activity, and does not confound judgment; a fear which discovers the whole extent of the danger, without magnifying it more than reality; and distrusts the means of opposing sin, without distrusting them more than they ought to be distrusted; distrusts them when unaided by grace, when unfounded on religion, when unblest by God, when purely, and entirely human; but when connected with heaven, when sanctified, and hallowed, and touched by Christ; then sees their dignity, and glory; and knows they have strength to trample on every lust, and passion of the flesh.

Confidence is the great auxiliary of temptation; if we say that we have no sin we perpetually deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us: Profound christian humility is the only safeguard of virtue: “ I dare not so much as lift up my eyes to that allurement; I dare not confide it to my thoughts; I will flee from it into the bosom of the deep, and into the nethermost parts of the world; if God save me not, I am lost, for of myself I can do nothing-and my portion is sin ;"-so think the just; thus do

they cry unto God in their prayers, and in this way, by fear and trembling, are they saved.

I beg you to observe, that in speaking of this timid apprehension of the perils of temptation, I speak rather of the beginning of righteousness, than of its very advanced, and mature state; the time at length comes, when the force of temptation is diminished, and the power of resistance increased; and this fact is one of the strongest incitements to resist temptation; that the difficulty, and the struggle become every day less intense, till righteousness, and evangelical purity appear to be almost habitual; we see in the perils of the flesh, that which we have before encountered, and subdued; we remember the former protection of Heaven; we resume the same confidence in Christ; we put up the same prayer; we receive for our aid the same emanations of the Divine Grace;-there dwells within us a constant courage, founded upon experience of the efficacy of grace, a proneness to trust in God, a cheerful, and invincible hope. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will

fear no evil; thy rod, and thy staff shall comfort me.'

At first, every passion of the flesh seems irresistible; if we are tempted by anger, we do not perceive how it is possible to remain serene; if the sweetness of revenge invites us, then it is not in our nature to forgive; but the true servant of Christ, who has begun this good exercise, who has often prayed against temptation, and praying often subdued it, who has carried the old man forth to funeral, with the solemn tears of repentance, and buried him in the grave of Jesus, and put on the new man, a new heart, a new understanding, new affections, and excellent appetites of Heaven; he can be tempted by anger, and remain in peace; he can be injured, and forgive; he can look upon intemperance, and be frugal; he can witness successful violence, and be just; beauty to him is marble, riches dross, power vanity, ambition toil; the freedom of righteousness, and the law of Christ, are to him all in all; for these he has vanquished every temptation, broken asunder the massive chains of sin,

and walks henceforward with God, in perfect freedom, and with joyful hope.

There is a practice which, for the resistance of temptation, cannot be too much inculcated, and that is the practice of seeing things in their true nature, and calling them by their right names: If we serve Mammon instead of God, we must abide the consequences of that faith we have cspoused; but do not let us call those things of Heaven which belong to Mammon, or those things of Mammon which belong to God; if an action is sinful, and unchristian, at least convince yourself that it is sinful, and call it by the name of sin;—if you are led away by temptation to do that which is injurious to temporal, and eternal welfare, state the fact to your own understanding in the truest colours, and the plainest words; it is your only chance of recovery, your only hope of returning to the true shepherd of your souls; if we use the language of the world, if we cast a veil over the eye of piety, if with accomodating phrases, and plausible pretexts, we seek to call that righteousness which is sin; to

say that is innocent, which the warning voice of our Saviour has forbidden; we are then doomed to hopeless destruction, and not to perish eternally becomes impossible.

If this plain dealing with ourselves deprives us of any comfort at all, it is of a very ambiguous, and imperfect comfort; we may set conscience to sleep, but the sleep of conscience is never sound; she seems to sleep in agony, and in pain; and often starts up in wildness, and distrust; the deception which a sinner practices upon himself, is but an half deception, a rude and unskilful art; he is perpetually reviewing, and appealing from, his own decisions, and sees dimly, and distantly the fraud which he has exercised upon his soul, without daring to throw upon it the meridian light of truth; we may deceive ourselves enough to insure the commission of sin, but not enough to acquire the comforts of righteousness;—in cultivating this inward sincerity, we give up a system of fraud, the peril of which is immeasurable, and in the consolation of which it is not wise to place a moment of firm dependance; it is not possible to