ADDRESS VI.

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Matt. v. 8.

THOSE persons who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who are humbled for sin and mourn for it, who are merciful, meek, and lowly in heart,-have a hope of glory, (it may not as yet be a very strong hope,) which maketh not ashamed, and which will grow brighter and brighter till it come to the perfect day; it is a hope which excites all who possess it to purify themselves even as Christ is pure.

Thus we see, my beloved children, that purity of heart is the crown of true humility. Those who are proud, and are satisfied with themselves, and do not hunger and thirst after a better righteousness than their own, cannot be pure: for how can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit? But if we are truly humble for our sin, and

come in faith and

godly sorrow to the foot of the cross, a new and holy nature gradually springs up and flourishes within us, and we are enabled to bring forth the pleasant fruits of peace, righteousness, and purity.

I shall first explain to you, my children, what is meant by being pure in heart; and then try to shew you how the pure in heart shall see God, at least, as far as such a promise, so glorious and wonderful, can be understood by the children of men.

I shall consider purity, first, as simplicity and singleness of conduct. By this I mean a steady, regular desire to please God, and do our duty in that state of life to which it has pleased God to call us; and that, whether we gain or lose by the good things of this life, and whether the world approves of us or not.

My children, if you look narrowly at yourselves, how little of this will you find in your hearts! You will find, that in general you have no other motives for what you do but to escape punishment, and to please yourselves. From the fear of punishment, or perhaps the force of custom, children often behave outwardly well while they live with

good persons; and it often happens that children who have borne a pretty good character when living at home with pious parents, become very naughty when they go to a large school where they are left much to themselves. Bad examples are set them, and they are perhaps laughed at for reading their Bible and saying their prayers, which they have been used to do at home; and so they leave off these things, because the fear of ridicule has as much power with them to make them naughty in one place, as the fear of punishment, or the hope of reward, had to make them good in another. Had they acted at home. from a sincere desire to please God, they would still have done so at school; and then they could not so easily have left off praying, or reading, or any other good habit. Mere worldly motives for doing right are changed by outward circumstances, and our behaviour will of course alter with them. I do not mean to say, that children should not fear to be punished, or love to be rewarded, by their parents and governors; but the fear of a punishment, or the hope of a reward, should not be first in their hearts.

A good child will have more pleasure in the feeling that his parents are smiling upon him and loving him, than in receiving a present from them; and a frown from a kind parent will be more to him even than his rod: and, in like manner, to do what is right in the sight of God will be the first desire of a good child; and to enjoy God's favour in this life, and to obtain his glory in the next life, will be his first motives for refraining from sin, at any time, or in any place.

A child also who is simple in his conduct will never use any crooked, indirect ways of getting any thing he wants, or of escaping blame or punishment.

All kinds of falsity, lying, and concealment of what ought to be told, are directly contrary to simplicity and singleness of conduct.

We may next consider purity as the keeping of the seventh commandment, in its fullest meaning.

Purity in this sense is to the soul what cleanliness is to the body. There is an old proverb, that cleanliness is next to godliness; and perhaps godliness in this proverb may mean something very like purity.

Many children, especially little girls, take a great pleasure in new clothes; and though they should guard against vanity, which is a particular temptation to girls, yet it is well they should love to be neat and clean. But to prevent this desire of neatness from doing them harm, I would recommend to all little children, when they are dressed with more than usual care and nicety, to ask themselves, "Is my heart, my immortal part, neatly and carefully dressed? is it pure and holy? are its sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb? is it clothed with the robe of righteousness? If not, my new frock, clean hands, and curling hair, make me only like the whited sepulchre, which is full of dead men's bones."

It is a very good habit thus to learn a lesson from the common things which happen to us, and the outward objects we daily see. Our Saviour has preached to us from birds and lilies; and many a pleasant sermon may the sun and the air, the grass of the field, and the stars in the sky, as well as the things we are daily called to do, preach to us also if we will listen to them. Children who are

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