and curse those whom we curse. We' make use of God's name to exasperate the violence of our own foolish passions, and to sharpen the edge of those trifling vexations, which are entailed upon us all, in our passage through the world.

It may not, perhaps, be quite

clear, where the great danger of using the name of God, upon common occasions, can be the danger (and a very serious one it is) is this; that we familiarise ourselves too much with that awful name ;-that the humble reverence, with which it should always be thought of, and pronounced, be exchanged for confidence, and boldness;that, having broke through the pales of the altar, we approach to the sanctuary itself;that, having accustomed ourselves to talk of God, without fear, we break through his laws, without hesitation; and end with bad actions after we have began with impious words.

These outworks, and fences of religion, are of the most sacred importance ;Y 2

no man breaks out at once into great vices; man is, of a sudden, notoriously wicked; but he begins with little faults,he abstains from public worship,-he loses, gradually, the awful remembrance of his Creator, he accustoms himself to call upon his name, on the most trifling occasions; and then, after such beginnings, foolishly imagines he can stop just where he pleases. He who breaks through the outward wall will soon come into the inner dwelling; this law is one of the strong barriers of true piety;— beware how you break it down;-think much before you pronounce the name of God;-and you will think much more before you disobey his word. -Hallow that name with an holy fear, and you will not trample on the laws which that holy name sanctions: Let all your words be yea, and nay; and that will be some security, that your actions are pure, and irreproachable as your language.

The only excuse which worldly-minded men can set up for sin, is pleasure; the present temptation is too strong; the sense of future evil too faint, and too remote ;

but who will assert, that there is any pleasure in an oath ?-Or that, in the whole extent of language, the only words capable of communicating satisfaction, are those which are not only coarse, and vulgar, büt shocking not only shocking, but irreligious, blasphemous, and bad. To take the Lord's name in vain, is to incur guilt without delight; and to violate a solemn commandment of God, merely that every one who hears us may conceive a low opinion of our manners, our education, and our understanding.

It is with small vices as with trifling complaints of the body; they become dangerous, only because they are neglected. From the age of innocence, when we look at the extremes of human depravity, the distance appears immense; we say, there is a great gulph between us ;-my soul can never be darkened with such crimes as these; I shall go down to my grave in innocence and peace.--In the mean time, the descent from one step to another is short, and gentle, and we arrive at the dis

tant goal, betrayed by the artful transition. We should take up the task of amendment, where it is most likely to be attended with success; to struggle with great vices is always difficult, sometimes, I am afraid, hopeless; in checking the vice of swearing, we are destroying the seeds of unrighteousness, and cherishing that feeling of sanctity which is the parent of every good; hereafter, when our religious feelings are blunted and worn away, when our minds are prepared for the reception of every vice, we shall find it too late to keep holy the name of the Lord our God;-too late to remember, that they are not guiltless who take his name in vain.

Whatever rules any man may chuse to apply to himself, he will not deny, that it is his duty to watch, with the most pious care, the first appearances of this dangerous vice in the minds of children; that a young person, at least, should be taught never to pronounce the name of God, but with feelings of pious gratitude, and unbounded veneration; never, without remembering that God breathed into him the breath

may

of life; that, at his will, that breath still hangs in his nostrils; that in a moment, ' his soul may be taken from him; and that he be called before the throne of that being, whose power nothing can resist; and from whose wisdom nothing remains concealed. The youth who has these feelings, is safe from all flagrant, and enormous crimes; in the moment of temptation, he flies to them as to the horns of the altar; and, in the day of his adversity, they are his stoney rock, his buckler, and his shield.

It is very striking, in our perusal of the scriptures, to remark the awful manner in which the name of God is mentioned; and the noble images, and allusions, with which it is surrounded, and hallowed: Moses says, that it is eternal, everlasting, not to be changed. Solomon, calls it the frontlet to his eyes; Isaiah says, it is the tower of his heart.-Zechariah, calls it a wall of fire.-Joel, and Amos, and Haggai,

say

it is a miracle, and a glory, and a burning light. Prophets, lawgivers, and sacred kings bless it; the worst only, and the lowest of men, revile it, and trample it in the