melancholy hour of dissolution waiteth on you, and when the secrets of all hearts shall be opened and disclosed, which to the young on the pursuit of diversion and pleasure, may seem at a great distance; yet man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and so fast, so fleet is the wing of time, that we are all soon brought to the same dust from whence we are sprung, and as the fond father in the fulness of his inexpressible joy, received his long absent son into his melting arms, may we be received by that tender and merciful father, who wishes, not even one of his children to be lost, but all to be saved. May we be worthy of his embraces who knows no bounds to pardon and forgiveness: may God of his infinite mercy and wisdom inspire you all, with such reflections on the great danger and perils of a sinful life, that you may all arise and awake from the soporific and dark regions of sin and woe, to a godly and virtuous life, that by the assistance of the divine will, all mankind may shun and escape sleeping in eternal and everlasting death, where sorrow and misery continually inhabit. To conclude. Let me exhort all this congregation to consider the great value, and the inestimable blessings planted in our hearts of gratitude, praise, and thanksgivings, and as God is entitled to it from every christian heart, for every benefit man receives in private as well as in public, let no one be deficient in this important duty, and according to the advantage received, so great, as far as frail man is able to perform, return it with gratitude in the best manner he is able.