that principle is formed, as from unreflecting impulse. Experience will teach us that it is so for it is a fact, that mutual friendships generally succeed to mutual enmities, when both parties are inclined to conciliation. It is by keeping aloof from each other that they have grown rancorous; but when there is a wish to be amicable, we find that the nature and motive of the action have been mis-interpreted, or that the character of the persons has been mistaken. Besides, if we consider how short and uncertain our lives are, we shall perceive the folly of entertaining a spirit of hostility, however great or plausible the provocations may have been. Amidst the vicissitudes of our mortal state, how often do we see persons lying side by side in their graves, who, in their life-time, were the bitterest enemies to each other! As death is frequently the abrupt termination of the eager and feverish passions of mankind,-of their competitions and their rancour,-of their sullen envy and their fierce exasperation ;- what a lesson does it teach us! How humiliating to think that God's best gifts of existence and understanding, have been so gratuitously abused !-that men's plots and dissatisfactions have been worse than feebleness or than vanity that they have given the greatest importance to objects that the least deserved it,—that they have allowed their feelings towards their enemies to endanger seriously their own souls! Go, thou child of the dust, that harbourest uncharitableness against thy brother;-visit the tombs of those who, in the days of their pilgrimage, were like-minded with thyself; meditate upon their condition ;-learn wisdom from their follies ;-retreat from the miseries of their example;—and take refuge, while the opportunity remains to thee, in "the things that belong unto thy peace. دو It is upon reasonable grounds, therefore, that our blessed Saviour commands us to "love our enemies ;" --and the hardship and unreasonableness of the duty are such only as our misguided wills represent to us. But admitting the difficulty ;-allow that it is an arduous work to overcome a passion that has twined around the heart, so as to have become almost a part of it; yet the advantages of conquest will more than repay our care and labour. The acquisition of whatever is most valuable in human life is generally attended with considerable difficulty:-and that difficulty it often is that gives a value to it. The case is the same in our holy religion, which is altogether a business of discipline and control; for self-denial is the perfection of its exercise. The purity and strictness of Gospel morality, as required and exemplified by our Saviour, afford a stronger evidence (if possible) of the truth of Christianity, than even miracles themselves;-and the imitation of his example in this particular, in the highest degree in which it is possible to imitate it, is the brightest grace, the most eminent distinction, and the purest happiness that we can, in this life, attain to. It has always been the error of professed Christians to set their duties too low, and to ask, not what is the utmost degree of improvement at which they can arrive, but, what is the lowest degree with which God can be appeased. Allowances, we know, will be made for invincible weakness; yet it is required of every one whose faculties of mind are sound and corrigible, to be "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." To check and destroy every malevolent sentiment, and to substitute for it every feeling of peace and love, so that we may be fruitful in all holiness, is that alone which can make us worthy of Christ, and qualified to possess and enjoy the future rewards of heaven. In proportion, then, to the difficulties of our duty, must our diligence and assiduity be. If, indeed, the discipline of the Christian religion as a school for social virtue went no farther than the systems of mere human morality, our exertions might with more safety be remitted, and we might satisfy ourselves with a lighter task than we now have to perform. "To whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required;"—and the religion of our blessed Lord is incomparably "more extensive, even in moral duties, than mere natural religion is. It is as much so as gospel-light and gospel-discoveries are more extensive than the discoveries of unassisted reason. Christianity contains all that is really good in all other religions, and has besides a great deal of rich furniture of its own. It is a rule full and complete beyond all rules;—and is such as can render 'the man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.'"* Much of Christian discipline consists in the exercise of that "faith which worketh by love,"—by the love of God as the chief and predominant affection,by the love of man as its test and concomitant. "If a man love not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" Abstractedly speaking, a man may love the unseen God, for the benevolent tendency,-apparent to all who will observe it-of his providence. This the natural feeling of gratitude will prompt. A Christian will love God above all things, for his mercies and loving kindnesses in the atonement of his blessed Son. This will be suggested and entertained from the united motives of grace and duty. Yet the person in whose heart the social affections are dead, will be incapable of loving God;-the flame of devotion cannot glow, where the sparks of charity are extinct. There can be no religious feeling or religious principle, where there is no benevolence: and for that reason, perhaps, it is, that St. Paul describes charity as "the bond of perfectness." Coloss. iii. 14. In proportion as the soul is kindly affectioned, the Christian virtues will thrive and be productive ;-like as the soil which is of itself fertile, and is also improved by cultivation, and made genial by the rains and influences of heaven, brings forth the most abundant fruits, and in their greatest perfection. *Waterland's Supplement to the Treatise on the Sacrament, p. 64. If our hearts are untractable, so as not to yield readily to the impulses of affection, we must employ our unceasing efforts to correct this deficiency. A great principle of the Christian religion is, that our social regards should be commensurate with our selflove; and in those regards, enemies, as well as friends, are to be included. The cultivation, therefore, of an amicable, forgiving, and charitable temper, is one of our most serious duties. All the energy that our own minds possess, and all the persuasions that the Scriptures urge upon us, should be steadily applied, and religiously attended to. The Apostle's advice is, "Be ye angry, and sin not;" which advice may be more clearly expressed by saying "Let not your anger lead you into sin;" or "be not angry, because it has a sinful tendency."-" Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." We should check the first risings of resentment, that it may not grow into a habit; and should be constantly upon our guard against its intrusion. This we shall, perhaps, do effectually, if we learn to draw our thoughts to some other object;-especially, if we can bring ourselves to reflect upon the good instead of the bad qualities of the persons who have irritated or injured us. Besides using our own exertions, we should continually pray to the Almighty for this power, till we have - |