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vulgar minds. The patient and the wise, by a proper improvement, frequently make them contribute to their high advantage. Let me next recommend,

III. Patience under restraints. Numerous are the restraints imposed on us, by the nature of the human condition. To the restraints of authority and law, all must submit. The restraints of education and discipline lie on the young. Considerations of health restrain the indulgence of plea sure. Attentions to fortune restrain expense. Regard to friends, whom we are bound to please; respect to established customs, and to the opinions of society; impose restraint on our general behaviour. There is no man, in any rank of life, who is always at liberty to act according as he would incline. In some quarter or other, he is limited by circumstances, that either actually confine, or that ought at least to confine and restrain him.

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These restraints the impatient are apt to scorn. They will needs burst the barriers which reason had erected, or their situation had formed; and, without regard to consequences, give free scope to their present wish. Hence, many dangerous excesses flow; much confusion and misery are produced in human life. Had men the patience to submit to their condition, and to wait till it should allow them a freer indulgence of their desires, they might, in a short time, obtain the power of gratifying them with safety. If the young, for instance, would undergo, with patience, the labours of education, they would rise, at a proper period, to honours, riches, or ease. If the infirm would, with patience, bear the regulations which their constitution demands, they might regain the comforts of health. If persons of straitened fortune had patience to conform themselves to their circumstances, and to

abridge their pleasures, they might, by degrees, improve and advance their state. Whereas, by eagerness of temper, and precipitancy of indulgence, they forfeit all the advantages which patience would have procured, and incur the opposite evils to their full extent.

In the present state of human affairs, no lesson is more necessary to be learned by all, to be inculcated on the young, and to be practised by the old law, than that of patient submission to necessity. For, under the law of necessity, we are all inevitably placed. No man is, or can be, always his own master. We are obliged, in a thousand cases, to submit and obey. The discipline of patience preserves our minds easy, by conforming them to our state. By the impetuo sity of an impatient and unsubmitting temper, we fight against an unconquerable power, and aggravate the evils we must endure.-Another im portant exercise of the virtue concerning which we discourse, is,

IV. Patience under injuries and wrongs. To these, amidst the present confusion of the world, all are exposed. No station is so high, no power so great, no character so unblemished, as to exempt men from being attacked by rashness, malice, or envy. To behave under such attacks with due patience and moderation, is, it must be confessed, one of the most trying exercises of virtue. But, in order to prevent mistakes on this subject, it is necessary to observe, that a tame submission to wrongs is not required by religion. We are by no means to imagine that religion tends to extinguish the sense of honour, or to suppress the exertion of a manly spirit. It is under a false apprehension of this kind, that Christian patience is sometimes stigmatized in discourse as no other than a different name for cowardice. On the contrary, every man of virtue ought to

feel what is due to his character, and to support properly his own rights. Resentment of wrong, is a useful principle in human nature; and, for the wisest purposes, was implanted in our frame. It is the necessary guard of private rights, and the great restraint on the insolence of the violent, who, if no resistance were made, would trample on the gentle and peaceable.

Resentment, however, if not kept within due bounds, is in hazard of rising into fierce and cruel revenge. It is the office of patience, to temper resentment by reason. In this view, it is most properly described in the text, by a man's possessing his soul; acting the part which self-defence, which justice, or honour, require him to act, without being transported out of himself by the vehemence of anger, or insisting on such degrees of reparation as bear no proportion to the wrong that he has suffered. What proportion, for instance, is there between the life of a man, and an affront received by some rash expression in conversation, which the wise would have slighted; and which, in the course of a few weeks, would have been forgotten by every one? How fantastic, then, how unjustifiable, are those supposed laws of modern honour, which, for such an affront, require no less reparation than the death of a fellow-creature; and which, to obtain this reparation, require a man to endanger his own life! Laws which, as they have no foundation in reason, never received the least sanction from any of the wise and polished nations of antiquity, but were devised in the darkest ages of the world, and are derived to us from the ferocious barbarity of Gothic

manners.

the colour, of every object. By the storm which it raises within, and by the mischiefs which it occasions without, it generally brings on the passionate and revengeful man greater misery than he can bring on his enemy. Patience allays this destructive tempest, by making room for the return of calm and sober thought. It suspends the blow which sudden resentment was ready to inflict. It disposes us to attend to the alleviating circumstances, which may be discovered in the midst of the wrongs we suppose ourselves to have suffered. Hence it naturally inclines to the moderate and gentle side; and while it allows all proper measures to be taken, both for safety, and for just redress, it makes way for returning peace. Without some degree of patience exercised under injuries, human life would be rendered a state of perpetual hostility; offences and retaliations would succeed to one another in endless train; and the world would become a field of blood.—It now remains to recommend,

V. Patience under adversity and affliction. This is the most common sense in which this virtue is understood; as it respects disease, poverty, old age, loss of friends, and the other calamities which are incident to human life. Though a man live many years, and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. (Eccles. xi. 8.) The various duties to which patience, under this view, gives rise, afford a larger subject of discourse than I am at present to pursue. In general, there are two chief exercises of patience under adversity; one respecting God, and another respecting men.

Patience, with respect to God, must, in the days of trouble, suppress the

Nothing is so inconsistent with self-risings of a murmuring and rebellious possession as violent anger. It overpowers reason; confounds our ideas; distorts the appearance, and blackens

spirit. It must appear in that calm resignation to the will of Heaven, which is expressed in those pious

sentiments of ancient good men: I of a strength that is derived from Heaven. It is a beam of the immortal light, shining on the heart. Such patience is the most complete triumph of religion and virtue; and accordingly it has ever characterized those whose names have been transmitted with honour to posterity. It has ennobled the hero, the saint, and the martyr. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. (2 Cor. iv. 8, 9.)

was dumb; I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth good in his sight. Shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil also? This is loyalty to the great Governor of the universe. This is that reverence which so well becomes creatures who know they are dependant, and who must confess themselves to be sinful. Such a spirit is fitted to attract the favour of Heaven, and to bring the severe visitation sooner to a close. Whereas the stubborn and impatient, who submit not themselves to the decrees of the Most High, require to be humbled and subdued by a continuance of chastisement.

Patience in adversity, with respect to men, must appear by the composure and tranquillity of our behaviour. The loud complaint, the querulous temper, and fretful spirit, disgrace every character. They shew a mind that is unmanned by misfortunes. We weaken thereby the sympathy of others; and estrange them from the offices of kindness and comfort. The exertions of pity will be feeble, when it is mingled with contempt. At the same time, by thus weakly yielding to adversity, we allow its weight to bear us down with double pressure. Patience, by preserving composure within, resists the impression which trouble makes from without. By leaving the mind open to every consolation, it naturally tends to alleviate our burden. To maintain a steady and unbroken mind, amidst all the shocks of the world, forms the highest honour of a man. Patience, on such occasions, rises to magnanimity. It shews a great and noble mind, which is able to rest on itself, on God, and a good conscience; which can enjoy itself amidst all evils; and would rather endure the greatest hardships, than submit to what was dishonourable in order to obtain relief. This gives proof

Thus I have traced patience through several of its most important operations in different circumstances of life; under provocations; under disappointments; under restraints; under injuries; and under afflictions. We now see that it is a virtue of universal use. No man, in any condition, can pass his days with tolerable comfort, who has not learned to practise it. His prosperity will be continually disturbed; and his adversity will be clouded with double darkness. He will be uneasy and troublesome to all with whom he is connected; and will be more troublesome to himself than to any other.-Let me particularly advise those who wish to cultivate so necessary a virtue, to begin their cultivation of it on all occasions when small offences and provocations arise. It is a great, but common error, to imagine that we are at liberty to give loose reins to temper among the trivial occurrences of life. No excuse for irritation and impatience can be worse than what is taken from the person being inconsiderable, or the incident being slight, which threw us off our guard. With inconsiderable persons we are surrounded. Of slight incidents, the bulk of human life is composed. In the midst of these the ruling temper of the mind is formed. It is only by moderation and self-command, then acquired, that we can inure ourselves to patience,

when the great conjunctures of life shall put it to a severer trial. If neglected then, we shall afterward solicit its return in vain. If thou hast run with footmen and they have wearied thee, how canst thou contend with horses? And if, in the land of peace wherein thou trustest, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan? (Jer. xii. 5.)

In order to assist us in the acquisition of this grace, let us often contemplate that great model of it, which is displayed in the whole life of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Whose temper was ever tried by more frequent provocations, more repeated disappointments, more flagrant injuries, or more

severe distress? Yet, amidst them all, we behold him patiently enduring the contradiction of sinners; to their rudeness, opposing a mild and unruffled, though firm, spirit; and, in the cause of mankind, generously bearing with every indignity. Well might he say, Learn of me, for I am meek, and lowly in heart. (Matt. xi. 29.) Having such a high example before our eyes, let us be ashamed of those sallies of impatience which we so often suffer to break forth in the midst of prosperity. By a more manly tranquillity and self-command, let us discover to the world, that, as men, and as Christians, we have learned in patience to possess our souls.

SERMON XLII.

ON MODERATION.

our conduct in that state which comes under the description of ease or prosperity. Patience, of which I treated in the preceding Discourse, directs the proper regulation of the mind, under the disagreeable incidents of life. Moderation determines the bounds within which it should remain, when circumstances are agreeable or promising. What I now propose is, to point out some of the chief instances in which moderation ought to take place, and to shew the importance of preserving it.

Let your moderation be known unto all men.-Phil. iv. 5. THE present state of man is neither | frame of mind. It chiefly respects doomed to constant misery, nor designed for complete happiness. It is, in general, a mixed state of comfort and sorrow, of prosperity and adversity; neither brightened by uninterrupted sunshine, nor overcast with perpetual shade; but subject to alternate successions of the one, and the other. While such a state forbids despair, it also checks presumption. It is equally adverse to despondency of mind, and to high elevation of spirits. The temper which best suits, is expressed in the text by moderation; which, as the habitual tenor of the soul, the apostle exhorts us to discover in our whole conduct; let it be known unto all men. This virtue consists in the equal balance of the soul. It imports such proper government of our passions and pleasures, as shall prevent us from running into extremes of any kind; and shall produce a calm and temperate

I. Moderation in our wishes. The active mind of man seldom or never rests satisfied with its present condition, how prosperous soever. Originally formed for a wider range of objects, for a higher sphere of enjoyments, it finds itself, in every situation of fortune, straitened and confined. Sensible of deficiency in its state, it is ever sending forth the fond

our imaginations with plans of opu

desire, the aspiring wish, after something beyond what is enjoyed at pre-lence and splendour far beyond our sent. Hence that restlessness which prevails so generally among mankind. Hence that disgust of pleasures which they have tried; that passion for novelty; that ambition of rising to some degree of eminence or felicity, of which they have formed to themselves an indistinct idea. All which may be considered as indications of a certain native, original, greatness in the human soul, swelling beyond the limits of its present condition, and pointing at the higher objects for which it was made. Happy, if these latent remains of our primitive state served to direct our wishes towards their proper destination, and to lead us into the path of true bliss!

But in this dark and bewildered state, the aspiring tendency of our nature unfortunately takes an opposite direction, and feeds a very misplaced ambition. The flattering appearances which here. present themselves to sense; the distinctions which fortune confers; the advantages and pleasures which we imagine the world to be capable of bestowing; fill up the ultimate wish of most men. These are the objects which engross their solitary musings, and stimulate their active labours; which warm the breast of the young, animate the industry of the middle aged, and often keep alive the passions of the old, until the very close of life. Assuredly, there is nothing unlawful in our wishing to be freed from whatever is disagreeable, and to obtain a fuller enjoyment of the comforts of life. But when these wishes are not tempered by reason, they are in danger of precipitating us into much extravagance and folly. Desires and wishes are the first springs of action. When they become exorbitant, the whole character is likely to be tainted. If we suffer our fancy to create to itself worlds of ideal happiness; if we feed

rank; if we fix to our wishes certain stages of high advancement, or certain degrees of uncommon reputation, or distinction, as the sole stations of felicity; the assured consequence will be, that we shall become unhappy in our present state; unfit for acting the part, and discharging the duties that belong to it; we shall discompose the peace and order of our minds, and foment many hurtful passions. Here, then, let moderation begin its reign, by bringing within reasonable bounds the wishes that we form. As soon as they become extravagant, let us check them by proper reflections on the fallacious nature of those objects which the world hangs out to allure desire.

You have strayed, my friend, from the road which conducts to felicity; you have dishonoured the native dignity of your souls, in allowing your wishes to terminate on nothing higher than worldly ideas of greatness or happiness. Your imagination roves in a land of shadows. Unreal forms deceive you. It is no more than a phantom, an illusion of happiness, which attracts your fond admiration; nay, an illusion of happiness which often conceals much real misery. Do you imagine that all are happy, who have attained to those summits of distinction,towards which your wishes aspire? Alas! how frequently has experience shewed, that where roses were supposed to bloom, nothing but briars and thorns grew? Reputation, beauty, riches, grandeur, nay, royalty itself, would, many a time, have been gladly exchanged by the possessors, for that more quiet and humble station, with which you are now dissatisfied. With all that is splendid and shining in the world, it is decreed that there should mix many deep shades of woe. On the elevated situations of fortune, the great calami

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