possess the sins of their youth, and place them ever before them, with the same contentment almost as they first acted or enjoyed them; and thus their souls sin now as much as ever, although, as to the outward act they may be chaste, temperate, and sober. This is certain, we cannot be truly said to have forsaken those sins, the remembrance of which is grateful to us. To think of our evil ways with grief and shame, and to abhor them, is our duty; but to relish them in our thoughts is still to approve of them; it is a sure sign that we have not really renounced the sin, though we may have left it for some accidental reason.

(3.) If we consider evil thoughts with respect to the time to come; the speculative wickedness of men's imaginations shows itself in the wild and extravagant suppositions they make to themselves, feigning themselves to be what they would fain be, and then imagining what, in such circumstances, they would do. God only knows how much time men fool away in such childish conceits of becoming great, and rich, and honourable, and how bravely they would then live, how they would please every appetite and humour, fulfil every desire, have their will in all things, and enjoy perfect ease and content. What preferments and advancements, what success and prosperous fortune, do some men (especially young men) promise themselves! How do their thoughts go out to meet that pleasure and happiness they so much desire! They feed and live upon the promises of their own hearts beforehand; and as one hath well expressed this vanity, They take up beforehand in their thoughts upon trust the pleasures they hope to enjoy, as spendthrifts do their rents, or heirs their revenues, before they come of full age to enjoy them.

2. Unworthy, atheistical, profane thoughts of God; "saying in our hearts, There is no God;" either secretly denying, there is any, or wishing there were none; questioning his power and goodness, distrusting his truth or faithfulness, bidding him "depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of his ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we prayed to Him? What advantage will it be to if I be cleansed from my sin?" Here is a deal of bustle about conscience and religion; I will venture as I see a thousand others do; I shall escape as well as the rest of my company.' God only knows how many of us suffer such vile thoughts as these to lodge in our breasts.

me,

3. I might instance in our thinking upon things innocent in themselves, which yet become evil because of the seasons of them that is, because we should then be thinking of better things. For it is certainly lawful to think of our friends, relations, temporal concerns, but then it must be in due time and place; they must not jostle out other thoughts; nay, we must wholly banish them from our minds when we come into God's more especial presence. Ought we to suffer our minds then to wander to the ends of the earth, whilst in show we are engaged in worshiping that God who "is a Spirit, and will be worshiped in spirit and truth.

4. I might farther mention envious or fretting thoughts, when our spirits are disquieted and vexed at the prosperity of other men, who

are preferred before us, because they have a greater trade, or are better loved and more respected than ourselves. Or,—

5. Anxious thoughts of future events, multiplying to ourselves endless fears and solicitudes, distracting our minds with unnecessary cares for the things of this life. How many who want nothing they can reasonably desire, reuder their lives miserable, only by discontented and melancholy thoughts, and ill-boding apprehensions.

6. I might insist on haughty, proud admiring thoughts of ourselves. How much time do many men spend in considering their own worth and excellencies? How do they please themselves with viewing their own accomplishments, and imagining others to have the same opinion of them they have of themselves!

I have not time now to speak of vain insignificant thoughts, when, as we ordinarily say, we think of nothing; that is, not any thing we can give an account of; when our thoughts have no dependance nor coherence one upon the other, which I may call the nonsense of our thoughts; being like the conceits of madmen, or like little boys in a school, who, as long as the master is with them, all regularly keep their places, every one minding his proper work, but as soon as his back is turned, are all straight out of their places, in disorder and confusion; such are our thoughts when we forget to watch over them: but this is an endless subject.

THIRDLY, The only thing remaining is, to give some plain rules for the right government of our thoughts.

1. The first rule shall be grounded upon the words of the text: "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.' If they proceed from our hearts, then we must look especially after our hearts. In the words therefore of Solomon: "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." (Prov. iv. 23.) Thus the Prophet: "Wash thy heart from wickedness. How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee?" (Jer. iv. 14.) By "heart," in the Scripture phrase, is ordinarily meant the affections; such as love, hope, fear, joy, desire. Such as men's affections are, such will their thoughts be; we shall certainly think most of those things that we love most, that we fear most, that we desire most. Do we not find it thus in all other instances? And were our affections but duly set upon divine and heavenly objects, we should as constantly think of them, as the worldly or ambitious man doth of his honours and riches. Where our hearts but once throughly affected with a sense of God and goodness, and the things of the other world, we should hardly find any room for meaner objects! divine matters would fill our souls, and wholly take up our minds. If we once really loved God above any present enjoyment, it would be impossible that things sensible should exclude the thoughts of him out of our minds, or that we could pass any considerable time without some addresses to him. Have we a business of such infinite moment depending upon those few hours that yet remain of our lives; and have we time and leisure to spend whole days in unprofitable dreams, in the mean time forgetting the danger we are in, and the only necessary work we have to do?

Here then must the foundation be laid, in setting our affections upon things above, in frequently considering the absolute necessity of our

duty in order to our happiness, until we love religion, and then holy, pious, and devout thoughts will be easy, free, and natural to us. As the fountain is, such will the streams be; "where the treasure is, there will the heart be also ;" an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, nor can we gather figs from thorns, nor grapes from thistles:" evil thoughts, lusts, foolish imaginations, are the genuine fruit of a wild dishonest mind." "When I was a child," saith St. Paul, "I thought as a child, I spake as a child but when I became a man, I put away childish things. As it is impossible for a wise man, after he is arrived to years of understanding, and his mind is furnished with the knowledge of the best things, to please himself with those childish imaginations, which were the entertainment of his younger years; so it is impossible for any who is deeply touched with the things of God, and hath a due sense of those things which are more excellent, to endure such silly, worldly extravagant thoughts as possessed his soul, and pleased him in the days of his ignorance and folly. "How do I love thy law!" saith David; "it is my meditation day and night." This is the first rule: Look after your heart and affections.

2. And more particularly, consider what care and art wicked men use to prevent good thoughts; and let us use the same diligence and endeavours to hinder evil thoughts. There is no man that lives in a place where religion is professed, that can go on in a course of sin, without some regret; sometimes his conscience will speak, notions of a God and a future state will be stirring, and are apt to disturb the repose of the most secure and hardened sinner. Now to one resolvedly wicked, such thoughts cannot but be unwelcome: therefore doth he strive all that he can to stifle them in their very first rise: he would fain run away from himself; he chooses any diversion, entertainment, or company, rather than attend to the dictates of his own mind; is afraid of nothing so much as being alone and unemployed, lest such ghastly apprehensions should crowd in upon him he keeps himself always in a hurry and heat, and by many other artifices endeavours to shut all sober thoughts out of his mind, until, by often quenching the motions of God's good Spirit, and resisting the light of his own conscience, he by degrees loses all sense of good and evil, and arrives at his wished for state of sinning without disturbance or interruption.

Now if we would but use equal diligence and watchfulness to prevent or expel evil thoughts, our minds would be in a great measure free from their importunity; would we but presently reject them with the greatest disdain, use all manner of means to fix our minds on more useful subjects, avoid all occasions, or provocations, or incentives to evil thoughts, as carefully as wicked men avoid reading a good book, we certainly should find our minds no longer pestered with them, and they would become as uneasy to us as now they are pleasant and grateful.

3. Would you prevent evil thoughts? Above all things avoid idleness. The spirits of men are busy and restless; something they must be doing and what a number of monstrous, giddy, improbable conceits daily fill our brain, merely for want of better employment?

No better way, therefore, to prevent evil thoughts, than never to be at leisure for them. "I went by the field of the slothful," saith Solomon, "and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns." When consideration and argument are not able to drive out these wicked companions, yet business will; and therefore I know nothing more advisable, than that we should be always stored with fit materials to exercise our thoughts upon; such as are worthy of a reasonable creature, that is to live for ever. Those who are most busy, yet have some little spaces and intervals of time in which they are not employed. Some men's business is such, as though it employs their hands and requires bodily labour, yet doth not much take up their thoughts. Now all such should constantly have in their minds a treasure of useful subjects to thinks upon that so they may never be at a loss how to employ their minds; for many of our evil thoughts are owing to this, that when our time hangs upon our hands, we are to seek what to think of. Let us therefore every one resolve thus with ourselves. The first leisure, the first vacant hour, I will set myself to consider such and such a subject, and have this always in readiness to confront any evil thoughts that may sue for entrance; for if we do thus, temptations will always find our minds full and prepossessed; and it is a hard case if neither the visible nor invisable world, neither God's works, nor providences, nor word, can supply us with matter enough for our thoughts. Another rule I would give is this: That we should live under the due awe of God's continual presence, and bear this always in our minds, that the pure and holy God, the Judge of the world, before whose tribunal we must shortly stand, is conscious to every secret thought and imagination that passes through our minds: that he knows them altogether; that God is in us all: "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all;" (Eph. iv. 6 ;) that he is present in the most inward recesses of our hearts, and knows every one of those things that come into our minds.

Now who of us is there but must confess, that if his thoughts were all known and open to other men: if his parents, his friends, his neighbours, or enemies, could have cognizance of them, he would be infinitely more careful about them than he is; he would not allow himself that liberty which he now takes; he would be as watchful that his thoughts should be orderly, rational, and virtuous, as he is now that his words and actions may be such. And while we profess to believe that the Majesty of heaven and earth is privy to all our wishes, desires, and purposes, observes and takes notice of all the motions of our minds, and that at the last day he will bring every secret thing into judgment, are we not ashamed of showing in his sight such folly, of committing such wickedness in his presence; Should we blush to have but a mortal man know all the childish, vain, wanton, lustful thoughts that possess our minds? And is it nothing to us that the Great God of heaven and earth beholds and sees them all? Consider this, O vain man, who pleasest thyself in thy own foolish conceits. Consider, there is not a thought that ever thou takest any pleasure in, not a deceit or imagination of thy heart, but what is perfectly" naked and open before that God with whom we have to do;" that he is with thee in the silent and dark night, when no

other eye seeth thee, when thou thinkest thyself safe from all discovery, and that thou mayest securely indulge thy appetites and inclinations; for "the light and darkness are both alike unto God; he compasseth thy path and thy bed, he is acquainted with all thy ways." The, due consideration of these things would certainly produce a mighty awe in us, and a suitable care not willingly to entertain any such thoughts as we should be ashamed to have known to all the world, nor ever to suffer any other to remain in our minds, than such as we should not blush to have written in our foreheads.

For the right government of your thoughts, let me recommend to you, above all things, serious devotion, especially humble and hearty prayer to God. Man is compounded of two natures, a spiritual and a bodily; by our bodies, we are joined to the visible corporeal world, by our souls to the immaterial, invisible world: now as by our outward senses the intercourse is maintained between us and the corporeal world, so by our devotions chiefly, our acquaintance is kept up with the spiritual world. When we lay aside all the thoughts of this lower world, and apply ourselves to the Father of Spirits, we then more especially converse with him, as far as this state will admit; and the more frequently we do this, the more do we abstract our minds from those inferior objects, which are so apt to entangle our hearts, and take up all our thoughts.

Every devout exercise, conscientiously performed, will season our spirits, and leave a good effect upon them; it is like keeping good company; a man is by degrees moulded and fashioned into a likeness unto them on the other side, the intermission, neglect, or formal and perfunctory performance of our devotion, will soon breed in us a forgetfulness of God and heavenly things; as omitting to speak of an absent or dead friend, or neglecting to call him to our mind, by degrees wears him quite out of our thoughts and memory. So that you see a due sense of God upon our minds, and of those things that belong to our greatest interests, is by nothing so well maintained as by our constant devotion; this is like seeing our friends often, or conversing with them every day; it preserves acquaintance with them, it cherishes our love and kindness towards them.

REVIEWS AND LITERARY NOTICES.

ON THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT, in its Relation to God and the Universe. By the Rev. THOMAS W. JENKYN, D.D., President of Coward College, London. Post 8vo. pp. 444. J. F. SNOW.

ASSUREDLY there are no inquiries which can possibly occupy the mind of man, surpassing in importance those which relate to the means by which the justly offended Deity is enabled, consistently with the principles of his moral government, to withhold the punishment threatened by his law against transgressors; to extend mercy