happiness lies in gold; and that the only reason why he has not obtained those solid joys in possession which he first anticipated, is because he still needs more.  But though wealth may flow upon him in oceans, his cravings for more will ever swell beyond what earth can give, and leave him a more wretched being than he was at the commencement of his course.  Here is his loss—­here is his punishment.  God has not placed happiness in wealth. "A competence is all we can enjoy, O, be content where heaven can give no more."

Or let him rise to that station of honor, which he now believes will satisfy him, and his ambition would aspire to one more exalted.  Let him govern one kingdom, and he would desire to subjugate another till the whole world bowed to his nod.  And were every star an inhabited world, and did he possess means to invade them, his ambition would continue to soar till he ruled the universe, and were there no object left to which he might still direct his ambition and continue to soar, he would set down in despair, and, like Alexander the Great, weep and sigh for more worlds to conquer.

All this restlessness and misery arise from false notions of:  happiness—­from not realizing that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men—­and from a want of confidence in his word, which points the rich and the poor alike to that noble path of virtue and religion, where true happiness and unbroken peace forever reign.  By men embracing virtue, and in their feelings and actions ever acknowledging the supremacy of Jehovah, inevitably leads to happiness and contentment.  But in doing this we are not to deprive ourselves of the enjoyment of honest gotten wealth, nor of the rational pursuits and interchanges of social and domestic life.  Religion was not given to deprive us of the common comforts and conveniences of life, but to sweeten them.  Our Redeemer says, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Sin and misery in this world are inseparable:  so are righteousness and happiness.  If they are not, then it remains for the advocates for a future retribution to show how men are to be sufficiently rewarded and punished in the future world.

There is my friends no solid happiness, no permanent satisfaction only in the contemplation that God governs the world, and in the practice of pure and rational piety.  This you may know by studying your own bosom.  Have any of you thus far spent your days in striving to find perfect bliss in the various pursuits of life?  Have you aspired to one object, abandoned it, and taken up another?  If so, can you say that you have found the happiness you anticipated, and so earnestly sought?  No!  What is the reason?  There is one thing needful.  Whatever may be your pursuit, if you are thoughtless that God governs the world, and if instead of rendering him the homage of a grateful heart, you blaspheme his name, or are selfish and regardless of the happiness of your fellow