idly thrown away. If we mix ourselves in a crowd, we cannot exercise our minds in the manner we ought. The train of thought will be interrupted; so that we shall not be able to commune with ourselves or meditate, with any profit. This can only be done in privacy and retirement,-where we can recollect the instructions we have heard,-can call to mind the religious virtues that have been recommended to us, or the sins whose evil consequences have been described, so as to excite our aversion and hatred. We can then examine the arguments made use of on these occasions, and can draw from them such conclusions as may promote our growth in holiness, increase our stock of spiritual knowledge, and amend our hearts. In this manner we should attentively survey the rules that are prescribed to us ;-we should apply them to ourselves;-we should make them the test of our conduct and sentiments, so as to pronounce an impartial sentence on our former errors and transgressions, and to correct them for the future. Here it may be alleged, that none but persons of strong memory and of sagacity are able to digest instructions which they have heard but once;-that the minds of persons in general are inattentive and wavering, and their memory is weak and imperfect; -and that, by listening to one part of a discourse, they forget the rest,-or, by being too intent on the general design of the preacher, they lose all knowledge of the particular reasonings and proofs which illustrate the subject. Yet it certainly is their duty to use all probable methods of improving by what they do hear, and, by no means to resolve, that, because they are not able to remember the whole, they will dismiss the matter altogether from their thoughts. The meanest understanding may collect and retain some arguments in favour of a good life, and some proofs of the heniousness of particular sins; -and the information thus gained may be applied to the benefit of the individual, so as to check him from committing wickedness, and to encourage him in the performance of his duty, during his whole life. If, after hearing a religious discourse, we find that our notions are still confused, the only probable method of clearing them is to think seriously upon the subject. If our thoughts are scattered and unconnected, it is recollection alone that can replace them, and bring them under review. Without turning our attention inward, we cannot know the state of our souls, or be acquainted with ourselves. So that retirement is indispensably necessary for meditation without which, instruction will avail us nothing, and the best of arguments, as well as the most pathetic discourses, will lose all their efficacy upon us. But, After serious and attentive hearing, and after a due consideration of what we have heard, there still remains one thing to complete this work,-and that is, the application of it in practice, that we may be not only the wiser but the better for instruction, and that our advancement in holiness and virtue may be equal to our knowledge. It is not barely knowing how to be good, but actually being so, that can qualify us for acceptance with God, or make us useful to our brethren in this life. By the wise and salutary provisions of our ancestors, there are stated places and times of instruction appointed,-which we must, undoubtedly, feel it our duty to attend, and in such a manner as to be able to understand the advantages of the institution itself, and to retain the good information that is proposed to us. It surely must be folly and sin to forget or to disregard the wholesome instructions that are fitted for our use,---and to listen to advice and exhortation, without allowing them to have any influence upon our practice. "Be ye doers of the word," says St. James, "and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." To learn our duty, and yet not to perform it, is "deceiving ourselves." It is, certainly, a gross imposition on our souls; and, to say the least, it is great imprudence and want of wisdom. This, indeed, is intimated by St. James, in the verses that immediately follow :-" For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” elegant comparison, he exposes the folly of such conduct. To hear, and not to act according to the rules we have heard, is like viewing our features in a mirror, and yet immediately forgetting their resemblance. The glass presents to us lineaments, the By this impression of which, does not, unless it is frequently renewed, abide long upon our minds;-and the subjects of religious instruction will die upon the ear like unmeaning sounds, if we do not apply them to the purposes of self-regulation. There certainly is a great satisfaction in knowing our duty; and yet, if we suffer that knowledge to terminate in itself, where is the use of it? It becomes then a matter of mere speculation and amusement; and that which should be our rule of life is of no avail. The acquisitions of the mind were intended by divine providence to direct us in our conduct, and to enable us to perform with better effect the duties that belong to our several stations and conditions. If we do not employ them for that purpose, we misapply them. An honest, Christian heart, aided by an enlightened understanding, is capable of the noblest exertions; but ignorance and vice are a disgrace and reproach to our nature. To observe and employ every opportunity of improvement is commendable, and is our duty; but to neglect such means, or to make an improper use of them, is a perverseness that will exclude us from acquiring spiritual knowledge, and will, of course, contribute to our destruction. We can never be too much on our guard, nor furnished too well with the materials both of knowledge and practice. We cannot know our duty more than we ought; though, from the infirmity of our nature, we shall always be deficient in the performance of it. May God, of his mercy, pardon |
