and body in hell:" and on the other hand, this encouraging consolation (1 Pet. ii. 19, 20), "For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffetted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God:" and again (Luke vi. 22, 23), "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for behold, your reward is great in heaven."

If the duellist should say he fought the duel, because such was the feeling of the world that, had he not done so, he must have lost his means of subsistence; must have given up his profession, and would no longer have been able to support his wife and family, or to make a fortune to leave his children at his death;-how will he answer this, (Mark viii. 36), “ What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" And then, how will his ungrateful heart sink within him, when shown from the same book the words of promise that forbid such causeless fears (Matt. vi. 25-33), "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall

drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,

how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

If, laying hold of one of those extreme cases duellists are so fond of putting, when trying to justify their practice, as admitting of no other remedy, he shall say, "The injury I sustained, or the provocation I received, was so immeasurably great, it deserved no mercy, and ought not to have

been forgiven, and therefore I fought with, and killed my antagonist;"-how will his affrighted conscience start with unimaginable horror, when he sees, as in letters of liquid fire, his own conduct sealing his eternal doom, by a just retribution (James ii. 13): "He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy."

If he shall say, I lived in society where "honour" was our sole guide, where religion was never thought of, where Christ was never mentioned; and therefore I dared not refuse to fight a duel from religious motives, for fear of being laughed at and ridiculed ;-how will he be struck dumb for ever when shown, on the one hand, the encouraging promise held out to him who should acknowledge and confess his Saviour before men; and on the other, the awful doom already denounced against whosoever should forsake and deny him (Matt. x. 32, 33): "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven!" Then, then will remorse seize, and hope forsake his heart for ever.

Then shall

that holy book, with all its warnings, injunctions, and consolations; that blessed book, which was expressly written by inspiration of God, for our

guidance and our comfort, be closed to him for ever; then shall he hear, with unutterable and interminable woe, the voice of the Almighty Judge of the world pronounce the decree of his eternal doom (Matt. xxv. 41), "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," there to remain for ever! Oh! what would he not then give to live some brief space over again, to be allowed to repent of his folly, and have his peace made for him with God! But, alas! (2 Cor. vi. 2) the accepted time is over, the day of salvation is past; beyond the grave there is no effectual repentance; and without it, there is no remission of sins.

It is the application of this plain point of Scripture doctrine to the case of the duellist, that I propose to touch upon in an ensuing chapter.

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CHAPTER V.

It is scarcely possible for any thing to be more clearly laid down in God's holy law, than the two leading and similar features of our duty towards our neighbour-"love" and "charity," if indeed there be any difference between them. And it would be most difficult to conceive any thing more decidedly opposite to these two christian virtues, than the conduct which the law of honour requires.

Upon the subject of love, our Lord says (Matt. v. 44, 45), "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you."

Of charity, it is written (1 Cor. xiii. 4, 5, 7), "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked.... beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."