DISC. Our own obferves, had been one without X. his crown, Amici, diem perdidi! The grand object, in fhort, under this head, is to warn you against the curfe (and there cannot be a greater) of doing nothing; against the encroachments of that moft fruitless and wretched of vices, indolence, whofe reign, when once established, is generally for life; and the lamentable condition of whose unhappy votaries is thus defcribed in a vifion, by an elegant and masterly pen. "There were fome whofe crime it was " rather to neglect reafon than to disobey "her; and who retreated from the heat " and tumult of the way, not to the bowers " of intemperance, but to the maze of in"dolence. They had this peculiarity in "their condition, that they were always in fight of the road, always wishing to re"turn, and always refolving to return to"morrow. In these was most eminently 66 X. hung imperceptible fhackles upon them, DISC. "and was every moment leading them "farther from the road, which they always 66 imagined they had the power of reaching. They wandered on from one dou"ble of the labyrinth to another, with the "chains of habit hanging fecretly upon them, till, as they advanced, the flowers grew paler, and the fcents fainter. They proceeded in their dreary march with"out pleasure in their progress, yet with"out power to return; and had this aggravation above all others, that they "were criminal, but not delighted. The "drunkard for a time laughed over his "wine; the ambitious man triumphed in "the mifcarriage of his rival; but the "captives of indolence had neither fupe 66 riority nor merriment. Difcontent low"ered in their looks, and fadness hovered "round their fhades; yet they crawled on "reluctant and gloomy, till they arrived at "the depth of the recefs, varied only with 66 poppies and nightshade, where the domi"nion of indolence terminates, and the X. DISC. G hopeless wanderer is delivered up to me"lancholy the chains of habit are riveted for ever; and melancholy, having tortured her prifoner for a time, configns him at laft to the cruelty of defpair."But let us arise and go hence; let us leave the fhocking fcene; let us never forget that the Chriftian life is a ftate of activity, that we are to strive, to run: and let us proceed to confider, in the Second place, the qualifications neceffary for our fuccefs, the difcipline that must fit us for the race, that must enable us to go through it with vigour, and to finish it with joy. It was indifpenfably neceffary that the candidates in the Grecian stadium should previously submit to a fevere regimen, and preparatory exercises, regulated and directed By a number of illuftrious perfons, appointed daily to fuperintend them. Many pasfages from the ancient writers will occur to your memories. That of Epictetus perhaps 12 X. haps is most full and in point. You DISC. "would conquer at the Olympic games→ "You must conform to rules; fubmit to "a diet, refrain from dainties; exercife your body, whether you choose it or not, at a stated hour, in heat and cold. In a "word, you must give yourself up to your mafter, as to a phyfician." Thus the body was to be purified and lightened by ftrict temperance, braced by exercise, hardened by being inured to the changes of the atmosphere; when the day came, the afpirant was to be freed from fuch garments as might incumber or intangle him; and to observe the laws and rules recited by the herald before the games began. To us who are engaged in the Chriftian race St. Paul applies the first of these particulars in the words immediately following those of my text; " So run, that ye may obtain." If any afk, how, and in what manner?" He that striveth for the DISC, "maftery is temperate in all things." The X. Apostleftrengthens his precept by pro- ; Nothing can be stronger or more forcible the subject than this paffage. upon "He' "that |