notorious to the world that they are distinguished from other men more by their vices than by any excellent quality; and that, by their chief characteristic, they are brought to a level with the brute?

It is said of good Kings, in the East, that, of so much importance do they consider serenity of mind to a due discharge of their Kingly functions, that they rise early, and, even before they eat or drink, apply themselves to the consideration of the matters of most importance that are submitted to them. It is well known that eating, though you drink only water with your food, and though necessary to the sustenance of the body, is, for a time, at least, a load upon the mind. There are few men who do not well know from experience, that, in the morning, and fasting, the mind is always clearest, more strong than at other times and better capable of reasoning correctly. It seems, then, to be no more than the bounden duty of Kings and chief Magistrates to have recourse to early rising, to fasting for a while, till the most important duties of the day are discharged; and, if this be the case, what

ught to be the decision as to those, who not only neglect these means of insuring the utmost degree of serenity of mind, and of vigour of intellect; but who, on the contrary, use the ample means drawn from the sweat of the people committed to their charge, for the purpose of indulging in drowsiness, sluggishness, effeminacy, gluttony and drunkenness ?

To Kings and chief Magistrates are given all the means of enjoying ease and tranquillity. They possess innumerable advantages over other men. They have no cares for themselves or for their progeny. Lands, houses, equipages; every thing, which other

men seek to possess, is put into their possession without the smallest degree of trouble to themselves. Their wants and wishes are all anticipated. They are armed with authority to curb the disobedient, and are furnished with treasures for the doing of acts of grace and favour. They are the fountain of honours; and there are laws to give special protection to their per-sons. In return for all these do they owe nothing to the community? Can they ever do enough to discharge the debt of obligation, until they have done every good which they are capable of doing? At the least, are they not bound to abstain from wilful y doing evil; are they not bound to abstain from voluntarily rendering themselves unqualified for the discharging of their bounden duties? The Magistrate, says the Scripture, shall be a terror to evil doers, and a reward to those who do well; but in the debauched, in the drowsy, in the effeminate Magistrate; in him who is a child in mind and a giant in profligacy; in the unfeeling drunkard and glutton, who may unhappily be clothed with regal authority, what do we see but a rewarder of evil doers and a terror to those who do well?

But, it is not to this vice, when it is found in Kings, that evil consequences exclusively belong. If it were possible to suppose any thing more odious than a drunkard with a sceptre in his hand, it would assuredly be a drunkard in clerical robes. That priests should be sober; that they should abstain from all excess, whether in eating or drinking, is so manifest; this is so clearly their duty; that there seems to require neither the authority of Scripture nor the weight of argument to uphold or inforce it. ST. PAUL to TITUS, Ch. i. V.

7, and 8, says that a Bishop must be "socer and not "given to wine." The same is repeated in Ch. iii. of the Epistle to TIMOTHY. In this last men

tioned Chapter the Apostle takes care to urge the necessity of sobriety in the case of teachers in general; and, indeed, though the first teachers were sent forth under numerous injunctions as to their own behaviour, that of being sober constantly finds a place in the commands laid upon them. They were told to preach the gospel; to be steadfast in the faith; but they were told with not less earnestness to abstain from pride, from vanity, from effeminacy, from filthy lucre; from every thing calculated to bring, by their evil example, reproach upon their calling; but more particularly were they urged to be temperate, to be sober, to abstain from gluttony and drunkenness.

Indeed, if we duly consider the matter, we shall find that the Priest, next after the King at least, is in duty bound to abstain from excesses of every description, and particularly those under contemplation at present. For, of what avail is the preaching, if the example of the Priest give the lie to his precepts? Can it be believed that the hearers will be deterred from indulging in drunkenness, when the sermon comes from the lips of a man whom they know to be a drunkard? It will not be contended, especially by Priests themselves, that the flock do not regard the pastor as a person of understanding superior to their own; because to contend for the affirmative of that proposition, would be to declare the functions of the Priest to be. useless. Of what avail, then, can the precept be, if contradicted by the example? We are told sometimes, that we are to attend to what the Priest says,

and not to what he does; for that he merely tells us what is the will of God. But the hollowness of this

will

in

appear a moment; for if the Priest tell us that we endanger our souls by getting drunk; if he call upon us, in the words of St. PAUL to the CORINTHIANS (1 CORIN. Ch. v., V. 9,) not even to sit down at table with drunkards; if he assure us, in the words of the same Apostle, in Ch. vi., V. 10, of the same book, that drunkards shall not inherit the Kingdom of Hea ven; and if we know that he himself is a drunkard, and that his "God is his belly;" if we know this, must we not conclude, that, at bottom, there is not so much sin and not so much danger as his words would have us believe? Him we regard as our superior in point of understanding; and can we possibly believe, that, while he is warning us so earnestly against the danger of not inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven, he himself is wholly insensible to that danger?

The truth is, that, in all such cases, we must come to one of two conclusions; first, that the Priest has tess understanding than ourselves; or, second, that he is a hypocrite, a deceiver, an impostor, who holds up the Scripture as a terror to us, while he has no belief in it himself.

The first quality, therefore, in a Priest is that of exemplary life. Without this his preaching is a great deal worse than vain; for it tends directly to shake all faith in the system of religion which he is teaching. He may, as long as he pleases, tell us, that, to be good Christians, we must be humble, meek, merciful and charitable; but, if he himself be haughty, insolent, hard-hearted and cruel, the necessary conclusion in our minds, is, that he is either an impostor or an

infidel; and, as none of his bad actions are more likely to meet our sight or reach our ears than his drunkenness and his gluttony; so in none of them is there so great a cause of scandal to religion and of injury to the morals of the people. If it is becoming in all men, whether as neighbours, whether as masters, or parents, to look well to the effects of their example, is it not becoming in a Priest to be unconmonly scrupulous on this score? His obligations to the community are in magnitude less than those of. Kings only. He is amply provided with all the necessaries, and all the comforts of life: he has these even to a superabundance at the expence of the labour of other

men.

The law gives him peculiar privileges. It exempts him from numerous duties, to which other men are liable; and especially from the great and perilous duty of defending his country in arms. He is the favoured, the indulged, the pampered child of the community; and the reason is, that he should have no excuse for falling into temptation. Such a man surely owes something to the community on the score simply of gratitude; and yet if his preaching be not backed by his example, instead of a good he is an evil in society

The Priest has, too, contracted certain positive obligations with the community He has declared, at his entering upon his office, that he believed himself to be "called thereunto, according to the will of Jesus “Christ.” He has promised that he will be “dili

gent in the discharge of his duties, laying aside "the study of the world and the flesh." He has promised, moreover, to make himself a "wholesome 19 example and pattern to the flock of Christ:" and