"here is another abomination!" The prophet being commanded to dig deeper, the further he penetrated the more evils he found, while the spirit continued to cry out, "I will shew thee yet more abominations."

Self-examination by detecting self-love, selfdenial by weakening its power, self-government by reducing its despotism, turns the temper of the soul from its natural bias, controls the disorderly appetite, and, under the influence of divine grace, in a good measure restores to the man that dominion over himself, which God at first gave him over the inferior creatures. Desires, passions, and appetites are brought to move somewhat more in their appointed order, subjects not tyrants. What the Stoics vainly pretended to, Christianity effects. It restores man to a dominion over his own will, and in a good measure enthrones him in that empire which he had forfeited by sin.

He now begins to survey his interior, the awful world within; not indeed with self-complacency, but with the control of a Sovereign, he still finds too much rebellion to indulge security, he therefore continues his inspection. with vigilance, but without perturbation. He continues to experience a remainder of insubordination and disorder, but this rather solicits to a stricter government than drives him to relax his discipline.

This self-inspection somewhat resembles the correction of a literary performance. After many and careful revisals, though some grosser faults may be done away; though the errors are neither quite so numerous, nor so glaring as at first, yet the critic perpetually perceives faults which he had not perceived before; negligences appear which he had overlooked, and even defects start up which had passed on him for beauties. He finds much to amend, and even to expunge, in what he had before admired. When by rigorous castigation the most acknowledged faults are corrected, this critical acumen, improved by exercise, and a more habitual acquaintance with his subject, still detects, and will for ever detect, new imperfections. But he neither throws aside his work, nor remits his criticism, which if it do not make the work perfect, will at least make the author humble. Conscious that if it is not quite so bad as it was, it is still at an immeasurable distance from the required excellence.

Is it not astonishing that we should go on repeating periodically, "Try me, O God," while we are yet neglecting to try ourselves? Is there not something more like defiance than devotion to invite the inspection of Omniscience to that heart which we ourselves neg

lect to inspect? How can a Christian solemnly cry out to the Almighty," seek the ground of my heart, prove me and examine my thoughts, and see if there be any ways of wickedness in me," while he himself neglects to "examine his heart," is afraid of "proving his thoughts," and dreads to enquire if there "be any way of wickedness" in himself, knowing that the inquiry ought to lead to the expulsion.

In our self-inquisition let us fortify our virtue by a rigorous exactness in calling things by their proper names. Self-love is particularly ingenious in inventing disguises of this kind. Let us lay them open, strip them bare, face them, and give them as little quarter as if they were the faults of another. Let us not call wounded pride delicacy. Self-love is made up of soft and sickly sensibilities. Not that sensibility which melts at the sorrows of others, but that which cannot endure the least suffering itself. It is alive in every porc where selfis concerned. A touch is a wound. It is careless in inflicting pain, but exquisitely awake in feeling it. It defends itself before it is attacked, revenges affronts before they are offered, and resents as an insult the very suspicion of an imperfection.

In order then to unmask our hearts, let us not be contented to examine our vices, let us examine our virtues also, "those smaller faults." Let us scrutinize to the bottom those qualities and actions which have more particularly obtained public estimation. Let us enquire if they were genuine in the principle, simple in the intention, honest in the prosecution. Let us ask ourselves if in some admired instances our generosity had no tincture of vanity, our charity no taint of ostentation? Whether, when we did such a right action which brought us credit, we should have persisted in doing it, had we foreseen that it would incur censure ? Do we never deceive ourselves by mistaking a constitutional indifference of temper for Christian moderation? Do we never construe our love of ease into deadness of world? Our animal activity into Christian zeal? Do we never mistake our obstinacy for firmness, our pride for fortitude, our selfishness for feeling, our love of controversy for the love of God, our indolence of temper, for superiority to human applause? When we have stripped our good qualities bare; when we have made all due deductions for natural temper, easiness of disposition, self-interest, desire of admiration, of every extrinsic appendage, every illegitimate motive, let us fairly

cast up the account, and we shall be mortified to see how little there will remain Pride may impose itself upon us even in the shape of repentance. The humble Christian is

grieved at his faults, the proud man is angry at them. He is indignant when he discovers he has done wrong, not so much because his sin offends God, as because it has let him see that he is not quite so good as he had tried to make himself believe.

It is more necessary to excite us to the humbling of our pride than to the performance of certain good actions; the former is more difficult as it is less pleasant. That very pride will of itself stimulate to the performance of many things that are laudable. These performances will reproduce pride as they were produced by it; whereas humility has no outward stimulus. Divine grace alone produces it. It is so far from being actuated by the love of fame, that it is not humility till it has laid the desire of fame in the dust.

If an actual virtue consists, as we have frequently had occasion to observe, in the dominion over the contrary vice, humility is the conquest over pride, charity over selfishness, not only a victory over the natural temper but a substitution of the opposite quali ty This proves that all virtue is founded in self