SERMON. PSALM XV.-1, 2. "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart." If there is any one virtue, which awakens a more profound admiration than all others, it is integrity, residing in the inmost heart, and manifesting itself throughout the whole life. There never, in any community, civilized or uncivilized, was a system of morals, whether ascertained by positive description, or existing only in general public sentiment, in which integrity has not been placed among the highest of the virtues. There is an instinctive emotion of admiration and of reverence in the most uncultivated and even in the most depraved hearts, whenever this sublime attribute is manifested or mentioned. I would appeal to the student of classic history, and ask, whose character, in the long catalogue of the great and wise whose names are recorded there, is contemplated by him with the deepest and purest satisfaction and admiration. He will answer, if his judgment is guided by correct and elevated principles of moral taste and discernment, "ARISTIDES," the Grecian patriot, whom the people, in a moment of folly and madness, banished because he was "Just"-because he did what he thought to be his duty, no matter how unpopular might be the actbecause he uttered what he thought to be the truth, no matter how many might be offended. The passing generation of the small community of which he was a member, injured and calumniated him, and rejected him from the midst of them, but he held fast his integrity, and would not let it go, and his name is hallowed in the admiration of the countless millions of all subsequent generations. In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, we find a brief notice, in the simple and characteristic style of the sacred writers, of an interview between Jesus and a man named Nathaniel. He is mentioned but once more in the Scriptures, and then in such a manner as to inform us incidentally of the fact that he was a fisherman on the lake or sea of Tiberias. A few lines contain all that is known to man of the humble individual, who thus painfully, and in an obscure calling, gained his daily bread by his daily labor. But these lines, few and simple as they are, contain a eulogy, the highest and best to which man can aspire. "Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." These were the words of him who knew what was in man, and coming from him, they convey an encomium the value of which can neither be questioned nor estimated. The memory of the poor Israelite whom they describe, will be cherished and honored wherever integrity and sincerity are honored. And all men in every age have honored them. The more the world is advanced in a knowledge of sound principles, and in the cultivation of moral sentiments, the greater will be the honor paid to these virtues; and the time will surely come, if it has not already come, when the praises of kings and warriors, and of men of every other description of renown, will be poor and insignificant when compared with the declaration which Jesus made, when the humble, but upright, fisherman of Galilee, approached him. " An Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Our text describes such a man as was the heathen Aristides and the Jewish Nathaniel, and it declares that such a man shall abide in God's tabernacle and dwell in his holy hill, shall enter the abodes and partake of the joys of Heaven. Let us examine the description which it contains of a man of integrity, of sincerity, and of honor-a man in whom there is no guile. "He that walketh uprightly." In this clause we are presented with the definition of a character and life, which are established upon the principles of virtue, and upon a sense of duty. The man who always acts and speaks and moves under the guidance of the rules of a high morality—who, in every step which he may be called to take, instead of consulting his selfish interest, temporary expediency, worldly customs or principles, worldly applause or censure, inquires of his conscience, and his God |