reminds us of the frailty of man, and makes us rationally suspicious of ourselves ;—it brings before us the crucified Saviour of mankind, and in his image, personifies every virtue ;—it turns our thoughts from men to angels; from frailty to perfection; from a few evil days to an happy eternity; from a jumble of sighs and joys, to a gladness that endureth for ever.

Again the heart is governed, by impressing on our recollection the intimate connexion between thought, and action; and by making the propriety of the one, the test of propriety in the other; if it is wrong to gratify revenge, it is wrong to dwell on it in imagination; if it is our duty to forgive outwardly, it is our duty to forgive from our inward hearts; if we are to withstand the allurements of pleasure, we must not contemplate them;-if we are to support painful duties, we must not magnify them in our thoughts;-whatever we are forbidden to do, we are forbidden to think; whatever we are commanded to perform; we are commanded to love: there must be no discordance between the inward, and the

outward man; thought, word, and deed, must be constantly, and closely united together; there is; indeed, a purity in this doctrine, and a wisdom, which gives to the gospel one cause of its superiority over the spurious religions, which are so widely diffused over the world, that, whereas they look wholly to the mere overt act, like an human law, Christianity commences its empire from the first dawn of thought; and, by influencing the causes of actions, makes virtue more easy, and more permanent.

The heart is governed by tracing up our pains, and pleasures, to their source; whenever we enjoy any pleasure unalloyed by dissatisfaction, it will be found, almost always, to proceed from the performance of duty; as our miseries will from the neglect of it; and the repetition of this exercise will insensibly impress upon our minds, the inseperable connexion between virtue and happiness: there is nothing, for instance, so likely to cure us of selfishness, as the gloom, and uncasiness, with which it never fails to be attended, or so likely to reconeile us to the immediate efforts of the social

virtues ; as the cheerfulness, and interest in common life, which they always communicate to their possessor: when we have traced up lassitude, and remorse, to the waste of time; we shall employ it with more economy, and vigor: when we have discovered, that we pay in languor of body, and loss of reputation, for the pleasures of excess, we shall be gradually reconciled to moderation; when we have found out in the heart, the springs of joy, and pain, we shall learn to keep them aright.

A steady employment of time, and a vigorous exercise of the intellectual faculties, are no meanauxiliaries to the government of the heart; for our minds, made to overcome difficulties either lose their powers entirely when they are without an object, or turn those powers inwardly to consume themselves: It is clear, that we have no power to summon up particular ideas at pleasure; and it is equally clear, if we cannot summon them up, their occurrence is involuntary, and free from guilt; but when ideas are present, it is in our power to decide whether we will dwell upon, and expand them; whether we will

our

summon up every notion to which they happen to be related, or whether we will oppose the power of Satan, and resist the peril of unhallowed images: hence, the use of intellectual exertion, and previous habits of labour in the government of the heart, that we are no longer at the mercy of every dangerous fancy, and every wanton image penciled by the passions; we can fix our eyes steadily upon intellectual objects, and find in the cultivation of understandings the noblest security for the innocence of our lives. The greater part of our wretchedness, real, and chimerical, of our vices, and of the mistaken views, we are so unfortunately apt to take of human life, proceed from the want of something to do; think we must, and if not of that which is ornamental, or useful; certainly, of that which is pernicious; and let it never be forgotten, that as often as we give ourselves up to the dominion of vicious thoughts, there is never wanting an abundance of ingenious words, which consult the delicacy of a bashful sinner, and veil the deformity of vice, A weariness of the decent restrictions imposed by society, is warmth of heart, and liberality of senti

ment; whatever is licentious is romantic; whatever is base, is prudent; extravagance is generosity; contempt of public virtue, practical good sense; and ignorant scepticism enlightened superiority to prejudice.

The important practice I am endeavouring to inculcate, will be powerfully promoted, by cherishing a love of openness, and a detestation of hypocrisy; by living as it were in public; by scorning to maintain one character before the world, and another in the secret places of the heart;-if this slavery of the mind, this necessity of fearing and hiding ourselves from our fellow creatures, were painted in glowing colours to the free, and noble feelings of youth, it would have no small tendency to encourage purity of thought; and would convert the proud defiance, natural to that time of life, to the wisest of all purposes.-To feel for the judgment of the world unfeigned respect, is the property of a wise man; but to know that any human being may, eventually, have it in his power to treat us with merited contempt, and infamy; and that we owe our reputation only to the ignorance of those.

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