ness and forbearance, discountenanced and opposed the sentiments most prevalent among them, and most in unison with the notions they had formed of the purpose of his mis

sion.

This is strikingly instanced in the several beatitudes, as they are called, set forth at the opening of his discourse. Instead of encouraging the pursuit of worldly honour, wealth, or dominion; instead of holding out inducements of ease, luxury, and temporal grandeur; instead of promising earthly conquests and the subjugation of rival and hostile powers;what are the expectations offered, what the qualities declared to be indispensable for admission into His kingdom?-humility, selfdenial, meekness, forbearance, purity, patience under tribulation and adversity. The only superiority to which he bids them aspire, is that of setting an example edifying to the rest of mankind. The only splendour wherewith he would have them invested, is the lustre of unostentatious qualities gradually winning men to the truth, and leading to the adoption of that religion from which they proceeded. Nor were they to content themselves with the scanty measure of excellence hitherto meted out to them by their religious instructors; but " except

"their righteousness exceeded that of the "Scribes and Pharisees, they would in no

66

case enter into the kingdom of heaven"." -What impostor would have thus begun his career? What enthusiast would have submitted his pretensions to a test like this? What worldly projector, ambitious of power or of fame, would have risked his popularity by such unwelcome admonitions?

But it may be asked, how will these representations consist with the injunction," Let your light so shine before men, that they

66

66

may see your good works, and glorify your "Father which is in heaven?"-The poor in spirit, they that mourn, the meek, they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the reviled and persecuted;-are these the characters to attract the admiration of the multitude; or will mankind in general be inclined, from such effects of a religion, to adopt it as their own? Who would expect the teacher of doctrines like these, to exhort his followers to set themselves up for patterns to the rest of mankind, in the persuasion that any who were conversant with the world would partake of their views and sentiments?

It requires no great extent of observation

b Matth. v. 20.

or research to obviate these supposed inconsistencies, and to vindicate the wisdom, no less than the purity, the sanctity, and the benevolence, of the heavenly instructor from whom these precepts issued.

What, let us ask, are the most fruitful sources of evil and misery throughout the human race? What so fruitful, or so frequent, as the qualities most opposite to those which our Lord here sets forth as essential to the religion he promulgated? Consider the effects of pride, of a mind swollen with uninterrupted prosperity, of uncontrolled resentment, of inordinate love of the world, of oppression, of sensuality, of a turbulent spirit, of a fear of incurring worldly censure, of irresolution and want of firmness in upholding righteousness and truth. How extensively do these spread their influence, and how fearfully do they operate in poisoning every enjoyment of social life! True it is, that some of these odious dispositions are far from being direct obstacles to men's personal advancement in the world, and that some of them may even be attended with incidental benefit to others, as well as to themselves. The aggrandizement of an individual may be brought about by that recklessness of evil consequences which pushes forward to its object, without fear of

God or man; and a bold bad man, while he earns preeminence to himself, may carry along with him many more upon whom the success of his enterprises may heap similar distinctions. Many also who act upon the most selfish principles may find it conducive to their own sordid purpose to ingratiate themselves with mankind by deeds of public utility and private beneficence, the better either to conceal the end they have in view, or to forward its accomplishment. Casually also, though not designedly, some benefits may accrue to society from the operation of the worst dispositions and intentions in their influence upon mankind; a result, to be attributed only to the unceasing control of that Almighty power who "hath made all things "for Himself," and who can render the evil passions of men, no less than "the stormy "wind and tempest," conducive to good, even whilst they are spreading havock and destruction. But these results in no respect affect the general position we are now maintaining. The evil actions or dispositions of men can never be said, in themselves, to promote the glory of God; nor by any possible perversion of sentiment be entitled to the same estima

c Prov. xvi. 4.

tion with the "good works" which are to form the splendour of the Christian character. Their immediate tendency, and their necessary consequence, except so far as they may be overruled by a superintending Providence, is to make the world a scene of disorder and discomfort, and to increase and perpetuate the evils of our fallen nature.

On the other hand, the dispositions solemnly commended and blessed by our heavenly Lord and Master, however little they may be felt, understood, or practised, by an unthankful and unbelieving world, are precisely those which, while they give the highest possible elevation of spiritual character to their possessors, in no respect lessen their means of promoting the general good; neither do they preclude the exercise of the most powerful energies of the human mind, or in any way incapacitate men for becoming valuable members of the community, or advancing their own honourable reputation. Reflect, for a moment, how each of these is adapted to work upon the mind and to affect the conduct. Humility, whatever lowliness or self-abasement it may imply towards God or man, does not destroy that consciousness of integrity and rectitude, which incites to firmness and perseverance; on the contrary