opinions which, however widely they differ from our own, may yet be consistent with sincerity of intention, and general sanctity of life.

When I consider before what enlightened persons I am speaking, I can hardly think it necessary to multiply words for the purpose of averting misinterpretation. I might else observe, that in all I have said on Christian liberty, and on the enjoyment of the various blessings which the Author of all good has prepared for us in the present life, 1 cannot be supposed to countenance licentiousness. I contend for the use, not for the abuse of these things, and do not forget that the same Apostle who tells us we are called to liberty, exhorts us not to use it for an occasion to the flesh. But still I contend, that bigotry, and intolerance, and censoriousness, and melancholy, and gloominess, and whatever has a tendency to feed the evil passions, must in itself be evil. And that whatsoever nourishes and fosters the social and mild and amiable qualities of the mind, must

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must in itself be good; and therefore that. not only benevolence and charity, but that even cheerfulness is a religious duty. Yet. cheerfulness does not consist in an affected smile of self-complacence, in an assumed serenity and gentleness of deportment, nor in ostentatious but spurious humility. It will manifest itself in all the intelligible and practicable duties of life; in acts of neighbourly kindness, in compassion for human failings and human sufferings; in candid interpretations both of words and actions, and in a sincere disposition to please and to be pleased with all around us. It is an ingredient, or rather it is the result of that universal benevolence which is inculcated by the practice and precepts of our Saviour; it resembles that emanation of divine love which was manifested by the Deity in the creation, and is yet more eminently displayed in the preservation of all his works, and in the redemption of mankind. It is our duty to believe, but it is yet more our duty to act. For in the language of Scripture, as well as in the view of common sense,

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sense, faith without works is dead. The mere assent to the truth, or zeal for the propagation of the Gospel History cannot save us, unless we live in, obedience to the Gospel commands. And those commands are full of the purest and most general benevolence, unrestrained by limitations of place or persons. Every system of philosophy which is built upon the real constitution of human nature and upon the actual situation of moral agents, carries with it a strong claim to our attention. Every Religion professing to come from Heaven is so far accompanied with credibility, as it tends to restrain the selfish and malignant affections, to diffuse a spirit of calm content through the sorrows of life, and to exhibit the joys of it as instances of goodness in the Supreme Being, which warrant our trust in him, and demand our gratitude to him. But this praise is pre-eminently due to the Christian revelation, the whole scheme of it is adapted to the general circumstances of all mankind, and to the usages of the world we li ing and tends to the exaltation of our cmmos lo wa sdi m

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nature, by preparing us for another state through the exercise of all those virtues which can enlarge and adorn the soul. But if we are to begin here, if the moral culture of our minds is to be progressive, if we are now to acquire, and by continual exercise to strengthen those habits, which will be perfected hereafter, what has dark and self-tormenting melancholy, or acrimonious censoriousness, or austere intolerance, to do with our preparation for Heaven? Surely, considered as obstacles to the various, and high and growing improvements of which we are now capable, and to the moral discipline by which we are gradually prepared for a future and a better world, they are to be discouraged upon the same principle, though I do not say in the same degree, with which we are accustomed to condemn the very meanest of our selfish, and the most odious of our dissocial affections.

To conclude.-We are men, and must live among men, and must make and claim merciful allowances for the errors of fallible and peccable beings, and for that renitency

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of our nature against coercion, which, if well disciplined and well directed, is in fact the origin of all liberty. Let us then, by our temperate use of all that boundless store of blessings which is provided for us, prove ourselves to be worthy of that provision. Not burying our talent in a napkin, not morosely refusing to participate in the enjoyments, and contribute to the improvement, or even to the harmless mirth and innocent amusements of society; but while we contemplate the goodness of God, in a world adapted not merely to the necessities, but to the comforts, conveniencies and enjoyments of the creatures he has placed in it, let us wisely use those blessings for the happiness of others and ourselves, and let us be duly thankful that we have not only the means of such enjoyments, but the desire of them and the relish for them, implanted in our nature. That which God hath cleansed, let us not call common or unclean. Any undue abridgment of our liberty in these things is but a snare to us, multiplying indeed our restraints, but not advancing our general improvement in virtue, nor even securing our innocence