoration, and also whose appliances and means of life and enjoyment were richest in supply, and choicest in value-he has been

smitten in the selected seat of his splendour, and has died like other men. Speak we of power; lo, he, the monarch of three great united nations, ruling over colonies, and mighty provinces on every continent, and to whose flag was given the dominion of the seas he has been smitten amid all his might, and has died like other men. Speak we, finally, of earthly fame; he on whom, as the embodied majesty of Britain was concentrated the renown she had won over all the earth, by the mighty captains and gallant heroes she had sent forth in his name to display their banners, as well as of all that his domestic government did wisely, and justly, and generously, and well-he has been smitten upon the laurel-shaded throne, and has died like other men. "Surely man walk eth in a vain show; surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity! Truly low degree is vanity, and high degree is a lie, to be laid in the balance they are altogether lighter than vanity." Cease ye then from earthly ambition! Become not vain in

earthly attainments! On earthly distinc

sellors of the earth; in either the abject and poor among men; but here is the marked and uniform distinction-on the one hand all are righteous, on the other none. Let us not venture, my brethren, in our ignorance and weakness, to determine, even in thought, where any individual even departed, shall stand in that eternal separation. But for ourselves, let us ever remember, in the general, that when overtaken by that hour, to be a Christian is infinitely more important than to be a king. In that hour, the distinction of the latter name is for ever obliterated; that of the former is but revealed and per fected. In the moment that the monarchic earthly royalty is extinguished never to revive, the believer's celestial royalty begins never to terminate, in a kingdom which cannot be moved, a crown which fadeth not away, a throne which shall be established be. fore God even as the days of heaven. It is not difficult therefore to decide, by the aid of the principle stated in the text, and illus trated by the recent dispensation of Provi dence, on the comparative value of the one

distinction and the other-of being here a king to men, or hereafter a king to God; nor, therefore, the comparative interest with which an immortal creature should regard his own portion in the one class of distinctions or in the other; on the one hand, the worldly distinction of rank, of power, of fame, of any good whose sphere is limited by him; or, on the other, the spiritual distinction of being a Christian, a believer, a partaker of grace, an inheritor of glory. Oh the incurable folly of the multitude who will not be convinced even by the most impressive demonstration of God's providence, of the final worthlessness of that whereon they have set their hearts, and in hunting for which they have spent their lives-the vain and fugitive distinctions of the present state! And who, after it may be, having been startled for a moment, and for a moment tamed in the pursuit, ere long resume the chase with fresh avidity, setting their eyes on "that which is not," even as if it were solid and eternal reality-clinging to that world, the fashion of which passeth away, as if it were to last, and

God even the Father, and all of them in a higher sense than the text expresses, children of the Most High. For in regard to them, it may no more be added, "Ye shall die like men," for they are made like the angels of God, neither can they die any more, nor is their lot to fall like one of mortal princes; but theirs are the immovable thrones, the unfading wreaths, the robes that wax not old, and the treasures that cannot decay-the royalties of Eternity and Heaven.