what small beginnings the greatest | reproach, and to become the object crimes have arisen; observing how either of contempt or hatred. How bad company has seduced this man often, for instance, have the greatest from his original principles and ha- abilities, which once drew esteem and bits; how a careless indulgence of admiration, sunk, in a short time, into pleasure has blinded and intoxicated the most humiliating degradation, that man; how the neglect of divine merely through the ascendant which institutions has, in another, gradually corrupted inclinations and low habits paved the way for open profligacy; had acquired over their possessor? much salutary instruction is conveyed How often have the rising honours of to the virtuous. Tracing the danger- the youth been blasted, by their forous and slippery paths by which so saking the path of honour on which many have been insensibly betrayed they had once entered, for the blind into ruin, their views of human na- and crooked tracks of depravity and ture are enlarged; the sense of their folly? Such spectacles of the infamy own imbecility is strongly impressed of vice, such memorials of the disupon them; accompanied with the grace attending it, are permitted by conviction of the necessity of a con- Providence for general instruction, stant dependance on the grace and and assuredly are edifying to the assistance of Heaven. All the crimes, world. It was necessary for moral which they behold disturbing society improvement, that the beauty and around them, serve as signals hung excellence of virtue, and the deforout to them; beacons planted in their mity of vice, should be strongly imview, to prevent their making ship- pressed on every intelligent mind. wreck among those rocks on which This could never be done with so others have split. It has been justly great advantage as by the striking said, that not only from the advices contrasts of both, which are produced of his friends, but from the reproaches by the living examples of evil men, of his enemies, a wise man may draw intermixed with the good. It is in instruction. In the same manner, it this mirror that we clearly contemis not only by the examples of good plate how much the righteous is more men, but likewise by those of the excellent than his neighbour. wicked, that an attentive mind may be confirmed in virtue. Next, These examples of bad men, while they admonish the virtuous of the dangers against which they are to guard, are farther profitable by the views which they exhibit of the evil and the deformity of sin. Its odious nature never appears in so strong a light as when displayed in the crimes of the wicked. It is true, that when vice is carried only to a certain degree, and disguised by plausible colours, it may pass unreproved, and even for awhile seem popular in the world. But it is no less true, that when it becomes open and flagrant, and is deprived of the shadow of virtue, it never fails to incur general The same purpose of important instruction is farther promoted by the instances of misery which the state of wicked men on earth affords. I admit, that the worldly success which sometimes attends them may blind and seduce the unwary; but a little more reflection enables men to distinguish between apparent success and real happiness. The condition of worthless men, whatever splendour riches may throw around them, is easily discerned to be a restless and miserable one; and the misery which they suffer, to be derived from their vices. In that great corrupted crowd which surrounds us, what incessant bustle and stir, what agitation and tumult, take place? What envy and jealousy of one another? How much bitterness of resentment do we behold among them; mutually deceiving and deceived; supplanting and supplanted; ever pursuing, but never satisfied? These are not matters of rare observation, or which require nice scrutiny to discover them. We need only open our eyes to behold the wicked tormented by their passions, and far removed from that sanctuary of calmness and tranquillity which is the abode of real happiness. Nay, when we appeal to bad men themselves, after they have run the whole round of vicious pleasures, we will often find them obliged to confess that the wretched result of their pursuits has been vanity and vexation of spirit; and that the happiest days they have enjoyed were in the times of innocence, before criminal desires and guilty passions had taken possession of their breasts. Such practical demonstrations as these, of the infelicity of sin, are yielded by the examples of evil-doers, whom we see around us. By attending to their situation, the misery, as well as infamy, of guilt is realized, and rendered sensible to our apprehension. Thus, upon a fair inquiry, you behold how the ways of God may, in this remarkable case, be justified to man. You behold what important ends are advanced, by permitting the tares at present to grow together with the wheat. The intermixture of evil men in human society serves to exercise the suffering graces and virtues of the good; by the diversity of characters among those with whom they have intercourse, it serves to bring forth and improve their active powers and virtues, and to enlarge the circle of useful occupations; it serves to instruct them in the temptations against which they are to guard, to reveal to them all the deformity of vice, and to make its miseries pass conspicuously before their eyes. When we consider them as actors on the theatre of the world, they are thereby improved in the part they have to perform. When we consider them as spectators of what is passing on that theatre, their minds are thereby instructed; their views rectified and enlarged by the objects that are set before them. From these important truths, several reflections no less important arise. We are naturally taught, in the first place, never to be hasty in finding fault with any of the arrangements of Providence. The present permission of moral evil on the earth seemed, on the first view, to furnish a strong objection against either the wisdom or the goodness of the Author of nature. After beholding the useful purposes which are answered by that permission, how cautious should we be in advancing any of our rash speculations against his government and conduct! To our confined and humble station it belongs not to censure, but to submit, trust, and adore; satisfied, that the farther we inquire, the rectitude of his ways will appear the more; thankful for the discoveries of them which have been imparted to us; and persuaded that, where our discoveries fail, it is not because there is no more wisdom or goodness to be seen, but because our present condition allows us not to see more. In the second place, let us be taught with what eye we are to look upon those bad men whom we find around us in the world. Not surely with an eye of envy. Whatever prosperity they may seem to enjoy, they are still no more than tares, the weeds of the field; contemptible in the sight of God, tolerated by his providence for awhile on account of the righteous, to whose improvement they are rendered subservient. The parable informs us, that, in the end, they are to be gathered together and burnt. In this life 1 only they have their good things. But their prosperity is transitory. They are brought into desolation in a moment, and utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh, so, O God, when thou awakest thou shalt despise their image. (Psal. lxxiii. 19, 20.) When we consider their unhappy state, it becomes us to behold them with the eye of pity. Let us remember that, in the midst of their errors, they are by nature still our brethren. Let us not behave to them in the spirit of bitterness. Insult not their follies. Pride not yourselves on superior virtue. Remember that, as bad men are mixed with the good, so in the best men, vices are at present mixed with virtues. Your own character, good as you may esteem it, is not free from every evil taint; and in the characters of those whom you reprobate as vicious, there are always some good qualities mixed with the bad ones. Study, as far as you can, to reclaim and amend them; and if, in any degree, you have been profited by their failings, endeavour, in return, to profit them by good counsel and advice; by advice, not administered with officious zeal, or self-conceited superiority, but with the tenderness of compassion and real friendship. In the third place, in whatever proportion the admixture of vice may seem to take place in the world, let us never despair of the prevalence of virtue on the whole. Let us not exaggerate, beyond measure, the quantity of vice that is found in the mixture. It is proper to observe, that in the parable now before us, after the owner of the field had sown his good seed, no reason is given us to think, that the good seed was entirely choked up by tares. On the contrary, we are told, that the blade sprung up and brought forth fruit; and though the tares also arose, yet, in the end, there was a harvest, when the wheat was reaped and gathered into the barn. In He the most corrupted times, God never leaves himself without many witnesses on earth. He is always attentive to the cause of goodness; and frequently supports and advances it by means which we are unable to trace. nourishes much piety and virtue in hearts that are unknown to us; and beholds repentance ready to spring up among many whom we consider as reprobates.-I know that it has always been common for persons to represent the age in which they live as the worst that ever appeared; and religion and virtue as just on the point of vanishing from among men. This is the language sometimes of the serious; often of the hypocritical, or of the narrow-minded. But true religion gives no sanction to such severe censures, or such gloomy views. Though the tares must be at all times springing up, there is no reason for believing that they shall ever overspread the whole field. The nature of the weeds that spring up may vary, according to the nature of the soil. Different modes of iniquity may distinguish different ages of the world; while the sum of corruption is nearly the same. Let not our judgments of men, and of the times in which we live, be hasty and presumptuous. Let us trust in the grace of God, and hope the best of mankind. In the fourth and last place, let us keep our eyes ever fixed on that important period, which is alluded to in the text as the conclusion of all. Let both grow together until the harvest. The great spiritual year is to be closed by a harvest, when the householder is to gather the wheat into his barn; when, at the end of the world, the final distinction of men and characters is to take place. The confused mixture of good and evil, which now prevails, is only a temporary dispensation of Providence, accommodated to man's fallen and imperfect state. Let it not tempt us for a moment to distrust the reality of the Divine government; | sin or by sinners, be united in one nor to entertain the remotest suspi- divine assembly, and rejoice for ever cion that moral good and evil are to in the presence of him who made be on the same terms for ever. The them. Looking forward to this glofrailties of our nature fitted us for no rious issue with steadfast faith, let more at present than the enjoyment no cross appearances ever discomof a very mixed and imperfect so- fit our hopes, or lead us to suspect ciety. But when our nature, purified that we have been serving God in and refined, shall become ripe for vain. If we continue faithful to the higher advancement, then shall the death, we may rest assured, that in spirits of the just, disengaged from due time we shall receive the crown of any polluted mixture, undisturbed by life. SERMON LV. ON THE RELIEF WHICH THE GOSPEL AFFORDS TO THE [Preached at the Celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.] Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.-Matt. xi. 28. THE life of man on earth is doomed to be clouded with various evils. Throughout all ranks the afflicted form a considerable portion of the human race; and even they who have a title to be called prosperous, are always, in some periods of their life, obliged to drink from the cup of bitterness. The Christian religion is particularly entitled to our regard, by accommodating itself with great tenderness to this distressed condition of mankind. It is not to be considered as merely an authoritative system of precepts. Important precepts it indeed delivers for the wise and proper regulation of life. But the same voice which enjoins our duty, utters the words of consolation. The Gospel deserves to be held a dispensation of relief to mankind, under both the temporal and spiritual distresses of their state. This amiable and compassionate spirit of our religion conspicuously appears in the character of its great Author. It shone in all his actions while he lived on earth. It breathed in all his discourses; and, in the All words of the text, is expressed with much energy. In the preceding verses he had given a high account of his own person and dignity. things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal {him. But lest any of his hearers should be discouraged by this mysterious representation of his greatness, he instantly tempers it with the most gracious benignity; declaring, in the text, the merciful intention of his mission to the world. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The first thing which claims our attention in these words is, what we are to understand by coming unto Christ. This is a phrase which has often given occasion to controversy. By theological writers it has been involved in much needless mystery, while the meaning is in itself plain and easy. The very metaphor that is here used serves to explain it. In the ancient world, disciples flocked round their different teachers, and attended them wherever they went; in order both to testify their attachment, and to imbibe more fully the doctrine of their masters. Coming unto Christ, therefore, is the same with resorting to him as our declared Master; acknowledging ourselves his disciples, believers in his doctrine, and followers of his precepts. As Christ is made known to us under the character both of a Teacher and a Saviour, our coming unto him imports not only submission to his instructions, but confidence also in his power to save. It imports that, forsaking the corruptions of sin and the world, we follow that course of virtue and obedience which he points out to us; relying on his mediation for pardon of our offences, and acceptance with Heaven. This is what is implied in the Scripture term, Faith; which includes both the assent of the understanding to the truth of the Christian religion, and the concurrence of the will in receiving it. What next occurs in the text to attract our notice, is the description of those to whom the invitation is addressed. All those who labour and are heavy laden, that is, who in one way or other feel themselves grieved and distressed, are here invited to come to Christ.-Now, from two sources chiefly our distresses arise, from moral or from natural causes. First, They may arise from inward moral causes, from certain feelings and reflections of the mind, which occasion uneasiness and pain. A course of sin and vice always prove ruinous and destructive in the issue. But its tendency to ruin is often not perceived, while that tendency is advancing. For, as sin is the reign of passion and pleasure, it forms men to a thoughtless inconsiderate state. Circumstances, however, may occur, and frequently, in the course of life, do occur, which disclose to a vicious man the ruin which he is bringing on himself, as an offender against the God who made him. When some occasional confinement to solitude, or some turn of adverse fortune, directs his attention immediately upon his own character; or when, drawing towards the close of life, his passions subside, his pleasures withdraw, and a future state comes forward to his view; in such situations it often happens, that the past follies and crimes of such a man appear to him in a light most odious and shocking; and not odious only, but terrifying to his heart. He considers that he is undoubtedly placed under the government of a just God, who did not send him into this world for nought; that he has neglected the part assigned to him; has contemned the laws of Heaven; has degraded his own nature; and instead of being useful, having been hurtful and pernicious to those among whom he lived, is about to leave a detestable memory behind him.-What account shall he give of himself to his Maker? Self-condemned, polluted by so many crimes, how can he expect to find mercy in his sight?-Hence, an overwhelmed and dejected mind; hence, dismal forebodings of punishment; hence that wounded spirit, which, when it is deeply pierced, becomes the sorest of all human evils, and has sometimes rendered existence a burden which could not be endured. Such distresses as these, arising from moral internal causes, may be made light of by the giddy and the vain; and represented as confined to a few persons only of distempered imagination. But to those whose professions give them occasion to see men under various circumstances of affliction, they are known to be far from being unfrequent in the world; and, on many more occasions than is commonly imagined, to throw over the human mind the blackest gloom |