and an exile, let his eyes be steadfastly fixed upon his native land, that land which is the reward of his toil, and the termination of his labours. He will not then be agitated deeply by the transient disgusts, which wean him from earth; the transient sorrows which point his wishes and his hopes to " the rest which remaineth for the children of God." Seeing that each day has its peculiar trials, he will meet them with confidence; and not be anxious about those which may never arrive. He knows that to neglect the present for the future is to act contrary to his own interest as well as to the commands of the Almighty. It is to add to positive calamity the multiplied miseries of the fancy, and to double the pressure of anguish by fruitless forebodings. From such unworthy fears nothing can however permanently preserve us, but the life of faith, the sublime hopes, and rich consolations of the Gospel. The deductions of reason, and even the lessons of experience, are vain, unaccompanied by the principles of true religion, and unassisted by

the

the grace of God. It is by constant and persevering prayer, offered up through the merits of Jesus Christ, and supported by his powerful intercession, that the fears of the imagination must be subdued, the gloom of doubt dispelled, and the bitterness of discontent allayed. When we feel our hearts failing, and our courage drooping, let us not therefore apply to insufficient helps, or to inadequate consolation. Let us fly to the rock of our salvation, conscious that we shall secure all that is valuable in time, if we really live for eternity.

SERMON XVI.

On rash Judgment and uncharitable Censure.

7TH. CHAP. OF ST. MATTHEW, THE 3D, 4TH, AND 5TH. VERSES.

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

N the Parable which I have just read to

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you, our Saviour gives a lively illustration of the propensity to rash judgment and uncharitable censure, of which we feel the I unkindness,

unkindness, when it is exhibited by others, though we are blind to its malignity when it is exercised by ourselves. Having obviated the dangers of worldliness, and pointed out the miseries of anxiety, he turns to those errors which often succeed to the mistakes of the thoughtless, those inward sins which often supersede the outward vices of the sensual. Judge not that ye be not judged" is a warning peculiarly needed by those, whom regularity of manners, or strictness of religious profession, seem to elevate above their brethren. Feeling that, to all appearance, there is a wide difference between their conduct, and that of the generality of mankind, they are apt to forget that

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'they have nothing which they did not receive;" that they carry in their own bosoms the same seeds of depravity, the same principles of corruption. Their religion is often only the creditable indulgence of malignity: their correctness the fosterer of pride. They speculate on the views of those among whom they live. They pry into their characters.

They

They misunderstand their motives. They misrepresent their actions. They do not consider that their chief business is with their own hearts: that they should seek to discover their own infirmities: the imperfection even of those parts of their conduct which appear most laudable; the listlessness of their piety, the display of their benevolence, the real impurity which tarnishes their apparent selfdenial. But this disposition is not only criminal in itself, because it is totally repugnant to that spirit of charity and love which it is the province of Christianity to produce; but it is subversive of all moral improvement. If we do not scrutinize and reform ourselves, before we assume the office of censuring and reclaiming others; we shall gradually relinquish the disposition, and even the power, of self-examination. To "lay heavy burdens" on others, which we “will not touch with one of our fingers," is too agreeable to the natural pride of the human heart, not to be practised by all, unless they guard

VOL. II.

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