the seat of war, nor the laboratory of mischief, nor the lurking place of malice. They will avoid every occasion of strife, every cause of discord; they will not be easily provoked, nor difficultly reconciled, they will bear much with others, as conscious that they have much need to be borne with themselves. By candour and gentleness, by sympathy and kindness, they will aim to promote peace and union among their neighbours, and to make even "their enemies to be at peace with them." The terms on which we live with those around us contribute very materially to the sum of comforts or discomforts in our span of life. The various occasions which bring us into daily contact with our neighbours, require that sentiments of good-will should reciprocally be entertained, and an interchange maintained of kind expressions and kind offices. "It must needs be," however, "that offences come," and that the bonds of this social intercourse be occasionally broken by jealousies and heart-burnings, animosity and enmity, passions which must unavoidably break in upon our other enjoyments. The very thoughts of an enemy disturb our tranquillity; the meeting with him disconcerts us, and the sight of his habitation mars our enjoyment of the finest prospect. But though it is

not possible for us to pass through life without enemies, and though we may be convinced even by our natural reason that we ought to regard them without asperity and malevolence, yet without the aid of the divine grace we shall never be able to rise to such magnanimity as to extirpate from our hearts these unsocial passions so deeply rooted in our fallen nature. To regard our enemies with kindness and good-will, is a temper only attainable by imbibing the spirit of the gospel of peace, by sitting at the feet of our divine Master, until he vouchsafe to "pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity," which like oil upon the angry billows, will smooth and tranquillize our perturbed breasts, enable us not "to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good," to look on no man as an enemy, and if we have suffered injury, to be the first to forgive it. “A new commandment," says our Lord, "I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." To the Jews, whom he addressed, this was a new commandment, since they limited to their own nation those acts of beneficence which he enjoined his disciples to extend to all mankind, and even to their enemies. And thus the endearing tie of redemption, which unites us with our God and Saviour, unites us also with

all our fellow-creatures. But to exercise this universal charity, to show all meekness to all men, even to those from whom we have received the greatest provocations, to be kind to the unthankful and the evil, neither soured by their ingratitude nor disgusted by their vices, nor wearied by their importunities, to persevere in soothing their sufferings and supplying their wants to do all this, we must contemplate our afflicted fellowcreatures in that sublime and affecting relation which ennobles and exalts the vilest and most degraded of human beings, as the creatures of God endued with immortal souls, which the Son of Man came to seek and to save, and for whom he shed his precious blood upon the cross. Thus does the love of God in Christ Jesus unite us to all men as our brethren, by a benevolence which nothing can limit, and by a bond which nothing can dissolve. The men of this world have selfish passions and narrow prejudices which contract their hearts, and stint their charity, and dispose them on trivial grounds to violate peace with their neighbours. But Christians must, in proof of their sincerity, and as the test of their principles, "put on bowels of mercy, gentleness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any

hath a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave them."

A third character of those who love the divine law is that they are at peace with themselves. The great enemies to this peace are the disorders of the passions. For how can peace dwell in bosoms harassed by ambition or avarice, inflated by pride, inflamed by anger or revenge, corroded by jealousy, or rankling with hatred and malice? Ungoverned passions are the storms and tempests of the moral world. Their excesses are the accursed train brought into the world with sin and death, filling it with the habitations of cruelty and misery, making every day productive of some new tragedy, and in their horrid train bringing pain and disease, tribulation and anguish, melancholy and despair. Now what power of man is sufficient to control these tyrants of the human breast, and destroyers of its peace? Will their violence yield to human laws or human punishments? We know that it will not. son and philosophy have indeed enabled a few wise men in an age to keep their passions in some degree of subjection; but the bulk of mankind is not composed of reasoners and philosophers, does not consist of beings capable of being acted upon by such motives to virtue, as might

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influence a Socrates or a Plato.

There is no law but that of Christ which is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and can thus bring under its dominion the whole nature of man. But the passions being an essential part of that nature, Christ came not to destroy our moral constitution but to restore it, not to extirpate the passions but to regulate them, by re-establishing that equilibrium between the soul and the senses, the flesh and the spirit, which constituted the perfection and the happiness of man in Paradise, and which is the real attainment and the distinguishing characteristic of all true Christians. As the health of the body is preserved by the equable action of the vital organs, in like manner is the health of their souls maintained by the regular and temperate movement of their affections, so disciplined and directed under grace as to become, if I may so speak, the wings of the soul, uplifting their devotions, energizing their faith, hope, and charity, and invigorating them in the whole work of their sanctification; and in this consciousness of selfcommand do they enjoy that continual feast, which the wealthy cannot buy, nor the luxurious taste; that sweet tranquillity which arises from the "answer of a good conscience." This is the