extended to guard his church and

people. The same characters of wisdom and power, of justice and mercy, which we ascribe to the Providence and dominion of God the Father, belong, in their fullest extent, to the kingdom and government of Christ the Son of God. This peculiar satisfaction his government affords us, that in the midst of sovereign authority, we know that he still retains the same mild and compassionate spirit, which he shewed as our High Priest. The meanest of his subjects is not overlooked by him. The inhabitant of the most obscure cottage, equally as the possessor of the most splendid palace, dwells under his protection. He listens to the prayer of the poor, and despises not the services they yield him. The widow's mite is in his sight an acceptable offering; and even a cup of cold water given to a disciple in his name passes not without its reward.

Hence the characters of his regal administration cannot be better described than in the beautiful language of the prophetical Psalmist; He shall judge the people with righteousness, and the poor with judgment. The righteous shall flourish in his days. He shall save the children of the needy, and break in pieces the oppressor. He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. His name shall endure for ever. It shall be continued as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed in him; and all nations shall call him blessed. (Psal. lxxii.)

We have now under several views considered the ascension of Christ, and the important purposes which were answered by it. In going along, I have pointed out some of the chief effects which ought to be produced on us by this object of our faith. Much more might be said on this subject,

did the bounds of a discourse permit it. One improvement of the subject which the sacred writers often point out, must not be forgotten. If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth. (Col. iii. 1, 2.) A certain conformity with Christ, their great leader, in all the circumstances of his history, is in Scripture exacted from Christians. As they must die with him to sin, they must rise with him unto newness of life; and with him ascend in heart to heaven, and dwell in their affections where he is. The elevated hopes which Christ, by his resurrection and ascension, has set before us, ought to inspire Christians with suitable elevation of sentiment above this present world. As Christ is in you the hope of glory, let every one who hath this hope in him, purify himself as Christ is pure. (1 John iii. 3.) Let not the corrupt pleasures of this world debase you. Let not its terrors deject you. But in your whole conduct, let that dignity and equanimity appear, which belongs to those who have such high connexions. Christ, as your forerunner, hath entered into the highest heavens; Him, it is your part to follow, in the paths of piety and virtue. In those paths proceed with perseverance and constancy, animated by those words of your parting Redeemer, which ought ever to dwell in Go to remembrance; your my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father; to my God, and your God. In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. (John xx. 17. xiv. 2, 3.)

It cannot but occur to every one who has read the New Testament, even in a cursory manner, that there is nothing more warmly and more frequently inculcated in it, than peace and love, union and good understanding, among men. Were a person to form to himself an idea of the state of the Christian world, merely from reading our sacred books, and thence inferring how they would live who believed those books to be Divine, he would draw, in his fancy, the fairest picture of a happy society: he would expect to meet with nothing but concord, harmony, and order; and to find the voice of clamour and contention for ever silent. But were such a person, fond to be himself a witness and a partaker of such a blissful state, to come amongst us from afar, how miserably, alas! would he be disappointed, when in the actual conduct of Christians he discovered so little correspondence with the mild and peaceful genius of their professed religion; when he saw the fierce spirit of contention often raging unrestrained in public; and in private, the intercourse of men imbittered, and society disordered and convulsed, with quarrels about trifles? Too justly might he carry away with him this opprobrious report, that surely those Christians had no belief in that religion they profess to hold sacred, seeing their practice so openly contradicts it.

In order to prevent, as much as we can, this reproach from attaching to us, let us now set ourselves to consider seriously the importance and the advantages of living peaceably with all

men. This duty may be thought by some to possess a low rank among the Christian virtues, and the phrase, a peaceable man, to express no more than a very inferior character. I admit that gentleness, candour, sensibility, and friendship (vide the Discourses on these virtues), express a higher degree of refinement and improvement in the disposition: and that a good Christian ought to be distinguished by active benevolence, and zeal for remedying the miseries and promoting the felicity of others. Bat let it be remembered, that the love of peace is the foundation of all those virtues. It is the first article in the great Christian doctrine of charity; and its obligation is strict, in proportion as its importance is obvious. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God. (Matt. v. 9.) I shall first shew what is included in the precept of living peaceably with all men ; and next, what arguments recommend our obedience to this precept.

I. This precept implies, in the first place, a sacred regard to the rules of justice, in rendering to every man what is his due. Without this first principle, there can be no friendly commerce among mankind. Justice is the basis on which all society rests. Throw down its obligation, and at that instant you banish peace from the earth; you let rapine loose, and involve all the tribes of men in perpetual hostility and war. To live peaceably, therefore, requires, as its first condition, that we content ourselves with what is our own, and never seek to encroach on the just

rights of our neighbour; that in our dealings we take no unfair advantage; but conscientiously adhere to the great rule of doing to others, according as we wish they should do to us. It supposes that we never knowingly abet a wrong cause, nor espouse an unjust side, but always give our countenance to what is fair and equal. We are never to disturb any man in the enjoyment of his lawful pleasure; nor to hinder him from advancing his lawful profit. But under a sense of our natural equality, and of that mutual relation which connects us together as men, we are to carry on our private interest in consistency with what is requisite for general order and good. Render tribute to whom tribute is due; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Covet not what is thy brother's. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another.

In the second place, the duty of living peaceably, not only prohibits all acts of open injustice, but requires us carefully to avoid giving unnecessary provocation or offence to others. When we consider from what small beginnings discord often arises, and to what astonishing heights from such beginnings it will grow, we will see much cause to watch with care over our words and actions, in our intercourse with the world. It ought to be an object of attention so to behave, as never needlessly to exasperate the passions of others. In particular, we are to guard against all improper liberties of speech, and contumelious reflections on persons and characters. The man of peace is mild in his demeanour, and inoffensive in his discourse. He appears to despise no man. He is not fond of contradicting and opposing, and is always averse to censure and to blame. He never erects himself into the character of a dictator in society. He never officiously seeks to intermeddle in the affairs of others, nor to

pry into their secrets; and avoids every occasion of disturbing the goodwill which men appear to bear to one another.-Opposite to this, stands the character of the man of unpeaceable and quarrelsome spirit; who, himself easily provoked by every trifle, is continually offending and provoking others by the harshness of his behaviour. He is loud in his censures, positive in his opinions, and impatient of all contradiction. He is a busy body in other men's matters; descants on their characters, inquires into their conduct, and on the authority of his own suspicions, assigns what motives he pleases to their actions. Into the violence of party-spirit, he never fails to enter deeply; and confidently ascribes the worst principles to all who differ from him in opinion. Such persons are the pests of society, and the troublers of all good order in human life. Let every man study to be quiet, says the apostle, and to do his own business. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. (1 Thess. iv. 11; Rom. xiv. 4.)

In the third place, the study of peace requires, that on some occasions we scruple not to give up our own opinion; or even to depart from our strict right, for the sake of peace.At the same time, for preventing mistakes on this subject, it is proper to observe, that a tame submission to violence and wrongs, is not required by religion. We are not to imagine, that the love of peace is only another name for cowardice; or that it suppresses every proper exertion of a manly spirit. The expressions employed in the text, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, plainly insinuate, that there are cases in which it may not be in our power to live peaceably with all men. Every man is allowed to feel what is due to himself and his own character, and is entitled to support properly his own rights. In many

that the attacks of the violent be checked and resisted. What belongs to a good and a wise man is, to look forward coolly to the effects that are likely to follow the rigorous prosecution of any private rights of his own. If these appear to be pregnant with mischiefs to the society with which he is connected, in a much greater proportion than any advantage they can bring to himself, it then becomes his duty rather quietly to suffer wrong, than to kindle the flames of lasting discord. But how many are there, who, having once begun a claim, espoused a side, or engaged in a controversy, are determined to pursue it to the last, let the consequences be what they will? False notions of honour are brought in to justify their passions. Pride will not allow them to yield, or to make the least concession, when the true point of honour would have led to generous acknowledgments and condescension. They never make the first advances to returning reconciliation and peace. They are haughty in their claims, and require great submission before they can be appeased. The lover of peace, on the other hand, looks upon men and manners in a milder and softer light. He views them with a philosophic, or rather a Christian eye. Conscious that he himself has been often in the wrong; sensible that of fence is frequently thought to be given where no injury was intended; knowing that all men are liable to be misled by false reports into unjust suspicions of their neighbours; he can pass over many things without disturbance or emotion, which, in more combustible tempers, would kindle a flame. In all public matters in which he is engaged, he will not be pertinaciously adhesive to every measure which he has once proposed, as if his honour were necessarily engaged to carry it through. If he see the passions of

In the fourth place, our study of peace, in order to be effectual, must be of an extensive nature; it must not be limited to those with whom by interest, by good opinion, or by equality of station, we are connected. Live peaceably with all men, says the apostle. No man is to be contemned because he is mean, or to be treated with incivility because he is one in whom we have no concern. Even to those whom we account bad men, the obligation of living at peace extends. This is not inconsistent with that just indignation which we ought to bear against their crimes. Without entering into any close connexion with them, without admitting them to be our friends and companions, it is certainly possible to live amongst them in a peaceable manner. Human society is at present composed of a confused mixture of good and evil men; and from our imperfect knowledge of characters, it is often not easy to distinguish the one class of men from the other. We are commonly prejudiced in favour of those who concur with us in our modes of thinking; and are prone to look with an evil eye on those who differ from us in subjects of importance. But if all the supposed blemishes of those with whom we differ in opinion; if the heretical doctrines which we ascribe to them, or the bad principles with which we charge them, were sufficient to justify the breach of peace, very lit tle harmonious correspondence would remain among men. Appearances of religious zeal have been too often employed to cover the pride and ill

nature of turbulent persons. The man of peace will bear with many whose opinions or practices he dislikes, without an open and violent rupture. He will consider it as his duty to gain upon them by mildness, and to reclaim them as far as he can from what is evil, by calm persuasion, rather than to attempt reforming them by acrimony and censure.Neither indeed is it every man's office to set up for a reformer of the world. Every man, it is true, is bound to promote reformation by his personal example. But if he assume a superiority to which he has no title; and, with rude and indiscreet zeal, administer reproofs, and thrust himself forward into the concerns of others, he is likely to do much more hurt than good; to break the peace of the world, without doing service to the cause of true religion.

If it thus appears to be our duty to extend our study of peace throughout the wide sphere of all who are around us, it will naturally occur that there is a certain narrower sphere within which this study ought to be particularly cultivated; towards all those, I mean, with whom Nature or Providence has joined us in close union, whether by bonds of friendship, kindred and relation, or by the nearer ties of domestic and family connexion. There, it most highly concerns every one to put in practice all the parts of that peaceable and amicable behaviour which I before have described; to guard against every occasion of provocation and offence; to overlook accidental starts of ill-humour; to put the most favourable interpretations on words and actions. The closer that men are brought together, they must unavoidably rub, at times, the more on one another. The most delicate attentions are requisite, of course, for preventing tempers being ruffled, and peace being broken, by those slight failings from which none

are exempt. It is within the circle of domestic life, that the character of the man of peace will be particularly distinguished as amiable; and where he will most comfortably enjoy the fruits of this happy disposition.

Having now explained the precept in the text, and shewn what is included in living peaceably with all men, I come next to suggest some considerations for recommending this peaceable disposition.

Let us recollect, in the first place, as a bond of union and peace, the natural relation which subsists among us all as men, sprung from one Father, connected by one common nature, and by fellowship in the same common necessities and wants; connected as Christians closer still, by acknowledgment of the same Lord, and participation of the same Divine hopes. Ought lesser differences altogether to divide and estrange those from one another, whom such ancient and sacred bonds unite? In all other cases, the remembrance of kindred, or brotherhood, of a common parent, and common family, tends to soften the harsher feelings, and often has influence, when feuds arise, to melt and overcome the heart. Why should not a remembrance of the same kind have some effect with respect to the great brotherhood of mankind?— How unnatural and shocking is it, if, on occasion of some angry expression or trifling affront, to which sudden passion or mistaken report has given rise, a man shall deliberately go forth with the barbarous purpose of plunging his sword into his brother's breast? What a reproach to reason and humanity, that a ridiculous idea of honour, derived from times of Gothic grossness and ignorance, should stain the annals of modern life with so many tragical scenes of horror!

Let the sentiment of our natural connexion with each other as men, dispose us the more to peace, from a