fully been marked by his observers. But let it be remembered, in the first place, that there was no insincerity, no vanity, no proud perversity, in the adoption of these. If there were, he missed his object completely; for those peculiar habits were sometimes a source of inconvenience to himself as well as others. These defects lay rather in the physiology and instinct of a warm temperament, than in any obliquity of his principle and purpose.

Again: They were not always rightly named "eccentricities ;" they were in some instances bold and proper deviations from the unprofitable usages of life; and the true eccentricity in such cases lay on that side. And even here, he often showed the power of his intellect, for he had his reasons; and he frequently discovered, that, even in smaller concerns, he judged by his common sense, and a constant regard, not to current opinion, but to the nature and absolute propriety of things.

And finally: Let all the world know, that, in the grand principles of character and duty, he showed a noble consistency and dignity through life. Here, there was no hesitation, nothing changeable or contradictory. Compared with his excellence in this respect, the minor things to which we have now adverted are but dust upon the balance. We do not, however, mean to defend them as absolutely unexceptionable, or as virtues of the highest eminence. We believe, on the contrary, that some of them were positive defects. But there needs be no fastidious anxiety to blink them. His name requires not the gratuitous support of unqualified and boundless encomiums. The bright picture can afford to have its imperfections examined by the nicest eye.

The strength of his mental faculties was wonderfully preserved to the last, though his preaching could not be expected to show the perfection of his former days; and if an inclination towards garrulity, or other infirmities of age, were occasionally discernible, they only served to add fresh interest to his hoary appearance, as autumnal tints are seasonably beautiful, and indicate the ripeness and maturity of the year.

We might now proceed with an estimate of this great man, as put in apposition with some other able champion of truth and righteousness; not with any view to place him on the vantage-ground of an invidious exaltation; but to assist our conceptions, and give force to our impressions, while the subjects mutually gain by the amicable comparison; in some such manner as Rapin has formed his instructive contrasts of illustrious men

of ancient times. Here it would be pleasant to show our departed friend by the side of his beloved Wesley; both now met again, inseparably one for ever; and, after having turned "many to righteousness," shining "as the stars for ever and ever." But we have already overstepped the bounds we had at first prescribed, and must finish this discourse. The reader will perceive, that in our observations the same topics have sometimes recurred, but always, it is hoped, in some different point of light.

I have ventured literally with a trembling sense of great unfitness for the task, to furnish out this small but grateful tribute to the memory of a friend, whose paternal kindness in my earlier days, and never since withdrawn, laid me under obligations which I never can discharge; and who, if indeed there be any portion of this offering itself deserving the attention of his friends, may be considered so far, but no farther, as its author.

His numerous works are before the public; his character was best known to his private friends. Let both be considered in connexion with the subject of our text, and we believe it may be said with confidence, that Adam Clarke was an eminent example of true greatness; a minister, a writer, and a Christian man, much above the ordinary standard of these characters; a class rather than an individual; not a star, but a constellation; a lofty pattern of faithful and ardent devotedness in the most responsible and difficult departments of the service of God to which men can be called on earth; a noble evidence of the value of sanctified abilities; and an instructive instance of the power of religion in forming human nature to a character of righteousness and charity; a man, of whom it may be said, as truly as it ever was affirmed of any statesman or patriot, He would lay down his life for his country, and would not do a base thing to save it; one who would neither tread upon an insect, nor crouch to an emperor."

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Let us be truly thankful, that we have enjoyed the effective labours of this able minister of the New Testament for so lengthened a period. Ashamed of our immeasurable distance from the example he has set us, let us now catch something of his celestial ardour,-of his spiritual if not his intellectual greatness, and henceforth endeavour to copy what is imitable in his numerous and distinguished virtues; and let us glorify our God in him.

SERMON VIII.

THE PEACE OF GOD RULING IN THE HEART.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.-COLOSSIANS iii. 15.

BEFORE we rightly know, either by inquiry or experience, what is the true and discriminating character of this peace, we may conclude, from the emphatic language of Scripture,—every where employed to magnify and recommend it,—that we ought to spare no pains to understand and to obtain it. It is, we may presume, at once a blessing of incomparable value and importance.

In the language of men the term has always been chosen to express the richest satisfactions, both civil and domestic, as well as the most enviable state of the individual mind, when retired into itself, and wholly separated from external objects. But in the vocabulary of inspiration, like other terms first applied to natural and then to heavenly things, it becomes infinitely comprehensive; embracing interests and transactions, similar, in some respects, to those of its primary acceptation, but of far loftier character, and of boundless extent. Thus language attains to its noblest use, and is the admirable instrument, not only of strengthening our vision to behold the things of God, "the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," but is also the stirring means, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, of awakening the soul into powerful and successful strivings after the possession of them.

It was, therefore, with much reason, and with a grand conception of the subject, that the Jews applied the expression "peace," both as to outward prosperity and spiritual blessings, in the sense of "abundance" or perfection;" a sense that seems to shine out, more or less, in almost all the various meanings given to the term. Of Abraham it was said, "And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age;" that is, shall not only be exempt from trouble, but "full of

years," there being no deduction from their complement, or from your happiness. Again: "He is our peace, who hath made both one," 66 making in himself one new man, so making peace;" for friends who are separated by dissension are dismembered as to union, and each is thus deprived of no small part of his entire and proper being. Our most perfect state, indeed, consists in the possession of all things necessary to our happiness or prosperity,—the most frequent acceptation of the word in the writings of both Testaments.

This general view of the peace of God, as the privilege of man, whose nature craves and is capable of endless supplies of enjoyment, stamps the subject with a kind of infinity; and demands our most serious and inquisitive attempts to draw it out to view in the several parts of which it essentially consists. Confiding in the sanction and assistance of the Holy Spirit, we may hope to understand what is strictly meant by the "peace of God;" how it rules in the heart; and by what means its reign may be confirmed and secured.

I. The question, "What is peace?" is not fully answered by replying, "It is the tranquil enjoyment of prosperity." It is rather this enjoyment, considered as the termination of conflict and misery; and as deriving much of its interest from the means of its accomplishment, and from the secret charm of contrast between the existing calm and the stormy state of things out of which it was produced. This is eminently true of the great work of our salvation, which will eternally suggest the idea of our past condemnation; heightening the intrinsic glories of heaven, as the redeemed shout forth, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

"Peace" has been for ages the common salutation in many Asiatic countries. That this friendly form of address should have at first referred to war is not at all improbable, considering the predatory and hostile habits of wandering tribes and individuals, who, at meeting with each other, as entire strangers, might find it necessary to throw off mutual suspicion by an instant avowal of friendly intentions. Or the rainbow, the frequent and affecting promise of God's peace to the postdiluvian world, might suggest that men ought also to announce their good-will towards each other in some consolatory manner. Afterwards, as peace

one great cause of civil prosperity, the word, perhaps, acquired its more extended and general sense, without any direct allusion to previous or possible hostility between the parties. We may also observe, that peace, as simply signifying contentment, or the effect of friendship with God, and of conformity to the will of God, may be said to belong to angels, and to have been the happiness of Adam in a state of innocence. The primary design of the "Gospel of peace is to restore us to our first condition; and then, by this means, to enlarge our peace or blessedness, far beyond the limits even of that delightful state of things.

The ennobling spirit of the Gospel, however, led, as we may learn from the language of our Lord and of the apostles, to a spiritual use, and great extension of the common salutation; and made it proper to the genuine affection and surpassing privileges of the Christian brotherhood. In the ordinary communications of the people of God, in those happy days of the church, temporal prosperity seems to have been almost forgotten in the far more interesting and invaluable blessings of the soul. By them the general salutation, in its lower sense, was left to worldly men. The following are apostolic specimens, not only of benediction, but of the manner in which they sometimes accosted one another : "To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." "Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Here, what a copious exposition of the peace in question is found, in the other very expressive terms with which it is associated!

But the grand and fundamental meaning is that of peace with God, or a sense and certainty of present reconciliation with the offended Jehovah, in the heart and conscience of a sinner, who has submitted to the evangelical terms of such reconciliation. This is the most astonishing transaction in its method of accomplishment which the world has ever witnessed, and affords evidence that the character and consequences of this peace, to correspond with the scheme, must also be extraordinary. Right conceptions of this method are of the last importance in regard to our knowledge of the peace to which it leads.

Behold the sinner in his hot and horrible rebelliousness! "He stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty. He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers." Does the law