a comparison between the happiness to be derived from the approbation of the world and that which a man bestows upon himself, and has a right to bestow upon himself, when he feels that he has performed his duty in defiance of opinion, and considered not what his fellow-creatures but what his Saviour and Redeemer

bids.

It is, I admit, a work of no common difficulty to live in the world without being spotted by it, and to join in the pursuits, and to share in the objects of men, preserving to religion its sacred and inviolable empire; but then as the difficulty, so the beauty of the action, so the glory, so the reward! the highest religion and the finest Christianity is not evinced by shrinking from action, but by plunging into action, by preserving innocence in the midst of corruption, calmness in the midst of tumult, firmness in the midst of fluctuation; by being faithful when others are treacherous, noble when others are base, moral when others are profligate, by coming forth in evil days as a Christian man, and walking through it all, untouched and undefiled; and saying at the end of it all, "There is my heart, show me a spot upon it; tell me whom I have injured; tell me when I have bowed the knee to Baal; when have you seen me selling my soul for wealth; when have you beheld me truckling to power: what was the day and what the hour when I shrunk from truth, and fled and faultered before bad doctrines and godless men ?" This is Christian language; this is a perfect career upon earth; this is the great servant of God, this the real inheriter of the kingdom of heaven.

In truth, it is more difficult to serve God in the world and to remain unspotted, than in retreat; but then it is a more useful and a more perfect service; and such a service as those, or the greater part of those, who hear me this day may have an opportunity of rendering; and remember, it is quite as easy and quite as necessary, to

be religious in the assemblages of the world, as it is in churches and in chapels. But how can this be done? Why I have seen God served as effectually by a look or a word out of the church as by the solemn ritual in it. I have seen profligate men struck dumb by the sudden silence and the serious concern of a Christian. I have seen a whole society turned to a better purpose by a single word from a good man; and I think I have seen in this manner seeds of godliness sown, which may produce the fruit of everlasting life; sown, remember, not by one man who, under the pretence of godliness, is high-minded, and thinks he has a right pedantically to intrude, out of time and out of season; but sown by one, who did not interfere till he found it impossible not to interfere; who did it with pain; who never thought of thwarting the notions or checking the amusements of his fellow-creatures, till his solemn duty to his Creator told him he ought to do so; and that he would be deeply spotted by the world if he shrunk from the painful yet honourable and righteous task.

You are spotted by the world not only if you love and fear it too much, but if you minister to the bad passions of the world by calumny and detraction; by increasing calumny, and detraction, or by not resisting it when practised by others. It is a sure mark of a clear and spotless mind, when you see a man always anxious to do justice to his fellow Christians; listening with serious concern to narratives of folly or of crime; pausing, doubting, defending, struggling for the preservation of every man's fair fame, and repelling hatred and envy with the shield of Christian charity. It is impossible not to feel respect and honour where this is seen; it is impossible not to say here are the marks of Christ; here are the signs of that beautiful faith which blesses where it goes, and does the will of God upon earth, as it is done in heaven. Strive then in the days of the pilgrimage, in the long and weary way, to keep

off the spots of the world, and to wear the white robe of the Gospel. No abject fear of the world, no other sacrifice to opinion, than submission in modes and forms : thus far shalt thou go, and no further. Great principles derived from the Gospel are above the world, and are intended to control the world, and not to be obedient to it. Keep your soul from that great spot, and let the world see in all the important actions of life that you serve another Master; and don't attach yourself to the objects of this world with a vehemence utterly unsuitable to their value, or to the time which is given you to enjoy them; but let us see by your mode of acting, by your moderation in enjoying, and by your justice in pursuing worldly goods, that the great promises and hope of religion are never absent from your soul. Be just, and let mankind see that you are their friend and defender, and that you respect yourself too much to be the slave and flatterer of public opinion; and so act, that you seem always ready for the coming of God, guided by the law of Christ, fighting against evil passion ;- pure, humble, unspotted by the world!

SERMON XX.

ON KEEPING THE SABBATH.

EXODUS, xx. 8.

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

As the Sabbath day is of divine institution, we are bound to keep it holy; and we should have been equally bound to do so, if we had been unable to discover the reasons for which its sanctification was ordained; but the reasons for the law, and the usefulness of the law, are so far from being doubtful, that it probably would have originated with man, if it had not been commanded by his Creator, and the weary nations would have found a sabbath from their toils, unhallowed by the structure of the globe, and by the rest of God.

The great importance of the Sabbath, not only for the promotion of righteousness, but even for our own temporal welfare, is too generally admitted to need much discussion. If the duties of religion were left to be performed by every one at the time, and after the manner they thought fit, there would be a considerable risk that they were not performed at all. The public and the periodical exercise of religion is the best security for sound doctrine; the teachers of religion teach openly to the world; and artifice, fanaticism, and credulity, which begin always in obscurity, are subjected to the wholesome restraint of public opinion.

We are so absorbed, also, in the business and in the pleasures of this world, that the recollection of any

other would, but for the institution of the Sabbath, be very soon obliterated. It is necessary that the chain of our ideas should be broken, and that a new system of reflections should be introduced:- the cessation of business, and of amusement, observable on this day, have all a tendency to rouse the thoughtless, to awe the profligate into a sense of duty, and to inspire feelings of contrition and remorse. The remembrance, too, of youthful feeling has always a strong influence on the mind of men:-those who have been brought up when young in a proper and pious observance of the Sabbath, can never meet the Sabbath without experiencing, in some degree, the same interesting feelings, and when they have tried in vain the pleasures of sin, and found, as every man will find, that happiness is derived only from the Gospel of Christ, they will return to the Sabbath, and seek from the calm sanctity of that day the pure enjoyments of their youth.

The Sabbath, then, is of infinite importance to mankind, but what is meant by keeping it holy?— Who does keep it holy?

Certainly not he who pursues on that day the common and frivolous amusements of his life. As far as he is concerned, the Commandment of God might as well not exist. All days are alike to him. As far as practice is concerned he has no Sabbath.

Untimely amusement on the Sabbath leads to ungodliness, by checking seriousness and holiness of thought; and it is impossible that any human being can make progress in godliness, without stated periods, in which they may fall into an holy and serious train of thought; all other things are attainable only by labour. Skill in languages must be gained by study; a knowledge of the exact sciences is the result only of incessant labour. Can a man be religious who assigns no time for thinking of religion? Can the most perfect state of the human heart be obtained by absolute neglect and inattention ?