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rally frong temptations; which for the most part encreafe with the height of our ftation. High feeding enlivens concupifcence; company heats it; and lewd examples enflame it. 'Tis extreme hard to steer between fo many rocks, without shipwreck; and impoffible without danger. Nothing can fecure us but a ftrict guard over our fenfes; but a mortification of our paffions, and a heart placed above the reach of fenfual pleafures. You must watch over your fenfes, keep them within compafs; and above all take care of your eyes. Thefe let in ideas, that rouze the paffions, and easily fubdue the heart. In a word, temptation meets you in all places, and almost at all times. Nothing about you abates its force; nay, every thing enforces it. If therefore mortification be neceffary to weaken temptation, to keep it at a distance, and to procure the divine affistance, without which we fhall certainly be overcome; it is the duty of all, whether lay or ecclefiaftic, to put it in practice, nor is it confin'd, as fome would willingly have it, to thofe who are more immediately imploy'd in the administration of religion.

If you afk, how far mortification obliges? I anfwer: First, Tho' paffion, temper, and other incentives, carry never fo eagerly to the enjoyment of a creature, forbid under mortal fin; you muft deny yourself that fatisfaction: you must reprefs immediately this unlawful inclination, and never fuffer it to feize upon your heart. Secondly, You must employ a great care in reftraining nature from thofe things that draw you into venial fin. These two obligations take in all men. Without the firft, there is no falvation without the fecond, it's in danger; because venial fin leads unto mortal

Thirdly,

Thirdly, It is not only the duty of a Christian to mortify himself fo far as is neceffary for the avoiding of fin: he must also cut off all occafions of imperfections, and aim at virtue. And therefore he muft examine all the motions of his foul, and fupprefs thofe that are contrary to that fanctity, Chrift commands, and the gofpel prefcribes. Seek nothing but God; love all creatures in him, and only for him. Banifh from your heart, chagrin, bitterness, and enmities, which render you troublesome to yourself, and uneafy to your neighbour: Give not place to too much joy, when things fucceed well; nor to melancholy, when ill. Take away thofe racking folicitudes, thofe fears that are exceffive, and thofe hopes that are too paffionate. Excufe not your faults with heat, nor hide them with artifice; much less muft you lay them at your neighbour's door, and expofe his honour, to fave your own. Keep ill defires from your heart, and detraction from your tongue; fpeak without difguifing truth, and rather blush before men, than tell an untruth in the fight of God. You are obliged to abftain from fin, and to practise virtue by the laws of your profeffion, and confequently to ufe all neceffary means. Scripture and reafon prefcribe the mortification of our heart and fenfes, not only as convenient, but neceffary: therefore it is every man's duty to apply it according to the rule of prudence and difcretion.

of

If this be true, O God! how fhort have I fallen my obligation! Alas! I have given full scope to my fenfes, and followed the impulse of every paffion. What fenfe have I not gratified? What inclination have I baulked? Have I not lived, as if pleasure was my final end, and diverfion my only business? How wide is this conduct from my profeffion, and thy law, my God? Thou commandeft

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commandeft me to take up my cross, to be happy hereafter; to weep for my fins; and to feek confolation only in grief, and pleafure in mourning. Thou didst bid me crucify my flesh to what excefs have I pampered it? To be humble: all my actions declare my ambition, and divulge my pride. I would not ftoop to learn my duty; nor receive a charitable correction with patience, when I tranfgrefs it. I have, in fine, lived by fancy, without order, without restraint, wholly a flave to nature, and always refractory to the powerful perfuafions of thy holy grace. I must therefore change my conduct, if I intend to live. I must not fawn upon nature, but, with St. Paul, chastise it: If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Nothing can effect this great change, my God, but thy Spirit, that is, thy grace; which I beg with all the earneftness of a true penitent, forrowful for the past, and refolved to make a thorough reformation for the future. 'Tis my duty to fuffer with patience. How can I, without thy affiftance? we are thy coheirs, on this condition; if fo be that we fuffer. Suffering with thee, is the only way to glory: If fo be that we suffer with bim, that we may be alfo glorified together.

GOSPEL of St. Luke, Chap. xvi. Verfe

1. And he said alfo unto his difciples, There was a certain rich man which had a feward; and the fame was accufed unto him that he bad wasted his goods.

2. And be called him, and faid unto him, bow is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy ftewardship: for thou mayeft be no longer few ard.

3. Then

3. Then the feward faid within himself, What Shall I do? for my Lord taketh away from me the Stewardship: I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed.

4. I am refolved what to do, that when I am put out of the ftewardship, they may receive me into their boufes.

5. So be called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and faid unto the first; How much owest thou unto my Lord!

6. And he faid, An hundred measures of oil. And he faid unto him, Take thy bill, and fet down quickly, and write fifty.

7. Then faid he to another, And how much owest thou? and be faid, An hundred measures of wheat, and be faid unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourScore.

8. And the Lord commended the unjuft fteward, because he had done wifely: for the children of this world are in their generation wifer than the chil dren of light.

9. And I fay unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habita

tions.

TH

The MORAL REFLECTION.

HIS paffage represents to us a steward, accused of mifmanagement of his master's concerns, and the fame contriving to prevent his ruin by a new injuftice, and, what is ftrange, his Lord praifing his conduct. The lord commended the unjust feward, because he had done wifely. But let us not imagine, God, who will condemn unrepenting finners, praises their fins, or approves those actions, he will punish eternally. He praised indeed the fteward's wisdom, tho' he blames his injuftice; because he provided for the future against poverty,

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and

and all the inconveniencies that wait on indigence, and at the fame time he reprehends our indolence and folly, for taking lefs care of our falvation than of our temporal concerns. For the children of this world are wifer than the children of light. They labour with more fedulity, take more prudent meafures to compafs trifles, than eternal happiness. This is the meaning of the prefent parable, which lays open God's conduct towards us, and ours towards him.

We are only his ftewards. He is abfolute Mafter of the world: he has dominion of all things in heaven and on earth. All we poffefs is his, and even ourfelves. He has indeed intrufted us with the management of many things. He has given us the use of them; but the property of nothing. The time we live is his our health, our wit, all the faculties of our bodies, and all the powers of our foul. He put in our hands thefe talents, to improve them for his profit; i. e. for his glory and our own falvation: and the time will come, when he will call us to account, with a Give an account of thy ftewardship. I have made you, to poffefs me hereafter, and given you time to labour in my fervice, that I might reward it. I have furnished you with a fharp wit, and a healthful body: with grace and convenience, not only to affift you, but even to render the accomplishment of your duty eafy and pleafant. What account, O God, am I able to render of these favours, but an humble confeffion that I have betrayed my trust; mifapplied your gifts; and turned them to your difhonour? I have thrown all my time away upon mere amusements, and yet I fhould be to fome degree happy, had they been innocent. Raillery and fatire have been the chief employments of my wit; and I have made little ufe of it, but either to cenfure my neighbour's virtue, or to rally his defects.

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