learned! These are but trivial considerations; and, to entitle him to our love, 'tis enough that he wears the human form! 'Tis enough that he is our fellowtraveller through this valley of tears! And surely 'tis more than enough, that when the whole world shall tumble from its place, " and the heavens be rolled together as a scroll," he is to stand the last shock with us; to launch out into the shoreless ocean beyond; to share the fortunes of the endless voyage, and, for what we know, to be our inseparable companion through those regions, over which clouds and darkness hang, and from whose confines no traveller has returned with tidings!

Another motive to brotherly love is its tendency to soften and improve the temper. When a reigning humanity has shed its divine influences on our hearts, and impregnated them with every good disposition, we shall be all harmony within, and kindly affected towards every thing around us. Charity, in all its golden branches, shall illuminate our souls, and banish every dark and illiberal sentiment. We shall be open to the fair impressions of beauty, order and goodness; and shall strive to transcribe them into our own breasts. We shall rejoice in the divine administration; and imitate it by diffusing the most extensive happiness in our power. Such a heavenly temper will give us the inexpressible meltings of joy at seeing others joyful. It will lead us down into the house of mourning to surprise the lonely heart with unexpected kindness; to bid the cheerless widow sing for gladness, and to call forth modest merit from its obscure retreats.

To act thus is the delight of God, and must be the highest honour and most exalted enjoyment of man. It yields a satisfaction which neither time, nor chance, nor any thing besides, can rob us of; a satisfaction which will accompany us through life, and at our death will not forsake us. For then we shall have the well-grounded hopes of receiving that mercy which we have shewn to others.

The last motive to brotherly love, which I shall mention, is its being the joint command of him who made, and him who redeemed us. Seeing, therefore, a man can neither be " profitable to his Creator," nor make any immediate return for redeeming love, all that we can do for such unspeakable kindness, is to honour the divine will, and co-operate with it in promoting the glorious scheme of human felicity. To be insensible to those emanations of goodness to which we are so wonderfully indebted, or not to be charmed to the imitation of it, would argue the total absence of every thing noble or ingenuous in our na

ture.

As long, therefore, as the Almighty source of all love continues to beam down his love, in such exuberance, upon us; let us, like so many burning and shining luminaries, in a pure unclouded sky, reflect it back upon each other, mingling flame with flame, and blaze with blaze!

Secondly, we are exhorted to fear God; by which is generally understood the whole of our duties towards him. Having already pointed out the foundation of these duties, I shall just observe farther, that if the fear of God was set aside, it would be impossible

to form any scheme either of private or public hap piness.

With regard to individuals, where shall they find consolation under the various pressures of life, if they look for no God to rest upon? Whither shall they wander in search of happiness, if, in all the universe, they know not an object adequate to their most generous and elevated affections? How shall they fill up the mighty void within, if those everactive powers of the soul, which are soon cloyed with the things of this diurnal scene, and still hankering after the great, the fair, and the wonderful in objects, do not center in him who is the first great, the first fair, and the first wonderful; in the contemplation of whom the mind may dwell, with astonishment and delight, through an unfailing duration?

With regard to the public, the magistrate may fright vice into a corner, and secure the being of societies; but their well-being depends entirely on the universal practice of those silent virtues, which fall not under the sanction of human laws. Nothing but the fear of God, and religious sanctions, can take cognizance of the heart, and make us "subject for conscience sake." Nothing else can secure the practice of private veracity, fidelity, mutual trust, gratitude, and all the deep-felt offices of humanity, which are the main sources of public happiness.

It appears, then, to use the words of an ingenious divine, that in order to secure human happiness, " and make the whole chain of duties hold firm and indissoluble, the first link must be fastened to the throne

of God, the consummate standard of perfection*, "with whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning?"

Thirdly, we are commanded to honour the king; that is, all those in general, who are lawfully vested with authority for the public good, as appears from the thirteenth verse. "Submit yourselves, says the apostle, to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake; whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors as sent by him, for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of such as do well."

For

This duty is founded on the former ones. if we believe that God made us for happiness, and that our great happiness lies in friendly communion, we must think society, and whatever is essential to its subsistence, of divine original. Government, therefore, in some form or other, must be the will and appointment of God. But government, without honouring and regarding lawful governors, is impracticable. Hence, whatever the form may be, provided it is founded on consent, and a view to public good, the submission of individuals must be a most sacred duty.

Nay, though wicked men bear sway, as cannot fail sometimes to happen, yet still it must be a duty to honour them on account of their station, because through them we honour that constitution we have chosen to live under. This is clear from the apostle's injunction to the Christians, not to molest the government under which they were born, but to honour

• Seed on the fear of God.

the king, who was then Nero, the most cruel of men, and their bitter persecutor. The reason is obvious. The Christians were but a few, and the constitution much older than their new sect, as it was then called. To redress grievances, and reform the state, was the business of the majority, who alone had power to make innovations; and any attempt in the Christians, however just, might have been construed into sedition, and would probably have been productive of more evil than good.

But it would be absurd to argue from thence, as some have done, that the apostle meant to enjoin à continued submission to violence; and that a whole people injured might, in no case, recognize their trampled majesty.

The doctrine of non-resistance is now sufficiently exploded; and may it be forever treated with that sovereign contempt, which it deserves among a wise and virtuous people. God gave us freedom as our birth-right; and in his own government of the world he never violates that freedom, nor can those be his vicegerents who do. To say they are, To say they are, is blaspheming his holy name, and giving the lie to his righteous authority. The love of mankind, and the fear of God, those very principles from which we trace the divine original of just government, would lead us, by all probable means, to resist every tyrant to destruction, who should attempt to enslave the freeborn soul, and oppose the righteous will of God, by defeating the happiness of man!

This, however, is to be a last resource; and none but the majority of a whole people, both in wisdom