the one hand, of sinking into the notion that it is a mere profession, or on the other, of so resting in it as to make it supercede the necessity of that strict personal religion with which he set out: He may at least be satisfied with the occasional, without the uniform practice. There is a danger-we advert only to its possibility that his very exactness in the public exercise of his function may lead to a little justification of his remissness in secret duties. His zealous exposition of the scriptures to others may satisfy him, though it does not always lead to a practical application of them to himself.

But God, by requiring exemplary diligence in the devotion of his appointed servants, would keep up in their minds a daily sense of their dependence on him. If he does not continually teach by his spirit those who teach others, they have little reason to expect success, and that spirit will not be given where it is not sought, or, which is an awful consideration, may be withdrawn, where it had been given and not improved as it might have been.

Should this unhappily ever be the case, it would almost reduce the minister of Christ to a mere engine, a vehicle through which knowledge was barely to pass, like, the ancient ora

cles who had nothing to do with the information but to convey it. Perhaps the public success of the best men has been, under God, principally owing to this, that their faithful ministration in the Temple has been uniformly preceded and followed by petitions in the closet; that the truths implanted in the one have chiefly flourished from having been watered by the tears and nourished by the prayers of

the other.

We will hazard but one more observation on this dangerous and delicate subject; in this superficial treatment of which it is the thing in the world the most remote from the writer's wish to give the slightest offence to any pious member of an order which possesses her highest veneration. If the indefatigable labourer in his great master's vineyard, has, as must often be the case, the mortification of finding that his labours have failed of producing their desired effect, in some instance, where his warmest hopes had been excited;-if he feels that he has not benefited others as he had earnestly desired, this is precisely the moment to benefit himself, and is perhaps permitted for that very end. Where his usefulness has been obviously great, the true Christian will be humbled by the recollection that he is only

an instrument. Where it has been less, the defeat of his hopes offers the best occasion, which he will not fail to use, for improving his humility. Thus he may always be assured that good has been done somewhere, so that in any case his labour will not have been vain in the Lord.

CHAP. XVII.

TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL.

Ir is one of the most important ends of cultivating that self-knowledge which we have elsewhere recommended, to discover what is the real bent of our mind, and which are the strongest tendencies of our character; to discover where our disposition requires restraint, and where we may be safely trusted with some liberty of indulgence. If the temper be fervid, and that fervour be happily directed to religion, the most consummate prudence will be requisite to restrain its excesses without freezing its energies.

If, on the contrary, timidity and diffidence be the natural propensity, we shall be in danger of falling into coldness and inactivity with regard to ourselves, and into too unresisting a compliance with the requisitions, or too easy a conformity with the habits of others. It will therefore be an evident proof of christian self

government, when the man of too ardent zeal restrains its outward expression where it would be unseasonable or unsafe; while it will evince the same christian self-denial in the fearful and diffident character, to burst the fetters of timidity, where duty requires a holy boldness; and when he is called upon to lose all lesser fears in the fear of God.

It will then be one of the first objects of a Christian to get his understanding and his conscience thoroughly enlightened; to take an exact survey not only of the whole comprehensive scheme of christianity, but of his own character; to discover, in order to correct, the defects in his judgment, and to ascertain the deficiencies even of his best qualities. Through ignorance in these respects, though he may really be following up some good tendency, though he is even persuaded that he is not wrong either in his motive or his object, he may yet be wrong in the measure, wrong in the mode, wrong in the application, though right in the principle. He must therefore watch with a suspicious eye over his better qualities, and guard his very virtues from deviation and excess.

His zeal, that indispensable ingredient in the composition of a great character, that quality, without which no great eminence either