relief and assistance of such of our brethren of mankind as stand in need of them at our hands: that as we frequently offend against our fellow men, and consequently stand in need of their forgiveness, so it is our duty to be of a mild and forgiving disposition toward them who have trespassed against us: that as our reputation and good name often lie at the mercy of others, and as we would wish to be tenderly dealt with in this particular, so it becomes us to be sparing and tender of the character of others. In a word, that it is our duty, both as rational creatures and christians, to root out from our hearts every remainder of vitiated passion, which too often hurries us on to the commission of what is highly indecent, and injurious to others, the consequence of which cannot fail to fill our own breast with the most cutting remorse, when the furious unruly gust is subsided; and who would be such a fool, as, for the boisterous pleasure of a moment's gratification, to run the dreadful, the certain risque of a lasting pain? Instead then of being the slaves of passion, to which we are so much addicted, let us endeavour to imitate the example of our blessed Saviour, " who did no sin, neither was

guile found in his mouth; who, when he was "reviled, reviled not again, when he was perse"cuted he threatened not;" whose forgiveness

extended even to those who embrued their hands in his blood; and let us endeavour to live in the practice of those virtues which tend to promote the peace, happiness, and good order of society, with which our own well being is naturally and necessarily connected. In order thereto, let us consider, that the light in which the christian religion teaches us to consider the whole human race, is that of brothers, of children of the same common father, of candidates for the same heavenly inheritance: let this have its due influence with us, teaching us to " love one another, to be "kindly affectioned one towards another, with

brotherly love forgiving one another, even as "God for Christ's sake hath loved and forgiven "us." This shall suffice, at present, as a brief explication of the exercise the apostle here mentions as his constant employment; namely, the habitual practice of all the duties arising from a principle of love to God, and to mankind. I proceed in the

Second place, to illustrate the happiness of having a conscience thus clear and serene, and the misery of a contrary situation. It is common, even to a proverb, to observe, that virtue is its own reward, and vice its own punishment; and in the nature of things it cannot be other

wise, as will appear from considering the state of mind of a good and a wicked man in the following views. In the first place, let us suppose both the one and the other to be placed in circumstances of worldly prosperity, and we shall discover the former, from a sense of the favour and approbation of his Maker, and from a consciousness of the earnest desire he has ever felt to submit to his holy will in all things, and of the ardent zeal with which he has been ever actuated to promote his glory in the world; from a consciousness of this, I say, receiving and enjoying the,bounties of a gracious Providence, with that filial love and gratitude which give a relish to every enjoyment, with the delightful confidence that the happiness he enjoys is the gift of that God whom he has ever studied to serve, as an earnest of his love, and a pledge of much greater and better spiritual blessings in a future world; with what inexpressible joy will such an one observe all the dispensations of infinite wisdom calculated to produce and increase his satisfaction, and the Almighty him'self as interested with all his glorious attributes and perfections to bless him and do him good. But what happiness can that man find in the midst of worldly enjoyments, who is conscious that his Maker is his enemy? that he stands continually exposed to the indignation of an Al

mighty adversary, whose justice is concerned to make him miserable? Wicked men, indeed, in the midst of worldly pleasures may, for a time, devise ways and means to stop the clamours of conscience, to drown its voice in the noise of mirth and intemperance; but there are seasons in which it will make itself heard, in spite of every effort to the contrary, and by those too whom their station sets above the fear of men; and O how dreadful the thunder of its voice to that man who is in a state of enmity with God, who has the highest reason to apprehend that even his blessings are cursed; that the omnipotence, the holiness, and the eternal equity of the divine nature breathe forth nothing but vengeance against him. How can such a reflection fail to embitter, to poison the cup of mirth and jollity, and throw a damp upon the gayest scenes of life? Of the many illustrations which might be adduced to this purpose, I shall content myself with singling out two; the one from sacred, the other from profane history, both in characters exalted to the highest stations in life, and thereby able to bid defiance to every check but that of their own consciences. The one is recorded in the book of Daniel: " Belshazzar the king "made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, "and drank wine before the thousand. Belshaz

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"zar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to "bring the golden and silver vessels, which his "father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, " and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the tem"ple of the house of God, which was at Jerusa"lem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, " and his concubines, drank in them. They drank "wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of sil"ver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's "hand, and wrote over against the candlestick "upon the plaister of the wall of the king's pa"lace; and the king saw the part of the hand "that wrote. Then the king's countenance was

changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so "that the joints of his loins were loosed, and "his knees smote one against another*." Without staying to make any observations on this, I proceed to the other instance, which I shall relate in a very few words, and with it conclude the present discourse. One of the tyrants of Sicily, who had raised himself to supreme and absolute power, by all the arts of ambition and cruelty, had, at the same time, made him

* Daniel v. 1-6.