yours. In this respect, it is good to Magnify our office*; not as if it gave us any the least power to tyrannize over our brethren, to invade their liberty of thinking, or of acting, or to command their properties in any degree. Secular power seems too inconsiderable a thing for our Master to give to servants, whom he has set so high in his family, and intends for a charge so much greater and more important, in which the exercise of that would necessarily interrupt them. We are appointed to be, in subordination to Christ, the friends, the guardians, the deliverers of souls; and if our labour succeeds, the effect is everlasting. All the productions of human art and industry shall perish; the palaces and citadels which it raises shall moulder back to dust, aud be levelled with the earth; the mightiest nations, whose interests divide the globe, shall soon be blended together, and distinguished no more. But every soul whom we recover to Christ and to holiness, will be an everlasting monument of the power of divine grace, and of our fidelity in our Master's service; will be an honour and delight to us, ten thousand thousand thousand years after the earth itself has been removed out of its place. Think and act like one that has such grand schemes in view; like one who is continually realizing to himself the presence of God, and the prospect of immortality, and has learnt by them not an affected and counterfeited, but a real contempt for the pleasures and interests of this perishing state; like one who has learnt heartily to pity those whom mistaken mortals imagine the objects of congratulation, or of envy.

4. Let it be your constant care to keep your spirit attentive and active.

The great employments and views in which you are engaged, should, methinks, effectually engage you to this. Since the work is so grand, and to be carried on in the midst of so much opposition, as you well know is to be expected from the indispositions and corruptions of our own hearts, and the influence of so subtle and so powerful an enemy as the prince of darkness is, you will naturally apprehend that many difficulties and obstructions will arise; so that you had need exercise an habitual prudence, both to guard against temptations, and to seize opportunities; precious but transient opportunities, which perhaps if they are once suffered to slip by, may never return. "Bright as the heavenly world appears to my view and my hopes," says an eminent christian in one of his letters, "I am sometimes afraid of going thither, till I have done something considerable for the service

*Rom. xi. 13.

of Christ upon earth." Methinks such a thought as this, while the uncertainty of human life is remembered, should engage us to a watchfulness of soul, should lead us every hour to recollect, "What can I do for my great and glorious Master? What can I do for him immediately? Supposing this should be the very last day I have to spend in his service, how may he find me employed in a manner that will be most acceptable to him?”

Labour, in this view, to do good every day, and every day to do as much good as possible; and if any thing can conveniently be done to-day, defer it not, by any means, till to-morrow. To-morrow is God's, and not yours; and if it come, and find you here in a capacity of service, it will so far take thought for the things of itself, that whatever you can do to-day, there will be business enough remain, for that, and for the next day too, and for all the days and hours God shall assign you. Therefore, Sir, guard not only against a slothful and inactive temper, but against unnecessary delay. Here are certain duties so apparently great and important, that Satan himself has not the assurance so much as to propose it to us, that we should come to a resolution, that we will always omit them. All he will demand is, that you would this day wait for a more convenient opportunity, and continue waiting to-morrow, and so on for one day more, till he can find you no more excuse for further procrastination. And it is by this artifice, palpable as it is, that he enervates the usefulness of the greater part of christians; that he makes their life but a shadow of what it might be, and sinks them into so insignificant a kind of being, that one would imagine a rational soul should be continually upbraiding itself with its own importance, while its noble furniture and capacity is employed to such low purposes; and instead of acting, is only dreaming first of one vanity, and then of another; always intending to be wise and useful hereafter, but not allowing itself so much as to say when. I have always observed that those tradesmen who are most solicitous to execute their orders immediately, give the greatest satisfaction to others, and generally improve their own stock best. But alas, The children of this world are, in this respect, and almost every other, wiser than the children of light †. I would only add, that as growing years will naturally impair the activity of the spirits, it will be your wisdom, while you are young, to accustom yourself to vigour and dispatch, that so the force of habit in riper years may be some equivalent for the want of the vivacity which † Luke xvi. 8.

* Mat. vi. 34.

will then, in the course of nature, be diminished. And I really think activity and cheerfulness to be so nearly allied, that one can hardly take a more effectual method to secure the latter, than to cultivate the former. Especially when, as in the present instance, it is employed to sow the seed of an immortal harvest, which will be rich and glorious, in proportion to our present diligence and zeal.

5. In order to this activity, it will be necessary to see to it, that your spirit is maintained in a courageous and a resolute temper.

The difficulty and obstructions which I hinted under the former head will render this necessary, and necessary in proportion to your diligence: just as the resistance of any dense fluid, through which a body is moved, acts more forcibly, in proportion to the velocity with which the body is impelled. You must therefore lay your account thus; the ministry is not an easy employment; it will not always go on smoothly; many entanglements will arise, even from the pleasantness of our circumstances, from the kindness of our friends, many of whose importunities we must break through, if we desire to improve our time well, and to pursue the business in which we are engaged; and in the execution of some part of it, other and greater difficulties must be expected. It is possible you may not be able faithfully to discharge your duty, without greatly disobliging some whom you respect and love; some on whom your temporal circumstances may very much depend. Perhaps you may be obliged, in conscience, to bear a public testimony against their errors, or against their irregularities, and it may be against both, as they are frequent companions: or at least you may be obliged plainly to admonish them in private, and expostulate with them in a manner that they may not be disposed to bear; even after all the most prudent address on your side, to make it as inoffensive as is consistent with fidelity. Nor is it impossible that in consequence of some distant and unforeseen change in public affairs, you may be called forth even to martyrdom, and obliged either to resist to blood, or to make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience. An heroic resolution must therefore be put on, that in the strength of Christ you will Be faithful to the death; that your master may be pleased, whoever is displeased, and that your crown of glory may be secure, whatever else is last. And it will be the part of christian prudence some

* Rev. ii. 10,

times to exercise a voluntary self-denial, in smaller matters, that it may become easier to you in circumstances of considerable difficulty, importance and necessity. But while you are setting your face like a flint in the midst of all the most violent and forcible opposition,

6. Let this courage and resolution be tempered with a be coming degree of tenderness and gentleness.

Labour to preserve your mind continually under the influences of benevolence and love. Remember you serve the most benevolent of masters, in the most benevolent of works. The whole business of your life is to do good, and therefore, to make that business easy, cultivate love; for the labours of love are easy labours, and are indeed no other than their own reward. Indulge to a continued sensibility of heart. Be willing to look upon the sorrows of others, and to feel them, and live continually mindful of the common tie of brotherhood and of kind. Look upon the human family as one, and then do all you can to make it an orderly and happy family. Especially cultivate love and compassion to the souls of men. Seriously think what an immortal soul is, and to what extreme danger the souls of multitudes are exposed. Think also in how languid a state religion is, so far as actions can discover it, in the souls of many, concerning whom, charity would hope that they are not quite estranged from all the principles of the divine life; and long earnestly to bring them into a more healthful state, and to see them lively and active.

Under this head let me recommend to you a tender love for the rising generation, and particularly for little children, dear amiable creatures, who, one would think, should need no advocate to plead their cause, with a person of a humane and generous disposition. Christ was an example of condescending regard to them, and he certainly meant to teach it to us. Learn this meekness and lowliness from him. Converse with them, instruct them, and as you are often praying for them, be sometimes praying with them too; and for that purpose appoint a number of them at proper seasons to attend you, and then, when you have talked with them in a free and affectionate manner about the things of religion, pray over them, in such easy natural language as they are most likely to understand, and recommend them to God with that tenderness of heart which their presence will naturally inspire.

I have often observed numbers of them melt into tears upon this occasion; and when that is the case, it is a secret encouragement to hope, that even while we are praying, God

hears. And would parents sometimes try the same method with their children, and appoint but a few minutes every week to pray with them alone, they might find, as to my certain knowledge some pious parents have done, not only that it had a good tendency to compose and soften the temper of those little creatures, but possibly, in some instances, to give such a turn to the mind of those grown up to some maturity, as might be carried through the remainder of life; and fixed upon, as the probable season from whence their conversion to God might take its first rise.

While I am on this head, I must exhort you also, to condescend to the least and weakest, as well as the youngest. Remember you can never stoop so low to others, as Christ has stooped to you; and that, when you have done all, your great master will exceed you in condescension, as much as he does in glory.

Let this tenderness also engage you to enter into the sorrows of others; who, says St. Paul, is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? i. c. feel fire, as it were, kindled in my bosom, which makes me restless till I have done all I conveniently can to make him easy. You, Sir, must accustom yourself to bear the burdens of others, that you may fulfil the law of Christ, and with greater advantage teach others to fulfil it. You must not shun the cottages of the poor, or the chambers of the languishing; nor must your ear be so intent on the more pleasing sounds, as to turn away from the sighs and groans of the distressed. You must often be visiting your bre thren, that you may see how they do; and their personal or domestic afflictions must be tenderly weighed, in their various circumstances, that your heart may feel its part, and so prompt you to do all you can, if possible to remove them; or if that be impracticable, as it often will be, at least to alleviate them; and sometimes the sight and conversation of a christian friend does so much to alleviate them, that one would imagine so cheap a charity should not be denied. Let not our master say, in reference to any of his servants, I was sick and visited me not * ; I was confined and ye did not come unto me. You will, I hope, be ready according to your ability, to relieve the necessitous: you will also, I hope, improve your interest among your christian friends, to procure that relief which you cannot immediately give; and be assured that, while thus employed, you are

ye