{a jsVw tract foe so'tDrEfts,] 5?o- 13. AN APPEAL TO THE YOUNG, BY REV. JAS. M'GREADY My Dear Youxg Friend : — You are born for eternity —you are to be an inhabitant of this world only for a few days or a tew years. You have just to stay till you are prepared and qualified for an unseen w.irld, where your state will be unalterably fixed in a solemn, an awful, unbounded, immeasurable eternity. Oh, how solemn! How awful the consideration ! An eternity of unspeak- able, indescribable glory and blessedness— -or an eternity <>: unutterable, inconceivable woe and misery awaits all die numberless millions of Adam's numerous race. Then whatinq dry can be more rational and proper for a crea- ture that must be an inhabitant of heaven or hell, than this: How will it fare with me after death? Am I walk- ing the narrow way to eternal life? Or am I in the broad road to hell? Am i seeking, striving, watching, praying, and trying to make sure of Christ and Heaven? Oram I living "thoughtless, careless, and prayeriess, putting off repentance, conversion, and the work of my soul to mid- dle age, to old age, or to some future period ? My dear young friend, how is it with you ? Is Jesus precious to your soul? Is Christ the hope of glory formed in you? Have you found Christ, the pearl of unspeakable price? Can you tell the great things the Lord hath done for you ? Is the Bible, the sweetest book ro you that you ever saw? Do ftiu spend much time in reading it, and reading it with a praying heart? Do you pray in secret every night and every morning? Is the work of your ea 1 vation — the business of your soul — the businens of <. tern ity— your chief concern"? Does it occupy the highest place in your thoughts? Oh, for the Lord's sake, for your own soul's sake, propose these solemn questions to your heart and etm^cjence. Oh my friend ! the present time is the best time, the most precious time— the most suitable time that ■sou will ever see till your dying hour, for the work of your salvation, You are young, your heart is tender, it is susceptible of good impressions— it has not yet grown hard and gospel trodden from having r $>a/edl'v resisted * AN APPEAL TO THE YGVS&, the Spirit of God, and slighted the offer, of mercy as m the case with the old impenitent sinner. Sweet prLiBca are made ,„ the book of God to youth, that oM gray! Leaded sinners cannot claim, such as Proverbs 8-17- •' tha * scek nearly shall imd me. Ihe ablest divines and most experienced and exemplary christians, HUC h as Ambrose, Flavel, DoddricW andotners, observe that the tune of youth is in a partic- ular manner a person's convertible age. They give it as their opinion that more precious souls are brought to Christ between the age of nine and eighteen than of anv other class of mankind, and that scarcely any are ever converted in a place that has enjoyed the lovely Ba ot grace alter the age of twenty- five or thirty years at ut A J TT hkG a duef in thc Ri P^ vou know n t that you shall ever nee twenty-five or thirty years of £ ™ v h« JOl | hQa \™ c 8erm ^> Jon know not but that it pa, be your last. \\ h,n you enjoy one offer of mercv, men orange s cannot assure you that vou will ever have another. Oh then how dangerous to delay ! Bow fatal mfcut? Oh P l Ut ^ thG r; k 0f y ° Ur SOul ™ e Worone minute. Oh be en reated then to comply with the rnostrea- .enable command (if possible) in the whole book of God viz: lo remember thy creator in the days of %y QU tb^ h n! « a t Cai V be m01 ' e ng U End *> in the very nature of things, than for a rational, intelligent creature," to remein- ber.love obey ^and serve his God,his maker, hiLprese v r his kind benefactor, the author of all the good that evlr he enjoyed or that a reasonable creature can enjoy To remember love and delight in infinite exce-lence-iniinite glory— infinite beauty-infinite rectitude and purity ^V hat exercise or employment can be so honorable or £ lespectable as to love, obey, or serve the almight soVe- Zft. ft ^ UniVer8e -: r ° ^ obey ancfdelightin * I i T that came ,nto the world to save sinners; to nth £& T! them that were Iost ; t0 6e « k ™* «ve vm Hiflfc poor lost sinners as you and I areYrom sinking lor ever and ever m the lake that burnetii with fir? and brimstone. But further, [ can tell you as a tru4 t an unquestionable certainty-I can tell you from e 'pt AN APrXAL TO THE YOCNG, S rtence, there ie no happiness, pleasure, or comfort, on this side of heaven that is worth calling pleasure or happiness, but that which is to be found in religion. One half hour viewing the glory of God in the face of Jesus — beholding by faith the intrinsic beauty and glory of all the moral attributes of God, meeting, center- ing, uniting, and harmonizing in Christ's merits and atonement, feeling the love of God in Chri-t Jesus shed abroad in the heart, the Spirit of God bearing witness with the soul that it is born of God, thusfeeling^the jovs of pardoned sin, — the blessed hope of eternal life— the dawmngs of heaven on earth,— the sweet foretastes of immortal glory in the soul— this, I say, affords more pleasure and real satisfaction than ever an Alexander, a ta?sar ; or a Napoleon felt in all their vitories, conquests, pomp, or grandeur. These thin ;:s sweeten all the sor- rows and afflictions of life ; these would communicate a heaven to the genuine christian, though he was chained m a dungeon, or burning at a stake., they make death desirable, and eternity delightful. Oh, mv voung friend! will you take a start for glory and blessedness? will vou come with me to Emmanuel's land? to the paradise of God? I am bound for that happy country, it is my home, and the place where all my prospects lie. Oh come and enlist under the sweet banners of King Jesus ; come and give your heart to Christ: put the crown of vour salva- tion upon him that has many crowns upon his head. '* Seek ye the Lord while he mav be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" " tet the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercv upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."— Ismah lv: 6, 7. 44 My son, know thou the God of thv father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind : If thou seek him, be will be found of thee ; but if thou f^r«ake him, he will cast thec off for ever."— 1 Chron. xxviii • 9 YOUNG PERSONS ESTREATED, Bestow, near Lord, upon our youth, The gift of saving grace ; And let the seed of sacred truth Fall m a fruitful place. Grace is a plant, where'er it grows, Of pure and heav'nly root; But fairest in the youngest shows, And yields the sweetest fruit. Ye careless ones, hear betimes The voice of sovereign love ! Your youth is stain'd with many crimes But'mercy teigus above. True you are young, but thare*s a alone Within the younge t breast, Or half the cri . es which you have done • Would rob you of your rest. For you the public prayer is made, Oh, join the public prayer I ^ For vou the secret tear is shed, O shed yourselves a tear ! We pray that you may early prove The Spirit's 'power to teach ; You cannot be too young to love That Jesus whom we preach. Cowper,