the house of God, with the voice of praise persecution from it. True: the Christian and thanksgiving, among such as kept holy church so subsisted for three hundred years; day. A comparison of his former happy but, in the mean time, its members of all dewith his then afflicted condition, almost broke nominations were sought out, and put to his heart. "When I remember these things, death with all the variety of tortures, which I pour out my soul in me." But faith came the ingenuity of men, actuated by the maligto his assistance, and bade him not despair nity of evil spirits, could devise. If it should the return of those happy times, when he ever seem good to God to bring us into a simishould again visit the temple, in like manner lar condition, he would, we trust, prepare us to as before. "Why art thou cast down, O my endure it; but neither clergy nor laity, it is soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? presumed, can regard such a condition as a Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him desirable one. The Greek church subsists, for the help of his countenance." at this day, at Constantinople, under the sceptre of Mahomet. But how does it subsist? Like the tree that had suffered excision in the dream of the Chaldean monarch, its root indeed remains in the earth, with a band of iron and brass, and it is wet with the dew of heaven, until certain times shall have passed over it; at the expiration of which it may come into remembrance before God, and again bud, and put forth its branches, and bear fruit, for the shadow and support of nations yet unknown. But at present, its condition is certainly not to be envied or coveted.

In a season of greater calamity and distress in our own country, this venerable cathedral, by the reformers of that period, was converted into a stable; and small indeed was the prospect of its ever being restored to its original use and beauty. But, by the divine mercy, we are now assembled in it, "with the voice of joy and praise, to keep holy day." We have a church, and we have a king; and we must pray for the prosperity of the last, if we wish to retain the first. The levelling principle of the age extends throughout. A republic, the darling idol of many amongst As Christians, let us, therefore, gratefully us, would probably, as the taste now inclines, acknowledge the protection we receive. We come attended by a religion without bishop, are pilgrims, travelling through this world to priest, or deacon; without service or sacra- another. The powers of the world must use ments; without a Savior to justify or a Spirit us as they shall think proper, and it shall to sanctify; in short, a classical religion without adoration.

The external part of religion is, doubtless, of little value, in comparison with the internal; and so is the cask, in comparison with the wine contained in it: but if the cask be staved, the wine must perish. If there were no Sundays or holy days, no ministers, no churches or religious assemblies, no prayers or sacraments, no Scriptures read or sermons preached, how long would there be any religion left in the world? and who would desire to live in a world where there was none? It is to enable the ministers of Christ to perform all these their functions for the benefit of mankind, in peace and quietness, with due decency and dignity, that kings are by divine appointment constituted "nursing fathers" of the church, "and queens its nursing mothers;" nor is it more their duty, than it is their interest to become such.

The church, it may be said, can subsist without the state, or under oppression and

please God to permit them. Bad usage we are to bear with patience; for good usage it becomes us to be thankful. And if Israelites, when captives in Babylon, were enjoined by a prophet to pray for a heathen king who had carried them into captivity, "that in his peace they might have peace;" how much more ought we to pray in our own land, for our own prince, who adorns by his life, the faith which, by his office, he stands engaged to defend; that so Christianity, which is the religion of peace, may thrive and flourish in the soil natural to it! Continue to us, then, O Lord, we beseech thee, Him whom thou hast hitherto preserved. "Grant the king a long life" bless him in his person, in his actions, in his family, and in his people: make his days prosperous, and the close of them, when it must come, honorable and comfortable; that, through thy grace and goodness, it may open for him an entrance into that kingdom, where only temptation shall cease, and trouble shall be known no more.

185

DISCOURSE XXXIII.

THE DUTY. OF SELF-DENIAL.

MATTHEW, XVI. 24.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him DENY HIMSELF.

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Upon this principle it is, and because the | (however pleasing and agreeable) which depravity of our nature begins to show may, in any degree, counteract those mediitself very early in operation, that children, cines, and nourish the disease. The wisas they cannot be made to understand the dom and the kindness of the physician are necessity of denying themselves, unless we manifested by the injunction, whatever the would see them spoiled and ruined, must sick man may, and through ignorance, frobe denied by others who are about them, wardness, and peevishness, probably will, their parents or governors. Systems of think to the contrary. It is easy therefore education, however differing in other re- to conceive, that many indulgences, though spects, all centred here, till some years in themselves not, strictly speaking, perago, upon the Continent, arose a genius, haps, vicious or immoral, may yet be probrilliant as a comet, but, like that, eccen-hibited as dangerous on account of the tric and portentous! who surprised the world by advancing, in substance and effect, the following propositions-"That no kind of habits ought to be impressed on children that you ought never to teach them obedience as a duty: that you should leave them to the natural consequences of their own actions and that, when reason comes to exert itself in a maturer state, all will be right."-Should the experiment ever be tried in England, the event will only verify what has been predicted, in a beautiful apostrophe to the pupil of this new philosopher, by an elegant writer of our own"EMILIUS! how I tremble for thee, while I see thee exposed to the care of thy too ingenious tutor! Fortunate wilt thou be, if thou reachest the end of thy fifth year! Nay, rather fortunate wilt thou be, if those accidents which must inevitably attend thy situation, deprive thee of a life destined to future misery from the ills of body and of mind, contracted through this early and continued indulgence of thy infant caprices!-I see thee wilful to thy parents, domineering in the nursery; surfeiting on meats, bursting with liquids; inflaming thy body with noxious humors, thy mind with unquiet passions; running headlong into dangers which thou canst not foresee, and habits which thou canst not eradicate; mischievous to others, but fatal to thyself!"

In things of higher and more important concern, which respect not time but eternity, we are all in a situation too nearly resembling that of Emilius, unless placed under the discipline of a better tutor. That tutor must be Religion; from the design of which shall be adduced a

Second argument in favor of self-denial. Religion supposes the corruption of our nature, and is given to heal and restore it -a consideration which will carry us a step farther into the nature of this evangelical duty. For the physician who undertakes to cure a disease, must of course, while he administers proper medicines, enjoin his patient to abstain from every thing

infirmity of our minds; for the same quantity of wine which would be of no disservice to a person in health, might prove fatal to one in a fever. In this light human nature is considered (and surely with the utmost truth and propriety) by the Gospel. We are fallen into a state of sin, and being so fallen, we find ourselves in a fallen world, where, unless we are upon our guard, every thing around us will contribute to aggravate and inflame the distemper. Therefore, are we, in mercy, commanded to abstain. Christ came to deliver us from this state of sin and death, and to restore us to all those tempers which may best prepare us for a state of glory, with immortal spirits, in another and a better world to come. Now what are those tempers? Read the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, and see:-humility, meekness, mourning, purity, heavenlymindedness, righteousness, peace, patience, resignation, and joy in being counted worthy to suffer abuse, ridicule, and persecution for our Saviour's sake. We must renounce our religion, or acknowledge the excellency of these tempers, and the necessity of their being formed in us, that our Redeemer may pronounce us blessed. If therefore we find ourselves engaged in any habits of life, in a course of any indulgences and enjoyments, any pleasures, or diversions, which prevent the formation of these tempers in us, and tend to strengthen and confirm their opposites, in such instances it will undoubtedly be expedient to practice self-denial. When we return home in the evening, before we retire to our rest, let us sometimes, for the experiment's sake, only read over the first twelve verses of our Lord's sermon on the mount, and observe how our minds stand affected toward them. If at any time we are in doubt concerning a particular employment or amusement, instead of inquiring nicely into the lawfulness of it, and whether there be in Scripture any special prohibition of it, the shorter and safer way is to ask oneself, whether it be agreeable to the general spirit of Christianity? whether it tend to beget and in

crease in us all the holy tempers of that | The intellectual, moral, or spiritual truths, divine religion, or to suppress and extin- which, after the light repast of the morning, guish them?

To account for the strictness of the Gospel precepts, and the manners of the first Christians, it is likewise to be observed under this head, that if we would possess the power of self-control in things unlawful, we must sometimes exercise it in things lawful; as he who wishes to avoid a fall from a precipice, if he be a prudent man, will not venture too near the verge of it. The desires that have been suffered, upon all occasions, to reach the line which separates virtue from vice, will by a very small temptation be seduced to pass it. The Christian soldier, like all others, must be put under the discipline of war in the time of peace, or when the hour of actual service arrives, he will be found greatly wanting. He who has accustomed himself to govern his thoughts and words, will easily govern his actions; and he who has learned at proper seasons to abstain, will find no difficulty in being temperate. It may be added, that he who has attained to temperance, has gone a great way towards the acquisition of many other virtues.-This leads us to a

were relishing as the patriarch's savory meat, are now become tasteless as the white of an egg. The man has contracted a temporary indifference, at least, if not an aversion towards every thing that is wise, and great, and good. His faculties are not equal to any thing higher than a newspaper, or a novel, or a conversation more trifling than either; and a very few sentences in a religious way would infallibly send him to sleep. In short, there is not more difference between any two men, than between the same man when full and when fasting.

To say, with a celebrated physician, that no Englishman has an idea of temperance, would be saying too much but we shall say no more than the truth, perhaps, when we say, that most of us are frequently wanting in many degrees of that self-denial which is so powerfully recommended and enforced upon us, by the preceding consideration, and which would conduce no less to the health and comfort of our bodies, than to the improvement and welfare of our minds.

The reciprocal influence of the soul and body on each other, has been largely demonstrated by modern philosophers; but they have been far too hasty in concluding from thence, that the soul, as well as the body, is material. There are arguments sufficient to evince them distinct beings, with different powers, though capable of exerting a mutual influence on each other. There is no absurdity in supposing them so to do. That they cannot exert such a mutual influence, allowing them to be distinct substances, is a negative, which never has been, nor ever can be proved. But an inference of great weight and importance to the conduct of mankind may be drawn from the circumstance of this reciprocal influence, namely, that we should labor, on the one hand, by temperance and abstinence, to preserve the body in that state which may produce a benign and kindly influence on the soul; and, on the other, to fill the soul with such ideas, sentiments, and affections, as may produce a like benign and kindly influence on the body. In general the practice of mankind, alas! is exactly the reverse. They indulge passions in the sou!, which destroy the health of the body; and introduce distempers into the body, which clog and obstruct the faculties of the soul.

Third reason upon which the doctrine of self-denial is founded, namely, the influence which the body exerts upon the soul. So great and extensive is this influence, that the fall of man seems to have consisted very much in the subjection of the soul to the power and dominion of the body; as the characteristic mark of his restoration through Christ is the reduction of the body under the power and dominion of the soul. For thus the Scriptures describe the whole process as a contest between the flesh and the spirit, ending, after many struggles and vicissitudes, in the victory of the latter. "The corruptible body," says the wise man, "presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind." It must be our endeavor, as it is both our interest and our duty, to take off as much as may be, this pressure, and to diminish this weight. The body must have its supplies, or the soul will lose a good servant; but great care must be taken as to the quantity and quality of those supplies, or it will acquire a very bad master. He who fares sumptuously every day, and makes each meal a full and luxurious one, may, after any such meal, feel the force and energy of the abovecited description "The corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly taber- But the difficulties and hardships to be ennacle weigheth down the mind." The heat countered in a course of self-denial, it will be and heaviness caused in the body by reple- said, perhaps, are very discouraging. The obtion, induce, for the time, an uneasiness and jection may be in some measure obviated dullness on the soul; nay, what is more ex- by a

traordinary, even vitiate and deprave its taste. Fourth argument on its behalf, deduced

For the sake of collecting what is never to be used, and adding to his beloved heap, the miser will forego the comforts, the conveniences, and almost the necessaries of exist-night comes he sleeps on the ground, or, perence, and voluntarily submit all his days to the penances and austerities of a mendicant.