and may be subservient to virtue, when we seek it only by kind, and beneficent, and worthy actions.

But when, on the contrary, fame is our principal object and pursuit, and a desire of being distinguished and preferred by others, and we thus place our happiness in the opinion that others have of us, instead of the approbation of God and of our own minds; we have then nothing fixed to guide us; we know not into what instances of meanness and depravity we may be betrayed.

Hence it is, that many, who at first are well affected to piety and virtue, are brought only to own and follow their principles to a certain point, so as to keep out of the way of giving offence to others; and so as not to create in them a less favourable opinion of themselves, as being unpolite, or over-scrupulous, or singular; thus disguising their better sentiments, and often going contrary to them.

By frequent repetition of such acts of insincerity, and tampering with their own consciences, such persons lose all power of resistance to wrong conduct; and, from promising characters at their setting out, sink into the most trifling and pernicious, and do harm in

the

the world, instead of that great good of which they were capable.

Better were it, surely, to refrain from company and remain in solitude, if we cannot mix with the world without such dissimulation, or deserting the plain road of truth and sincerity.

IV.

To counteract this false shame and vicious complaisance for others, which daily misleads so many from their duty, care should be taken to instill into the young, and to remind those of riper years;

That riches, honours, splendid titles, the things that the world calls great, and honourable, and desirable, are not truly so, but as they are sought for and employed to enlarge men's sphere of doing good:

That virtue, truth, and integrity, and obedience to the will of God, are the things that are most truly great and honourable, and to be cultivated by us, and at no time to be deserted or given up:

That these are the qualities which will alone recommend us to the favour of God, and last for ever :

VOL. II.

Z

That

That the good opinion of the world is not to be anxiously sought after or much regarded; but that there is always a presence with us higher than the highest upon earth; that of our kind Creator and omnipresent Almighty Protector and Guardian, to whom, visible by the eye of faith, we are to attend, and to be solicitous to secure his approbation:

That the little advantages of this world's good name, or its gains, or honours, to be derived from falsifying and suppressing the convictions of our own minds, are but for a moment; but the stain and infamy which is thereby fixed upon the moral character will be most lasting, and the source of the most pungent misery, if not timely wiped off by true repentance and a change of conduct here.

Wherever these principles are established in the human heart, the magic power of riches, honours, and false pleasures, which fascinates the minds of worldly men, must yield and give way to their superior force and efficacy; and the man in whom they are, through the aid of that divine all-merciful Being, in whose presence he always considers himself, will trample them as the dust under his feet, when

soever

soever they would seduce him to wrong com pliances with the world, or to deviate from the paths of truth and uprightness.

To conclude:

Let us not then be discouraged, my brethren, in this our christian combat for the crown of the divine favour, and a glorious immortality.

What though we meet with rude assaults of temptations, which sometimes depress us and nearly cast us down! if we persevere in our integrity, we shall rise up again and conquer.

Here we are stationed for a while to acquire a meetness for future happiness; and the difficult scenes and various adverse trials in the midst of which we are placed, are fitted to produce the proper dispositions in us.

Only let not our own sincere endeavours be wanting, and let us go on to labour all we can, and we shall attain ;-our labour cannot be in vain.

Unto God be glory in all things, and for ever!

PRAYER.

O thou kind parent of our beings! the most perfectly holy, righteous, and good! dwelling

in the light which none can approach, but who takest care of all the things that thou hast made, and hast in a most especial manner manifested thy love to us, thy children of the human

race!

What is man, O Lord! What are we, that thou shouldst thus be mindful of us and cherish us? Thou tookest us yesterday out of the dust, and designest us to be partakers of thine own immortality and blessedness!

O suffer not our manifold sins and unworthiness to defeat thy gracious purposes; but be pleased to perfect the work that thou hast begun, and purify and fit us for thyself.

And as thou, O heavenly Father, who knowest the frail materials of which we are composed, hast placed us in the midst of powerful and alluring temptations, dangerous to our feeble virtue and powers:

Give us, we pray thee, strength from above equal to the trials that we are to encounter with.

And aid us especially, to be always upright before thee, and to act the sincere part in this passing world, in bearing testimony to thee and to thy holy truth at all convenient seasons; that others may thereby be encouraged and

brought