wilful sin of any kind. See what a fleshly enemy you have within-your sinful, carnal hearts. Were it not for this, the enemy without might tempt in vain. Beware of giving way to its dictates; it may seem to be your friend, but indeed it is your bitterest foe, and, Judas-like, kisses only to betray. Flee then those hateful sins which war against the soul; and in your turn declare war against them. This is a just, a needful war; and moreover, it shall be a victorious one; for, says our text, "if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Which leads us to consider, II. If sin die in us, we shall live eternally. Let us inquire what is meant by mortifying sin; by what help we may do it; and the blessed consequence of so doing. To mortify sin, is to put it to death, just as the officers of justice do a felon he is suspected, apprehended, tried, and executed. We must first suspect ourselves and our sins. My brethren, consideration is the first step in religion. He who never suspected he was wrong, may depend on it he is not yet right. We must find out our sins, or "be sure they will find us out." We must determine, by the grace of God, to destroy them, or they will destroy us. The matter must be brought to this issue you must kill sin, or sin will kill you. But how is this to be done? The word of God informs us. It must be crucified. St. Paul says to the Galatians, "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts" (Gal. v. 24). The destruction of our sins is compared to the crucifixion of Christ, not only because it is like it, but because it proceeds from it. There is no death of sin but by the death of Christ, by virtue of it, and by interest in it. Crucifixion is a violent and painful death; so is the death of sin. Our síns must not be left to die of themselves. Some, especially old people, think that they have left their sins, when the fact is, their sins have left them; or rather, one kind of sin has left them, to make room for another, more agreeable to the propensity of their age, but still as hateful in the sight of God. Sin must be seized in the height of its health and power, as a thief or murderer who breaks into your house. It may be painful-it is so; for our Lord compares it to cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a right eye; but he says this is better than going to hell with two hands or two eyes. It is hard, my brethren, but it must be done; and, by the grace of God, it may be done. Again, crucifixion is a scandalous death; only the worst of criminals were put to death in this way: so the Christian, who, through the Spirit, mortifies the deeds of the body, puts off the old man of sin, and puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, may expect to be despised as his Saviour was. The world will bear morality, but it hates holiness; for we read, "he that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution." Once more, crucifixion is a slow and lingering death. Our Lord was several hours upon the cross alive; and some have been as many days. So sin dies slowly. Mortifying the deeds of the body is a constant act-to be continued as long as we live. The best believer cannot say, sin is dead-St. Paul could not ;-but he can bless God that sin is dying; that it is nailed to the cross; that it has received its mortal wound; and that ere long God will send death to give the finishing stroke, and then he will shout, "Blessed be God, who hath delivered me from this body of sin and death, and given me the victory through Jesus Christ my Lord." But by what help may we do this? Our text says," through the Spirit." "Without me," said Jesus, "ye can do nothing." The Spirit helps us to mortify sin, by enabling us to discover it, and shewing us its hateful nature; filling our souls with a sincere dislike to it, and a holy determination to destroy it. He takes away the stony heart, and enables us to mourn for sin-to oppose itto watch and pray against it; and to do what is a great point gained, viz. to shun its first approaches; but more especially by giving us faith in Christ for pardon, righteousness, and strength. In the first verse of this chapter it is said, "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus;" and then it follows, "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Faith in Christ is the chief instrument in killing sin. Behold the Lamb of God, bleeding and dying, not only to take away the guilt of sin, that it may not condemn, but the power of sin, that it may not prevail. Sin shall not have dominion over thee, humble believer, for thou art not under the law, but under grace. See, flowing from Christ's wounded side, water and blood ;-blood to pardon, and water to cleanse. It was the Redeemer's design, as he said, "to destroy the works of the devil;" "to redeem us from all iniquity; and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Come, then, by faith to Jesus; tell him of the power of thy sins, and of thy inability to destroy them; plead the fulness that is in him for thy supply; beseech him to subdue them; and leave the matter in his hands: for his grace is sufficient for thee; and his strength shall be perfected in thy weakness. Expect his help; his power and his faithfulness are engaged for thine assistance; and thou shalt not apply or wait in vain. But, remember the promised help of the Spirit does not exclude the use of all the means on our part; the Spirit so works in us as also to work by us; the duty is ours, the grace is his. We must watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation; we must call to mind the obligations we are under, arising from duty and gratitude, from our baptismal and sacramental engagements, the relation we bear to Christ, to the Church, and to the world. We must use with moderation the comforts of life; and, instead of pampering the body, bring it under, and keep it in subjection to the obedience of Christ. Thus doing, Christians, ye shall live; thus go on, and lay hold on eternal life. But, O wilful sinner, remember that the end of your present pursuits is death. Life and death have been now set before you; life, if sin be slain, but death, if sin prevail. Put, then, to your conscience the important question, Am I living after the flesh, or after the Spirit? By this you may determine your present state and future prospects. O, be not in love with death and destruction. Do you love your sins so well as to risk your soul for them? Be wise in time. Set eternal pains against momentary pleasures. The pleasures of sin are but for a season; but the pains of sin are for evermore. Let the time past suffice to have lived to the world, its profits, its pleasures, its lusts. Open your eyes, and behold your danger. Flee from the wrath to come; confess your sins to God; beseech him to pardon them for Christ's sake; and pray for the Holy Spirit to work faith in your heart, and enable you" to mortify the deeds of the body, that you may live." JANSENISM.-No. IV. Destruction of Port-Royal. THE period which succeeded the restoration of PortRoyal, after the bitter persecution already referred to, has been regarded as by far the most illustrious in its annals. Its fame rapidly extended far and wide; it gained increasing reputation for piety and learning; and the number of its inmates was very greatly augmented. Many persons of the highest distinction and fortune built houses near the abbey, that they might enjoy congenial society, and partake in its solemn religious exercises. Such prosperity, as might be supposed, was watched by the Jesuit party with no small jealousy. Every attempt was made to cast odium on the institution, and to cause those connected with it to be viewed with suspicion. The flame of persecution was smothered for a season, only to break out with more impetuous, destructive violence. Arnaud, the head and leader of the party, fled into Holland in this same year, where he not only escaped injury, but gained a great ascendency in the Netherlands; and the Romish congregations in Holland were much impressed by his ministry and that of his adherents. Jansenist opinions long flourished in these countries. During eleven years the institution remained unmolested; but, on the death of the Duchesse de Longueville, it was too obvious that the king had, through her influence alone, prevented any injury befalling it. She died in 1679; and in a month after her decease, the enmity of the Jesuits was again openly manifested, and the flame of persecution burst forth anew. The recluses of Port-Royal received immediate orders to quit it; and most of them died in poverty and exile. Anthony The nuns of Port-Royal were now exposed to many most grievous hardships. They were prevented admitting novices, or receiving pupils,-a certain method of causing the establishment to decay. The house of Port-Royal at Paris, and half their revenues, were taken from them; and at length, after a painful season of trial, the entire destruction of the establishment was fixed upon. M. de Argenson, with 300 archers, took possession of the place. The nuns were seized, and placed in different carriages, each guarded by armed men. They were not even permitted to take leave of each other; but were hurried away, at an inclement season of the year, without having broken their fast. They were conveyed to different monasteries, in which they were to remain prisoners for life. Many of them died, from the brutal treatment which they received, a few days after their removal. The house was now speedily razed to the foundation. A hundred loads of spoils were taken away; and a considerable sum was raised by the neighbouring villagers to purchase some little relics. The foundation was ploughed up, and the dead taken out of their graves, that there might not remain one vestige to mark the spot where the abbey had stood, and to rekindle, it might be, the flame of Jansenist zeal and piety. The site where the abbey had stood was long viewed with superstitious reverence. The peasants were wont to assemble there, and to recount the disasters; while they dwelt with melancholy reflection on the kindness and sanctity of the former inmates. Amongst the most eminent advocates of the Jansenist doctrines was Paschasius Quesnel, a priest of the oratory, who may be regarded as their leader after the death of M. Arnaud. He translated the New Testament into French, with numerous annotations, in which the peculiar views of his friends were carefully blended. This work was read with avidity; and the watchful Jesuits lost no time in endeavouring to proscribe its perusal. They induced Louis XIV. to solicit its condemnation at Rome. To this Clement XI. agreed; and in the year 1713, the famous bull Unigenitus, so called from its beginning with the words "Unigenitus Dei Filius," was issued, in which Quesnel's Testament was condemned, and a hundred and one propositions contained in it pronounced heretical. "This bull," says Mosheim, (which is also known by the name of The Constitution,) “gave a favourable turn to the affairs of the Jesuits; but it was highly detrimental to the interests of the Romish Church, as many of the wiser members of that communion candidly acknowledge; for it not only confirmed the Protestants in their separation - by convincing them that the Church of Rome was resolved to adhere obstinately to its ancient superstitions and corruptions, but also offended many of the Roman Catholics, who had no particular attachment to the doctrines of Jansenius, and were only bent on the pursuit of truth and the advancement of piety." The result of this bull was, dissensions and tumults throughout France. Many bishops, with a variety of persons lay and clerical, of the greatest learning and piety, appealed from the bull to a general council. Among the chief opposers was Cardinal Noailles, archbishop of Paris, who made a noble stand against it. Persecutions were the result of this. Many of the recusants, as those were called who appealed to the general council, took refuge with their friends in Holland. The bull was at length made valid by the authority of the parliament, and registered among the laws of the state. Still, however, Jansenism was not wholly overthrown; and it continued to lurk in secret, when an open avowal of its tenets would have called forth bitter persecution. In 1750, it was resolved by the clergy to demand confessional notes of dying persons; and it was ordered that these notes should be signed by priests adhering to the bull, without which no viaticum, no extreme unction, could be obtained. And these consolatory rites were refused, without pity, to all recusants, and to such as confessed to recusants. The new archbishop of Paris engaged warmly in this scheme; and the parliament supported no less warmly the cause of the people. Other parliaments followed the example of that of Paris; and those clergymen who refused to administer the sacrament to persons in their last moments were thrown into prison. The Church complained of the interposition of the civil power; and Louis XV., by an act of his absolute authority, prohibited the parliaments from taking cog-recorded. They believed that the soul was immortal, nizance of such points.* mythology without noticing the cognate superstitions of the Greenlanders; a people who, low as they did and still do stand in the scale of civilisation, were not without ideas upon supernatural subjects worthy to be though not necessarily so; for there were accidents by which after its separation from the body it might become totally extinct; and they also believed that it was material, might lose a part of its substance, or be injured in its members, and be again repaired by the skill of an angekok or sorcerer. Many imagined that they might go on a long voyage and leave their souls behind them, to avoid any possible accident. They distinguished between the life and the spirit, calling the former "the breath," and the latter " the shadow;" and they thought that during sleep, the volatile spirit, being free from the body, wandered about wheresoever it pleased. There was but little unanimity among them on these topics-some believed and others denied the transmigration of souls. This doctrine was sometimes made very useful; a widow, for instance, would tell a parent that the soul of one of her deceased children was again incarnate in the person of one of his, or that the soul of his child had migrated into one of hers. In the latter case, the man thought himself somehow related to the widow, and bound to protect her accordingly; and in the former, she obtained a second father for her child. The angekoks, who pretended to have been to the land of souls, described it in its disembodied state, as "pale and soft, and devoid of flesh and bones; so that if any one would try to grasp it, they would seem not to touch any thing." That the soul is immortal, was universally admitted; but as to its destination after death, each sect held a different opinion. The most popular was, that at the bottom of the sea is a glorious abode, where the sun is ever shining, and a perpetual summer reigns. The deep cavities in the rocks are the avenues to this delicious dwelling. There dwell Torngarsuk, the chief of the gods, and his mother. The land is diversified with the most beautiful hills, dales, and crystal rivers; an abundance of fowls, fish, reindeer, and seals, are to be found; and food is ever ready in a vast self-boiling cauldron. The title to a place in this paradise was obtained by killing many whales and seals, and by general success and industry in fishing. As soon as the soul was separated from the body, it had to glide down the rough ways that lead to this paradise; and so rugged was the path that it was all red with the bloed of souls shed in passing down it. During the first five days after death, the relations of the deceased abstained from certain meats, and from all labour not In reviewing the character of the Jansenists, and more especially the members of Port-Royal, while we fully admit that it strikingly contrasted with that of their adversaries, we must beware lest, led away by a romantic admiration of their devotedness to religion, we should hold them up as exemplifying, as far as human frailty will admit, the beauties of the Christian character. In the work to which allusion has been already made, in speaking of their piety, the authoress says, "it arose from the same immutable source from which all true religion has ever flowed, and from which alone the word of God assures us it can flow, however various the denominations by which its faithful followers may have been distinguished amongst their fellow-men. It was successively grounded on a supreme reverence for the word of God, and a daily and diligent study of its contents; a deep, practical conviction of the utter aberration of the human heart from God; of its entire helplessness, and its insufficiency by nature for any one good thing; a firm confidence in the atoning blood and merits of Christ for pardon and reconciliation with God; bearing the fruits of unreserved obedience to his Spirit shed abroad in the heart;-in short, an entire renunciation of self, and an entire trust in Christ for all that must be done for us by his merits, and in us by his Spirit." We cannot doubt the source whence every holy desire and every good thought proceeds: at the same time, we must bear in mind, that the Jansenists, as adherents to the Romish see, were enveloped in much darkness; nay, their opposition to heresy, as it is termed their condemnation of the Protestantswas quite as vehement as that of their adversaries. When it is recollected that their famous leader, the Abbé de St. Cyran, of whom we found not a little to admire in a former paper, when obliged to read, for the purpose of controversy, some books deemed heretical, first signed them with the sign of the cross, to keep out or drive away the evil spirit, we cannot but be amazed that such superstition should lurk in a mind apparently under the influence of divine truth. The circumstance sets forth, in strongest colours, the weakness, with reference to some particular points, which often manifests itself in minds by no means destitute of sound reason. The pretended miracles wrought by the Jansenists also and their endeavour to adduce these as arguments in favour of their system-give us an unfavourable opinion of their common sense, if not of their honesty of principle. And on the review of the whole of their history, their views, principles, and conduct, we are led to the conclusion, that much as we may find to admire in any class of men connected with the Church of Rome, the very connexion with that Church necessarily leads to a corruption of the pure faith of • See Russell's "Modern Europe." the Gospel, and a departure from the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus. Y. MYTHOLOGY.-THE SCLAVONIC. BY THE REV. HENRY CHRISTMAS, F.S.A. VI. Of the Greenland Mythology. WE must not conclude our account of the Sclavonic • "Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."-Luke, xxiv. 39. It by the magic of this nameless spirit; and accordingly sent an angekok or sorcerer to set the captives free. The angekok, being well paid, summoned his torngak, a familiar spirit, and set out on his perilous enterprise. First, he passed through the earth into the sea, till he came to the kingdom of souls, where he recreated himself awhile with the spoils of successful hunters and fishers; then he arrived at a vast chasm, over which was a bridge in the shape of an ever-re absolutely necessary, lest the soul should be disturbed in its perilous passage. Many perished on the way, particularly those who died in winter or in rough boisterous weather. This the Greenlanders called the second death, and described it as annihilation. was to them the most dreadful of all considerations. Another sect maintained, that the spirit after death soared beyond the rainbow to the loftiest part of the sky, and that so rapid was its flight, that it rested the first evening in the moon, which was once (they said)|volving wheel as smooth as ice: passing over this, he a Greenlander. There the soul could dance and play at ball with the rest of the spirits; for they say of the aurora borealis, that it is " the dance of the blessed." The North American Indians, according to Adair, have much such a notion of this phenomenon; and the Mexicans gave a not very different account of the pursuits in which souls are engaged after death. The believers in a submarine elysium admitted that some did ascend beyond the rainbow, but contended that only the idle and worthless were sent there, and that it was not a state of happiness, but of great annoyance; there was no food, and the souls suffered from extreme hunger; and on account of the rapid rotation of the heavens, they had no rest. The inhabitants of these high and frozen regions were also infested with ravens to so great an extent, that their very hair would be torn off by those birds. The other sect, on the contrary, maintained that they should be warm and happy, and that they should feed upon seals' heads, which would never be consumed. Others supposed that, after a few days, the spirit recovered the shock of death, and found itself in a world like this, where it procured its subsistence in the same way. There was one point of their mythology in which they agreed with the Scandinavians, viz. that these states of material existence were destined to endure but for a time, and afterwards their souls will be conveyed to "the peaceful mansions;" but where "the peaceful mansions" are, and what will be their employment when they arrive there, they do not pretend to know. Hell they suppose to be in the centre of the earth, devoid of light and heat, and filled with perpetual cares and anxiety. The chief of the gods they named Torngarsuk, though they had an indistinct idea of a far greater and absolutely eternal spirit, whom they named Pirksoma (he that is above); this great being was not the object of adoration. Torngarsuk dwelt, as we have seen, in a blessed habitation beneath the sea, and was described by some as being in the shape of a great bear; by others as a man with one arm; and by others, again, as having a human shape, but being in size no bigger than a man's finger. He held his immortality on a singular tenure, but was not essentially eternal. Not he, but Pirksoma, was the creator of all things; yet in his hands were the fates of men, and to him did they desire to go after death. With him, in his paradise, dwelt a female spirit, who had no name, but who was supposed to be either his wife or his mother. Unlike Torngarsuk, she delighted in evil, and had the power to detain in captivity all the animals of the sea by her incantations. When there occurred a dearth of seals and whales, the Greenlanders supposed it was "Wenn man sich der Blähungen entlerdigt während dass ein Zauberer macht seine Hexerey, Torngarsuk muss sterben." CRANTZ, Geschichte der Grün. beheld the palace of the evil spirit, the portals of which were guarded by savage seals, and by a huge dog, which never slept longer than the twinkling of an eye, and could never therefore be taken unawares. In the midst of the palace was the lamp of the evil spirit; and in the oil-jar beneath it, the captive seabirds were flying about. Guided by a rope held by the torngak, the angekok made his appearance before the goddess, who immediately raged and foamed with anger, and endeavoured to burn certain feathers, which, by their intolerable stench, would oblige both the angekok and the torngak to retire or surrender. It was necessary to seize her before she could do this, and to despoil her of those spells by which she held the animals captive. When this was done, the whales, seals, and other fish, immediately darted away into the angekok was permitted, with his attendant spirit, to open sea, the birds ascended to the surface; and the make his way back without molestation. These two spirits, Torngarsuk, and his female malignant companion, were the only beings whom the Greenlanders considered as gods: they believed that all nature was full of spiritual essences, presiding over winds and waves, rocks, crags and caves, fires, seals, whales, they had no names, nor was worship paid to them. birds, and all animals; these spirits were innumerable Their cosmogony is very simple: they content themselves with saying that the heavens and the earth were created by Pirksoma; that the first man was the offspring of the earth, and that his name was Kallak; that a woman arose from his thumb; and that from these are all the inhabitants of the earth descended. The origin of the Europeans is thus accounted for :the dogs of a certain Greenlander, whose children they were, devoured their father: they were transformed into men, and called kablunat. These kablunæt invented bows and arrows, and shot birds-a custom kablunæt, boasting of his superior skill in archery, inadopted by the other Greenlanders; but one of the sulted a Greenlander, and was immediately shot to lunæet were driven out to seek another settlement. the heart by him ;-a war ensued, in which the kabshavings of a tree, drawing them between his knees, Fishes were made by one of the first men taking the and casting them into the sea, where they immediately became living animals. They had an idea that the world was floating in an illimitable ocean, and once was overset ;-on this occasion all men perished, save one who was far out at sea in his kajak: on his return, he found the earth righted, but covered with slime; he struck the ground with his staff, and a woman arose, by whom the man became the second parent of mankind. It is singular, that like the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, the Greenlanders pointed to the fossil-shells and other marine remains found in elevated situations, as a proof of the flood. Bones of whales have been found on high mountains, and marine relics in situations where no men could ever have lived; hence the Greenlanders deduced an argument for the fact of a general deluge. With regard to the ultimate fate of the world, they believed that in some distant futurity the human race should become totally extinct; then the world should be dashed to pieces, reduced to powder, and washed by a second deluge from the blood of the dead. Then a wind should come from the four quarters of the heavens, blow the clean-washed dust together, and replace it in a form more beautiful than ever. There should be no more barren rocks, no more crags nor shoals; but the whole earth should be a gently diversified plain, extending along the coast of a stormless sea. The animals should be reanimated in more perfect forms; and as for man, "upon their bones Pirksoma shall breathe, and they shall live.” ANECDOTES AND EXTRACTS. "METHOD is the very hinge of business, and there is no method without punctuality. Punctuality is important, because it subserves the peace and temper of a family; the want of it not only infringes on necessary duty, but sometimes excludes that duty. The calmness of mind which it produces is another advantage of punctuality: a disorderly man is always in a hurry; he has no time to speak to you, because he is going elsewhere; and when he gets there, he is too late for his business, or he must hurry away to another before he can finish it. Punctuality gives weight to character. Such a man has made an appointmentthen I know he will keep it.' And this generates punctuality in you; for, like other virtues, it propagates itself. Servants and children must be punctual where their leader is so. Appointments, indeed, become debts. I owe you punctuality, if I have made an appointment with you, and have no right to throw away your time, if I do my own."-Cecil's Remains, p. 344. JOHN NEWTON.-"That celebrated and pious clergyman, John Newton, is said by one of his biographers to have been distinguished by his punctuality to his engagements; and that he has been known to keep his watch in his hand when it drew near the time of appointment, lest he should fail to keep his promise. In one of his letters, he thus addresses a young friend: I much wish you to acquire a habit of punctuality with respect to time, as the want of this is very inconvenient in the person who fails, and gives trouble to others. If you follow my advice, you will find the advantage long before you are as old as I am. I began to aim at this almost fifty years ago, and I have seldom, if ever, been five minutes behind my time, unless unavoidably prevented, for nearly fifty years past.'" DR. PARR, the late great oracle in Greek erudition, was remarkable for punctuality. The habits of this eminently learned man were favourable both to long life and literary occupations. "I am a six-o'clock man," he used to say when in the seventy-sixth year of his age. The time he thus gained in the morning was devoted to study, and the rest of the day to various duties which had claims upon his time. In his engagements he was strictly punctual, and exacted the same punctuality in return. By this means he was able to transact a prodigious quantity of business, and to give advice and still more important assistance to the numbers who applied to him. He considered a breach of the rules of punctuality as no small violation of mo • Crantz, Hist. Green. book iii. chap. 5, sect. 38. rality. "Sir," said he to a friend of the writer, who was beyond his hour of appointment, and who wa begging the doctor's pardon for his omission, "beg pardon of a higher Power; for a breach of an appoint ment is a breach of promise, and a breach of promise is a great moral offence." A gentleman punctual of his word, when he heard that two had agreed upon a meeting, and one neglected his hour, would say of him, "He is a young man then." -Bacon. GEORGE THE THIRD is well known to have been both an early riser and extremely punctual in all things. It is related of him, that he had bespoke of Ramsden, the celebrated optician, an instrument which he was peculiarly desirous to obtain. He had allowed Ramsden to name his own time; but, as usual, the work was scarcely begun at the period appointed for delivery: however, when it was finished, he took it down to Kew, in a post-chaise, in a prodigious hurry, and driving up to the palace-gate, he asked if his majesty was at home. The pages and attendants in waiting expressed their surprise at such a visit; he, however, pertinaciously insisted upon being admitted, assuring the page, that if he told the king that Ramsden was at the gate, his majesty would soon shew that he was glad to see him. He was right; he was let in, and graciously received. His majesty, after examining the instrument carefully, of which he was really a judge, expressed his satisfaction; then turning gravely to Ramsden, said, "I have been told, Mr. Ramsden, you are the least punctual of any man in England: you have brought home this instrument on the very day that was appointed-you have only mistaken the year!" The Cabinet. RETIREMENT.-A retirement consecrated to religious uses is what the pious soul aspires after: how often does he exclaim with the Psalmist, "Oh! that I had the wings of a dove, for then would I flee away and be at rest." But the retirement he longs for is not a monastic seclusion, abstracting him from the relations and duties of social life; but a relief from those secular concerns which engross the bulk of his time, and render him either less willing or less able to hold frequent communion with his God. He seeks retirement, that he may have leisure for the active as well as the contemplative duties of the Christian life. He remembers, however, that submission to him, who hath assigned him his station in life, is his indispensable duty he murmurs not, but obeys; knowing that the period of his release from care and labour is not distant, and is daily approaching.-P. Melvill, Esq. SIN.-It is a fearful thing to sin, more fearful to delight in sin, yet worse to defend it, but worst of all to boast of it. If, therefore, I cannot avoid sin, because I am a man, yet I will avoid the delight, defence, and boasting of sin, because I am a Christian.Bp. Hall. FATAL STUPIDITY.-The lesson of our mortality divine Providence doth every day, yea every hour and minute, press and inculcate on us, and as it were beat into us. The funeral-bell ever and anon rings in our ears, and we daily tread upon the graves of others. Many of us already find the harbingers of death within us; we all see the triumphs of death without us, and (as our Church expresseth it) "in the midst of life we are in death." Alas! that among so many remembrancers wherewith Providence hath surrounded us, we should, with that monarch in story, need yet another monitor to tell us every day, "Remember that thou art mortal." Yet this is our case. fatal stupidity is it that hath seized upon us? Hath the frequency of these admonitions made them to lose their force and virtue on us? Are we become like sextons or grave-diggers, that by living as it were in What |