should continuc, mutual sympathy would relieve and soften them, and the recollection of them would soon be lost in the tender attentions of brotherly love. When all uneasy tempers were banished, all antipathies, all mutual dislikes, all undue self-preference done away, and all mankind were exemplifying that maxim of the apostle-'Let no man seek his own, 'but every man another's wealth!'-, it would indeed be seen, that the ways of God's commandments are ways of pleasantness, and that all his paths are peace.

:

Nor is this mere hypothesis. If the history of the bible is to be believed, the law of God was once thus observed. Adam in Paradise observed it for God made man upright. When he had finished his work of creation, he saw every thing, that he had made; and behold! it was very good. Man in particular deserved that glorious description: for man was created in the image and likeness of God; and that likeness, as we learn from the epistles of the new testament, consisted in righteousness and true holiness. Adam therefore loved his creator with all his might; and, when that

creator had given him a partner of his various blessings, he loved her, as himself. Thus the law, of which we are speaking, would not only conduce to the happiness of our species, if it were obeyed; it is not only level to our natural powers, so that it might be obeyed; but also at one period in the world's history, it actually was obeyed: and, (I may add) at a period much later, when our blessed saviour exhibited to the world a specimen of spotless innocence and triumphant love, it was obeyed again.

Now then let us take another view of the subject! Let us contrast the demands of the law with the actual and present condition of the world! Do men now love the lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and their neighbour, as themselves, according to the injunction of the law? or is it true, my brethren, as the text asserts, that none of you keepeth the law?

For this purpose look abroad, my brethren, through the world! If the law of God be a law of love, is it also the law of the world? I do not ask, whether there be any love, existing

in the world.

Human society could not go

on without it. If parents did not love their children, they would perish. If families were not held together by the ties of mutual affection, there would be nothing, but mischief and massacre, in the world. If great benefactions did not awaken gratitude, or great virtues excite love, fear and mistrust and hatred must accompany us in all our dealings with each other. I do not therefore ask, if such feelings exist, but if they prevail. Can you say, that men at large love God as well as it is possible for them to love him, or that they love their fellow-creatures, as they do themselves? Is this the prevailing tone and character of society? With respect to the first commandment, do men love God well enough to make his will their uniform rule of action in preference to their own convenience and profit? or do they say to his law, when it interferes with present enjoyment- Go thy way for this time! 'When I have a convenient season, I will send ' for thee'? With respect to the second, does the success of a neighbour commonly diffuse joy in a neighbourhood? or is the more com

mon feeling accordant to what the scripture says- The spirit, which dwelleth in us, lust'eth to envy'-? These questions may help us to a decision of the point at issue, whether the conduct of mankind at present be or be not conformable to the law of our maker. But in fact the existence of wars, the prevalence of crimes, the size of prisons, the number of executions, have already determined it, and left us no other conclusion than that of scripture, that the world at large have not the love of God, abiding in them.

But, to come a little closer, judge yourselves, brethren, by this test! Do you love God as well as you ought to do? that is, as you can do? Do you love your neighbour, as yourselves?

consideration,

I will put a few cases for your that they may serve, as touchstones, to determine the truth in this inquiry. You will of course understand, that the object of these questions is not to find fault, but to ascertain facts, and particularly to ascertain the fact, whether you are at the present time keeping the law of God, or not. It is a most impor

tant question, and deserves a proportionately serious attention.

Now, if you love God with all your power, you will of course count the permission to hold communion with him a privilege. You will approach him with delight. Your thoughts will naturally look back to the hours you have hitherto spent in that hallowed exercise, as your happiest hours, and forward to the appointed moments of devotion with delight. You find your thoughts naturally occupy themselves without constraint on those scenes, which are most interesting to you, and often incapable of being fixed on other subjects through the strength of their bias towards a more attractive object. Here then is a criterion, which nature itself presents to you. Do your thoughts more naturally revert, when you are engaged in other pursuits, to the subject of your devotions, or, when you are engaged in devotional exercises, to the amusements and occupations of the world? Alas! I fear, if you will examine yourselves honestly on this point, that you will find few attempts more difficult than that of confining your