day to day in continual, arbitrary dependence for our whole subsistence.

That Being who made and who sustains us, is undoubtedly entitled to our whole service; but does it belong to servants so absolutely dependent, and who, after they have done their best, cannot be profitable to their owner, to prescribe to him how they shall be maintained, fed, clothed, and accommodated?

But we are so unfortunate as to be under the necessity of acknowledging ourselves to have been not only unprofitable, but unfaithful servants-to have become sinners. As such, we can claim nothing but the wages of sin. These, and these only, are our due. "Wherefore, then, should a living man complain ?" He ought to be thankful for any condition short of finished misery. But, through the unparalleled mercy of God, we are redeemed sinners, ransomed by the blood of Christ from the second death, and made candidates for life eternal in heaven hereafter. By the Gospel of Christ, we are called from a state of bondage, a bondage incomparably more wretched than that of the Israelites in Egypt, the bondage of sin and Satan, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We are now on our journey towards the heavenly Canaan, that land flowing with milk and honey, where every want shall be supplied, every desire gratified,-where pure, unmixed happiness

shall be our eternal inheritance. With such prospects before us, shall we think much of the little inconveniences and hardships which may attend us while we are on our way through this wilderness? Of all persons, surely it least becomes Christians to betray any symptoms of discontent. Whoever else complains, they have the most solid ground, the most abundant reason, not to learn only, but to practise the lesson in the text. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." But again,

Thirdly, Whatever our present condition may be, if we would impartially consider it in all its relations, it would probably be found far more eligible, or at least not comparably so bad, as our imaginations and passions represent it. Perhaps you are poor. You must, therefore, be industrious, frugal, and economical in your manner of living. Your diet must be more simple, your raiment a little coarser, and all superfluities dispensed with. You cannot fare sumptuously every day. You cannot indulge your vanity in show and parade, nor can you have goods laid up for many years. You will have but few friends and no flatterers. And what mighty evil can there be in all this? It may be queried whether these inconveniences may not be more than balanced by your freedom from the cares and distractions, the dangers and temptations, the

snares and incumbrances to which wealth exposes. Besides, it is the condition to which the great majority of mankind through every age and in every country are subjected ;-and will you think it hard to fare as the generality of your fellow creatures and even of your fellow Christians? Think of those primitive Christians, who took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. Think of St. Paul and the other Apostles, whose lives were spent under all the heaviest calamities which a wicked world could heap upon them. Above all, think of your great Master himself, who had not where to lay his head. Keeping these examples in view, and daily imploring the aids of heavenly grace, you will probably at length be able to adopt as your own the language of the text.

SERMON XII.

CHARITY.

1 COR. xiii. 4.

Charity envieth not.

THE charity here mentioned, is that principle of love to God and man, rooted in the heart and extending its influence over the life, which forms the substance of all true religion, and is called the "fulfilling of the law." The importance of this principle is urged in language the most forcible. Without it, we are told, all human accomplishments, and all supernatural gifts will profit us nothing. Though we were skilled in all the sciences, masters of all languages, and could speak with the tongues even of angels; though we understood all mysteries, and had the gift of prophecy to foretell future events, and of a miraculous faith so as to be able to remove mountains; nay, though we should abound in the outward works of charity, to such a degree as to bestow all our goods in alms, and in the end give our bodies to martyrdom; yet if, in the sight of the heart-searching Being, these things proceed from

any other principle than the love of God shed abroad in the heart, the whole will profit us nothing. However splendid our gifts may be, however shining our apparent virtues, yet we are.but as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, while we remain destitute of this divine love. It is this which forms the essence of the christian temper, and constitutes the excellence of the christian character. All its properties are in direct opposition to the propensities of the depraved heart. "Charity suffereth long and is kind." It endures a series of ill usage; and yet, instead of being instigated to revenge, studies to be kind, gentle, and forgiving. "Charity envieth not." In this respect, it is opposed to that spirit in apostate man, “which lusteth to envy." This evil spirit is so generally predominant, and its baneful fruits so abundant and malignant, that all have need of caution against them. Are calumny, slander, and defamation universally diffused? Are they handed round from circle to circle in our daily conversation, and extended far and wide in the vehicles of public intelligence? Are the repose of individuals, the peace of families, and the order of society disturbed, and the spirits of parties and factions sharpened against each other by these means? Nearly all these evils may be traced to envy, as the root whence they spring. Envy is a malevolent feeling towards others, on account of certain advantages possessed by them, which we crave for ourselves. It wishes them evil, not as a retaliation for evil received from