and if they fway more with us than our duty, we must repent here, or feverely fmart for it hereafter.

If we cannot quit the ftate we are in, we must ask pardon for our temerity, and implore his mercy for having caft ourselves into a state against his will. We muft, inceffantly implore his grace, that we may either avoid, or overcome the obstacles, that interpose between us and heaven: we must confult the wife, and follow the beft methods, prudence fhall prefcribe, to fly temptation. We muft live in a feparation from pleasure, and in the exercife of virtue.

Place me, O God in the ftate thy providence has defigned; not where the paffions of temerity and precipitation hurry me. If I leave my destiny in your hands, I am fecure; but in danger, if I withdraw from thy providence, and turn my own carver. Into thy hands I abandon myself, my God, and give myself up wholly to thy care. Speak, and I will anfwer; Here I am, ready to obey thy call.

I. EPISTLE of St. Peter, Chap. iii. Ver

8. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having com paffion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous :

9. Not rendring evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwife, bleffing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye fhould inherit a bleffing.

10. For he that will love life, and fee good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.

VOL. II.

I

11. Let

11. Let him efchew evil, and do good, let him feek peace, and exfue it.

12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

13. And who is be that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?

14. But and if ye fuffer for righteousness-fake, happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.

15. But fanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reafon of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.

The MORAL REFLECTION.

THE

HE apoftle fets down a catalogue of virtues, and defires the Chriftians to practife them. He fpeaks not here to the clergy alone, but to the whole church: and recommends not thefe virtues, as an ornament, but as an obligation.

First, Be ye all of one mind: raife no unprofitable difputes; tho' they begin without any ill defign, they are feldom managed without heat, and often end in rancour and averfion. Conform your judgment, as much as reafon will permit, to your brother's; and when you cannot, rather let the queftion fall, than contend, efpecially if the thing be of fmall concern: for it is better he fhould remain in an innocent error, than both fhould fall into a real fin. But if you judge it convenient to difabuse him, propose your reafons with calmnefs, to difcover truth, not to overcome. Prefs him not home with eagerness this will rather heat his paffion, than convince his judgment, and violate charity,

than

than reclaim him from an error. Some feem to discourse, merely to oppofe: they criticize upon every word, and rack the most clear expreffions, to reprehend them. This is against the rules of civility, as well as of chriftianity; and a fault against breeding, no lefs than a fin against charity.

Secondly, Be compaffionate: compaffion is a virtue, that not only moves us to affift our neighbour in his neceffity, but even to partake of his afflictions. Thus St. Paul commands, to weep with those that weep: and he had fuch a concern for his converts, that he fhared in their mifcarriages: he deplored their fins as his own: Who is offended, and I burn not, 2 Cor. xi. 29. He was fenfible of their weakness, and concerned at their infidelities. We are We are all members (as the fame apostle fays) of the fame body, and, as when one is out of order, all the others are difcompofed; fo charity obliges us to fympathize with the members of the myftical body, as nature does with all the members of a natural. This is to follow the doctrine Chrift taught, and the primitive Chriftians practised to a fcruple; They were of one heart, and one foul, Acts iv. 32. But thofe happy times are paft, and we have reverfed their practice, and rather grieve when our brother rejoices, and rejoice when he grieves. We often add infult to affliction, and encrease his mifery by reproaches and calumny, inftead of eafing him by confolation. Thus we profane the best religion by a heathen practice; and frame our lives rather by what it forbids, than by what it commands.

O Jefus! The forefight of the ruin of an ungrateful city drew fighs from thy compaffionate heart, and tears from thy facred eyes. Thou didft weep for her fins, because fhe would not

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lament

lament her own, and wert fenfible of her difafter, whilft fhe laugh'd at thy menaces. Mollify my hard heart, and teach it to pity, at least, my neighbour's misfortunes, which it can neither avert nor heal. Give me the charity to affift thofe, I am able, with my means; and those I cannot, with compaffion.

And to encourage more earnestly Chriftians to practise these virtues, and to deter them from fin, he affures them: The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Over thofe, to hear their prayers, to comfort, and affift them: and therefore they must not defpond, nor fink under the greatest preffures, but bear up against them, with affurance, that God fees their neceffities, and will, in convenient time, either redress them, or give them the courage to fupport them with patience.

But let not the wicked imagine God fees not their disorders; because he does not punish them: The face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And he will find a time to revenge his honour, and their infidelities. If he ftops his hand, it is to expect repentance: and if he fpares them here, they will fiart hereafter. The continual profperity in this world of evil men, is a fevere punishment, because it forebodes everlasting torments in the other.

I lift up my eyes to thee, O God, caft down thine upon me! but with the favourable regard of mercy, not of indignation; to chaftife me as a father, not to condemn me as a judge.

Nay, the apoftle not only affures the virtuous of God's fpecial protection, but also that they fhall receive no evil from men. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good. No man perfecutes another, but

upon

upon appearance of fome injury received: it is uncommon, and unnatural, to do ill without provocation who will speak ill of him, who fpeaks well of all? do him an injury, who ftudies to do good; whose carriage is civil, whose actions are innocent, and all his proceedings inoffenfive? Virtue draws refpect, as well as efteem, from the barefac'd finners it awes impudence, and difarms malice itfelf; fo that thofe, who have a mind to affront the good, often want courage, and feldom find an occafion: and thus virtue entitles them to God's peculiar protection and affiftance; and at the fame time, is a defence against the infults of wicked men.

But tho' they fhould, without cause, or colour, moleft you: Fear ye not. Forgive their fin, and pity their malice. The harm falls upon themselves, they intend for you: they incur the guilt of a fin; and you gain the reward of a virtue. And thus, you fanctify the Lord God in your hearts, by a true love, by an exact confor. mity of your lives to his maxims.

If you are my protector, O God, whom need I fear? If you affift me, what difficulty cannot I overcome? Men affault me in vain, if you defend me nay, the devils themselves cannot conquer me, unless I will be overcome. Nothing is a real evil but fin. Keep me innocent, and I fear no affliction Give me thyfelf, and I defire nothing befides and, oh! what can I defire, but God? And where can I find any comfort, but in the enjoyment of thee.