to which man is heir, are sent most commonly with this end. The misfortune is, that instead of considering them as the punishments of a watchful Providence, we regard them as the common occurrences which issue out of time and chance. Thus they bear no more relation to us, than the immediate ill which we suffer. There is no reference whatever to a superintending Power-no thought of that dread Being, without Whom not even a sparrow falleth to the ground. In the blessings that accrue to us, the same feeling is manifested. Who turns with heartfelt gratitude to the Giver of every good and perfect gift? Man deems himself the artificer and guide of his own fortunes: and he will vainly have it, it is his prudence, or his luck, which conducts everything to the desired end. No wonder, therefore, that the heart imperceptibly grows hard; and that, like Pharaoh, we offer fatal resistance to the Most High. But they who resemble him, will, like him, perish. Vain, before God, is that proud by-word of humanity-" Persevere." We may add sin to sin, and drive opposition to the last extreme of despair and frenzy-but what then? know who is the Lord." hand, and with His holy Himself the victory:" and neither in heaven, nor on earth, can we escape His power. On the bed of death, when the still small voice of conscience

"The Egyptians shall

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With His own right arm, hath He gotten

breaks in upon the silence of the tomb-when human flattery has lost its influence, and all that agitated and charmed in this world is rapidly receding; we may then, perhaps, estimate the value of those chastisements, at which, in health and prosperity, we dared to murmur. That is an hour which the most hardened heart rarely can resist. The recollections of the past, the anguish of the present, and the uncertainty of the future, must press upon us all with unspeakable apprehension. It crowds an eternity into a moment-it embraces infinite happiness or infinite woe. All that we know, much of what we imagine, all we hope, and all we fear, rushes vividly before us; but above all, the conviction that the hard and impenitent heart hath "treasured up for itself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."

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SERMON VI.

ON LIVING PEACEABLY WITH ALL MEN.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.-Roм. xii. 18.

THE precept here enjoined by the Apostle, is one which the unhappy condition of the times, forcibly, and I grieve to say, frequently, presses upon our attention. So divided are we into parties and factions-so much does public hostility overpower private friendship, that the advice to "live peaceably," seems, in the eyes of many, a sort of crime-a kind of apostacy from principle -a cowardly relinquishment of the right of thought. But, my brethren, there are no duties of life more imperative, than the mutual interchange of courtesy and kindness; than mutual forbearance; than the steady disposition to do good to all the race of man. "Peace and goodwill," were the celestial virtues which our Lord Himself came on earth to proclaim; which He most strenuously insisted on, through the whole of His eventful career; and which no man neglects or infringes, without sinning against the

commands of his blessed Saviour. It is the express condition by which human nature is supported through the evil days which so often encompass it: by which it can be enabled to proceed along the course marked out by Providence, with that inward satisfaction, to which in this world of sorrow we may be permitted to aspire. Personal enmities therefore, and stubborn anger-jealousy, envy, or ill-will-a disposition to provoke or to injure, are alike opposed to the laws of God, and to the happiness of man; they are alike productive of future punishment, and of present misery; they lead inevitably to abusive language, to virulent animosity, and self-reproach. St. Paul was so well persuaded of this great truth, that in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he uses the most comprehensive terms which language will supply-" Pursue peace," he says, "with all men;" no matter of what degree or estate; whether high or low, rich or poor. The obligation is of the most general character. It embraces equally, the most opposite sects, and the most adverse parties. For so long as they retain the nature of human beings, they are all entitled to the good offices of humanity; they are all justified in claiming that peace which Christ's appearance communicated, and the apostles preached.

Peace, my brethren, never can exist without charity. He therefore, who is vehement in his

censures of other men, and disingenuous in interpreting their actions; he, who avers that every mistake proceeds rather from malicious design, than from human infirmity; who is ready to construe every hasty expression in an unfavourable sense; and to condemn without examination, while he inflicts pain without mercy-such a man must in fact be perpetually at war. The hatred which his conduct expresses, will be visited upon him fearfully in some convenient hour; and thence instruct him, that if he would sink into the grave in peace, he must not only forbear "to speak evil" and "to quarrel," but, in the words of St. Paul, must constrain himself to show "all meekness unto all men." Impossible, totally impossible it is, as our Saviour said, "that offences should not come ;" and sooner may we fix the ever-changing wind-sooner may we control the agitation of the waters, than realise the hope, that human intercourse should be free from many occasions of serious displeasure. And he who cannot bring his mind to digest them in patience, or to conceal them with Christian discretion, is sure to become estranged from the Dove of Peace. That beautiful emblem of the Almighty Spirit flies far from the sounds of contention. She will not rest where hate inhabits; she will not brood where the turbulent passions of humanity are permitted to encounter. Terrified at the clashing of men's conflicting interests, she springs