and divine, that prohibit duelling, even to those who receive the most cruel affronts, either the profession of arms or the hope of salvation must be given up. No man in the army can assure himself that he is in a state of grace, unless his conscience attests, that he will avoid, with all possible circumspection, every case in which a tyrannical point of honour renders revenge necessary; and that, if ever he be, in spite of all his precautions, in such a case, when he must either resign his military employments, or violate the laws that forbid revenge, he will obey the law, and resign his military honours.

It is too often seen, that our relation to some offenders inspires us with indulgence for their offences. This kind of temptation is never more difficult to surmount than when we are called to bear a faithful testimony concerning the state of our brethren, who refuse to sacrifice their fortune and their country to religion and a good conscience. But what relation is so near as to pre-occupy our minds to such a degree as to prevent our considering the life of such a person, as it really is, bad in itself; or what pretext can be plausible enough to authorise it? We have sounded in their ears a thousand times these thundering words of the Son of God, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels, Luke ix. 26. He that loveth father or mother, son or daugh ter, and, we may add, he that loveth houses or lands, ease, riches, or honours, more than me, is not worthy of me, Matth. x. 37. We have summoned them by

the sacred promises and solemn engagements, which some of them have entered into at the table of the Lord, while they partook of the significant symbols of the body and blood of the Saviour, to devote themselves to the glory of God, and the edification of his church. We have unveiled their hearts, and shewn them how the artfulness of their ingenious passions exculpated their conduct, by putting specious pretexts in the place of solid reasons. We have reproved them for pretending, that they dare not face the danger of attempting to flee, when the government forbade their quitting the kingdom; and now liberty is granted, for making that a reason for staying. We have described the numerous advantages of public worship; we have proved, that the preaching of the gospel is, if I may speak so, the food of Christian virtues; and that, when people have accustomed themselves to live without the public exercises of religion, they insensibly lose that delicacy of conscience, without which they cannot either be good christians, or, what are called in the world, men of honour and probity; we have demonstrated this assertion by an unexceptionable argument taken from experience; we have said, Observe that man, who was formerly so very scrupu lous of retaining the property of his neighbour; see, he retains it now without any scruple: observe those parents, who were formerly so tender of their chil dren; see now with what inhumanity they leave them to struggle with want. We have represented to them, that to reside where the spirit of persecution is only smothered, not extinguished, is to betray

religion, by exposing the friends of it to the hazard of being martyred, without having any assurance of being possessed with a spirit of martyrdom; and we have endeavoured to convince them, that he who flatters himself he shall be able to undergo martyrdom, and lives where he is liable to it, while providence opens a way of escape, is presumptuous in the highest degree, and exposeth himself to such misery as the son of Sirach denounces, when he says, He that loveth danger shall perish therein, Ecclus. iii. 26. Not having been able to move them by motives taken from their own interest, we have tried to affect them with the interest of their children. We have told them, that their posterity will live without any religion, that they will have too much knowledge to adhere to superstition, and too little to profess the true religion; and this sad prophecy has been already verified in their families. To all these demonstrations they are insensible; they wilfully shut their eyes against the light; they guard themselves against the force of these exhortations; they are forging new fetters for themselves, which will confine them to a place, of which God has said, Come out of her, my people! that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, Rev. xviii. 4. They build, they plant, they marry, they give in marriage, and thus they have abused the patience of thirty-five years, in which they have been invited to repent. I ask again, what relation can be so near as to prevail with us to put this kind of life among the frailties, for which evangelical abatements are reserved.

Let us all, as far as providential circumstances will allow, follow a profession compatible with our duty. Let us do more, let us endeavour so to arrange our affairs that our professions may stimulate us to obedience, and that every thing around us may direct our attention to God. Alas! in spite of all our precautions, sin will too often carry us away; we shall too often forget our Creator, how loud soever every voice around us proclaims his beneficence to us, and his excellences in himself. But how great will our defection be, if our natural inclinations be strengthened by the engagements of our condition! A kind of life wicked of itself is the first sort of sin of which my text says, Whosoever offendeth in one point is guilty of all.

2. In the same class we put sinners, who cherish a darling passion. Few hearts are so depraved as to be inclined to all excesses. Few souls are so insensible to the grand interest of their salvation, as to be unwilling to do any thing toward obtaining salvation. But, at the same time, where is the heart so renewed as to have no evil disposition? And how few christians are there, who love their salvation so as to sacrifice all to the obtaining of it? The offender, of whom we speak, pretends to compound with his lawgiver. Is he inclined to avarice? he will say, Lord! allow me to gratify my love of money, and I am ready to give up my disposition to revenge. Is he inclined to revenge? Lord! allow me to be vindictive, and I will sacrifice my avarice. Is he disposed to voluptuousness? Lord! suffer me to retain my Drusilla, and my Delilah, and my vengeance, my

ambition, my avarice, and every thing else, I will sacrifice to thee.

A favourite passion is inconsistent with the chief virtue of christianity, with that, which is the life and soul of all others, I mean that love of God, which places God supreme in the heart. A jealous God will accept of none of our homage, while we refuse him that of our chief love. All the sacrifices that we can offer him to purchase a right to retain a darling sin, are proofs of the empire which that sin hath over us, and of our fixed resolution to free ourselves from the law of him, who would be, as he ought to be, the supreme object of our love. Do not fancy, that what we have said concerning involuntary passions is applicable to darling sin, and exculpates a favourite passion. One man, whose involuntary passions sometimes hurry him away, detests his own, disposition; but the other cherishes his. One makes many an arduous attempt to correct his error: the other engages to do so; but he makes promises pass for performances, and means to get rid of the last by professing the first. One considers the grace that tears the deplorable passion. from his heart as a most desirable benefit; and even, while he falls into his sin, he considers it as the greatest misfortune of his life; the other regards him as a mortal enemy who endeavours to prevail with him to renounce a passion, in the gratification of which all his happiness depends.

Let us lay down the love of God as a foundation of all virtue. Let us love him chiefly, who is supremely lovely. Let our hearts adopt the language