Robert, Duke of Normandy, was a prince of magnanimity, generosity, and talent, but by allowing his dependants to take unwarrantable liberties with him, he was often obliged to lie in bed all day, because they had robbed him even of his apparel.

Deioces, a lawyer, being elected to the sovereignty of the Medes, felt so acutely the evils of great familiarity, that he secluded himself from all his subjects, allowed no one to enter into his presence, and surrounded his court with unparalleled pomp and splendour, that no opportunity might be given to his former companions of comparing Deioces the king with Deioces the lawyer.

Kings, judges, clergymen, &c. adopt distinctive costumes and titles, in order to remove themselves from too great familiarity with those who owe them respect and honour.

Our Lord said, that a prophet has no honour in his own country. The reason is this,-those with whom he "lives, and moves, and has his being" are too familiar with him to feel admiration and respect.

Lucius Sulla raised Pompey to such a height of dignity and power, that Pompey used to vaunt himself "Sulla's overmatch." Once having carried the consulship for a friend, against the desire of his patron, he insolently remarked, “Sulla had better hold his peace, for more men worship the rising than the setting sun."

Most conspiracies have sprung from royal favourites. For example, Decimus Brutus was so familiar with Julius Cæsar, that he had access to him at all hours; but Decimus Brutus despised the man whom strangers thought "the greatest of the world." and undertook to cajole him with flattery to leave his palace, in order that a band of ruffians might compass his death. Again, Sejanus was raised by Tiberius Cæsar to the greatest honours and intimacy; but Sejanus organised a plot to murder the friend whose familiarity made him despised.

Numerous other examples will occur to the veriest tyro in history.

QUOTATIONS. That familiarity produces neglect, has been long observed, says Dr. Johnson.

Because that I familiarly sometimes

Do use you for my fool and chat with you,

Your sauciness will jest upon my love.-Shakspeare. There cannot be two greater enemies to the harmony of society, than freedom and familiarity, both of which it is the whole. business of politeness to destroy. For no man can be free without being in danger of infringing upon what belongs to another, nor familiar without being in danger of obtruding himself to the annoyance of others. -George Crabb.

Make not thy friend too cheap to thee, nor thyself to thy, friend.-Ray's proverbs.

A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country and in his own house.-Matt. xiii. 57.

Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.-Prov. xxv. 17.

Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomit it.Prov. xxv. 16.

No man is a hero to his own valet.

Among a man's equals a man is sure of familiarity; and, therefore, it is good a little to keep state, in order to retain respect.-Lord Bacon.

La familiarité engendre le mépris.

La famiglianta fa dispregiamento.—Italian proverb.
Nimia familiaritas contemptum parit.

Id arbitror adprime in vita esse utile NE QUID NIMIS.

Terence.

E tribus optimis rebus tres pessimæ oriuntur; e veritate odium, e familiaritate contemptus, e felicitate invidia. — Plutarch, translated.

CONCLUSION.

THEME XXXVIII. The Cross of Vice is far heavier than that of Virtue.

INTRODUCTION.No condition of life is entirely exempt from suffering: Both Virtue and Vice have their cross to carry to the grave; but the misery which accompanies a sinful course of life is far greater than that which attends the footsteps of the well-doer.

1ST REASON.-Vice allows every passion to range uncontrolled, but it is impossible to gratify any sinful passion without encroaching upon happiness. Thus, ambition imposes a severe tax upon the love of ease, pride upon interest, covetousness upon vanity, envy upon self-respect, revenge upon rest, and so on. But Virtue strives to temper the passions and bring them under subjection. In one case the passions are tyrants, and "give no holidays;" in the other, they are subjects who rarely break out into rebellion.

2ND REASON.-Self-denial belongs both to Virtue and to Vice, but with this great difference :-the passions which Virtue requires us to mortify are daily weakened; whereas those which Vice compels us to deny grow with our growth and strengthen with our strength. The pain of virtuous self-denial decreases after every victory, but the pain of vicious self-mortification frets more and more every time it is unwillingly imposed.

3RD REASON. What distress does the virtuous mind ever suffer comparable to the agony of a wicked conscience? or to those humiliations which arise from adversity brought on by guilt? or to those pains of disease which sinful habits entail upon the body? or to the bitter disappointments experienced by those whose sole hope and happiness is centered in this world?

4TH REASON.-Vice reduces man to a state of the most abject slavery. The worldly man is the slave of the world, and of the world's favour, of Fortune and her caprices. Whether pleasure, ambition, or riches be the object of

idolatry, the votary of these worldly gifts must live in bondage to the world. The slavery of positive Vice is even more abject than that of mere worldly-mindedness. But Religion and Virtue confer principles of noble independence. The happiness of a good man is not centered on a fickle world, but upon the Rock of ages. Instead of hungering and thirsting for that which can never satisfy, he is content with his lot, and contentment makes him happy. Instead of fearing that every breath of fortune will cast down his joy and hope, he has an abiding confidence and a sure hope. Though he lives in the world, he is never" of the world."

5TH REASON. Vice is always attended with selfhumiliation; every wicked heart is ashamed of its own sinfuluess: But Virtue is self-ennobling, and consistency makes it magnanimous. The one "loves darkness rather than light, because its deeds are evil;" the other is fearless of reproof, and cometh into the sunshine.

but

6TH REASON. The very mechanism of the mind and body is put out of sorts by evil passions and actions the ways of Virtue are "ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

SIMILES.-The sun may be covered with spots, but yet it affords a steady and certain light: Whereas an ignis fatuus, however brilliant, will only guide to danger and death.

The trials of Virtue may be compared to a path up a steep hill, leading to the Temple of Life: Those of Vice may be likened to a bridge over a precipice, where the traveller is in constant danger of falling over the giddy footing.

Virtue walks like a Roman conqueror over a path of flowers to receive a crown of victory and life: Vice walks like a Roman captive over a path of flowers to punishment and death. To the one "it is a savour of life unto life, to the other it is a savour of death unto death."

Virtue and Vice have each a burthen to carry to the

grave; but with this difference,-Vice has to carry her burthen entirely by her own strength, it is bound upon her shoulders, and no one will "touch it even with the tip of his fingers" But Virtue casts her burthens upon God, whose "strength is made perfect in weakness."

Vice may be compared to a Roman criminal, compelled to carry on his shoulders the very cross upon which he is about to die Virtue may be likened to Quintus Curtius, who rode amidst admiring thousands to martrydom and glory.

Virtue in this world is like metal in a furnace, which is burnt that it may be purified: But Vice is like the lava of a volcano, the source of terror when quiet, and of desolation when active.

The trials of Virtue resemble the winds of the Temperate regions, which are healthy and purifying: But the trials of Vice resemble the tornadoes of the Torrid zone, which desolate and destroy.

The chastisements of Virtue are like the wholesome undulations of the sea, which are needful to prevent stagnation and corruption: but the castigations of Vice are like the turbulent agitation of a storm, which terrify and bring shipwreck.

The calamities of a virtuous man come over him like the inundations of the Nile, which nourish and fructify; those of a wicked man come over him like the destructive sweep of a mountain torrent.

The sorrows of a virtuous heart are but spots on the sun; the deep grief of the wicked is the shadow of an eclipse.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-Cranmer found the remorse of an accusing conscience more intolerable than the fire at Smithfield. Having denied the faith in order to preserve life, he was so wretched that he made an open recantation; but after martyrdom his heart was found entire, in proof that his constancy and fortitude remained unbroken by his sufferings at the stake.