day of thy affliction it shall be remembered;-thy sins also shall melt away, as the ice in the fair warm weather." These sentiments, expressed in one of the apocryphal books, accord with the doctrines of canonical Scripture. In the text, the reward annexed to the performance of this duty is," that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee:"-and St. Paul, when writing to the Christian converts, encourages the observance of it, by remarking that this "is the first commandment with promise." The promise is exceedingly well suited to the command ;-and yet, if it is understood in the exact literal sense of the words, we cannot easily determine how far it has, in different ages, been fulfilled. This, however, we may safely assert, that no one has ever yet been the shorter-lived, or the more unsuccessful in the world, for paying due honour to his parents :-but, as we may reasonably judge, quite otherwise. There is no doubt, that to the Jews, as long as they were under an extraordinary Providence, and were, as individuals, observers of this particular commandment, the promise was literally fulfilled. But under the administration of God's ordinary providence in the Gospel dispensation, we know that the promised land is a type of heaven, and of the blessings of eternity. Thither we must extend our prospects for the completion of the reward, if we receive it not in this world. If filial duty does not lengthen our days, or secure our welfare, in the present life, we may rely upon the recompense in store,

which will be the greater in proportion as the time
of enjoying it is protracted. The Gospel of Christ
not only refines and enlivens every duty, but ascer-
tains and enlarges its reward. "If," then,
"thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments ;"'—of
which this is prominently one. In the mean time,
we should remember, that, as the good dispositions
of youth generally continue in manhood, they who
honour their parents are, according to the natural
course of things, likely to live long and happily.
Temperance, prudence, and all the good qualities
that conduce to health and prosperity, are the usual
consequences of such a disposition; and the favour
of God interposes to reward it in its moral effects.
The same, indeed, may be said of all the relative
duties. As in a man's natural body, the health of
the whole system depends upon the just conformity
and proper action of every constituent part, so, in the
civil or moral body of society, the safety and welfare
of the whole depend upon a proper discharge of the
respective duties and obligations which men owe to
each other:—and if these were universally attended
to, as they ought, the promise would soon be precisely
fulfilled. The holy spirit of grace would bless and
comfort us for the love which we owe to one another;
-long life and prosperity would abound upon earth;
-the ways of men, thus directed in wisdom, would
be "
ways
of righteousness, and all their paths would
be peace."

SERMON VI.

DUTY OF MUTUAL SUBJECTION.

1 PETER V. 5.

-all of you be subject one to another,

In this part of his Epistle, St Peter is giving instructions to Christians of different ranks and ages, as to how they should conduct themselves in the social relations of life. He first addresses the elders of the Church, whom he exhorts to "feed the flock of God" willingly, cheerfully, and free from all sordid motives," not as being lords over God's heritage, but as examples to the flock." He then commands the younger Christians to "submit themselves unto the elder;"—that is, to pay them the respect and deference which are due to their experience, their enlightened wisdom, and their virtues. Then follows the admonition contained in the text, "Yea, all of you be subject one to another."

The Apostle plainly intimates, in these words, that through all the classes of society, men are mutually dependent on each other,—and that this dependence must be carefully observed, in order to promote the welfare of the whole. Let us, then, consider the fitness, the beauty, and the expediency of a mutual subordination in all the ranks and circumstances of life.

As God is a Being who possesses infinite wisdom and infinite power, his power must be exerted in such methods as his wisdom approves and directs; and according to the variety of those methods, as discoverable by human perception, will be the admiration which they excite in our minds. If the whole race of man had precisely the same characteristics, and if the moral and social capacity in each of them were in exactly the same degree, the divine wisdom would then be shewn in one instance only: but now, the characteristics and the capacity are diversified in as many different instances as there are individuals in the whole species; for, from the creation of the world to the present moment, never were any two persons alike in all respects. The structure, indeed, of one human being, (supposing that only one had been created) gifted with reason and intelligence, would, of itself, exemplify the stupendous wisdom of the Creator: and the production of ten thousand such creatures, without even the minutest variation either in mind or body, would shew the consistency of the divine wisdom, and the even and

uniform tenor of its action. But as the fact now is, -as the creature is multiplied into an immense number, and each individual not only bears a general resemblance to the rest, but has something peculiarly his own, by which he is evidently distinct and separate from them all;-we have an astonishing proof, that God's wisdom and power can diversify their acts, but preserve uniformity; and can retain, in the numberless varieties of their works, a regular and harmonious order.

This not only proves the moral fitness of God's works; but it sets forth, at the same time, their admirable beauty. And from the beauty so remarkably visible in the natural and material creation, we may obviously infer, that a correspondent or analogous beauty should pervade the intellectual and moral world. By the natural and material creation, we do not mean sluggish and lifeless matter, but matter refined and invested with life, and formed into that scale of being, which ascends from the lower and more imperfect to the higher and more elaborate order of beings. There is, we perceive, one class of beings, which can so far only be said to live, as they grow and enlarge themselves by receiving nutriment. Another class are merely capable of being moved. A third class have the power of moving themselves. The inhabitants of the water, though they are diversified in numberless degrees of shape and size, can move no otherwise than by swimming. There are, indeed, some animals, called amphibious, that can