Before men were subjected to the laws of Christ, they were seen to exhibit examples of those virtues which are considered the most difficult. They were seen to sacrifice their lives to a sense of moral obligation, to lose them in the midst of torments, rather than to incur dishonour: so true it is, that "the Gentiles which had not the law, were a law unto themselves," thereby demonstrating that "the law was written in their hearts." not then the yoke of the law be regarded as oppressive and insupportable; since it was in fact imposed upon men while they were yet ignorant of it, and since it prescribes nothing but what they had already prescribed to themselves.

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Can any thing, indeed, be more just and reasonable, than the obligations which it lays upon us? Can any thing be more natural and more obligatory, than to fear and obey the Sovereign of the universe, whose greatness is unceasingly displayed to our view in heaven and on earththe absolute Lord of all things, whose boundless power rules over every creature;-to love

beyond all things else that infinitely perfect Being, the source of whatever is great or beautiful in the creation,-that infinitely good Being, the giver of all that we possess, and who continually displays himself to us as the tenderest of Fathers, and the most bounteous of Benefactors? You think yourselves happy to be able to testify your regard for a temporal protector, whose power and authority have an influence upon your circumstances, and may decide your lot; you gladly avail yourselves of every opportunity to prove to a father or a benefactor, among men, the sincerity of your affection, and the ardour of your zeal to please him could you then find it irksome to pay the homage of the most rightful adoration, the tribute of love the most deserved, to that God of greatness and of power, before whom all things mortal are as nothing, to that God of kindness and of love, to whom you owe every thing, and from whom you still expect to receive the united benefits of time and eternity? O God, how pleasant to a feeling and grateful heart are the obligations which Thou hast laid upon us! and how devoid

of reason must we be to charge with severity the most sacred of all duties!

Is it then, Christians, in the duties which are laid upon you towards your fellow-creatures, that you can be supposed to find the trouble and difficulty which are alleged? What, then, let me ask, are the various precepts in which these duties are enjoined? "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them likewise"-support their infirmities, pardon their offences, supply their needs, love them as brethren.

"Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them likewise."Can you believe, that it would be easier and more pleasant to dispense with a maxim, in your own case, the strict observance of which you would still exact from others? Does it not appear to you manifest, that without this invaluable rule, the earth would present only a scene of perpetual disorder and mutual aggression, in which every one would become by turns the instrument and victim of the most frightful outrage? Is it not manifest, that for us who all have the same

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claim to happiness, who are all members of the same family, united in the common bonds of society, but divided by so many differing interests, there could be no better nor surer rule for the preservation of justice, harmony, and brotherly love, than that which Jesus has enjoined upon his disciples-Support their infirmities, pardon their offences?

No doubt, the first impulse of nature is to retaliate upon the offender the injury with which he would have overwhelmed ourselves: but although the first taste offered by Revenge may seem sweet, how replete with gall and wormwood is the bottom of her chalice! How evanescent is the hateful pleasure she procures, and with what a long train of miseries and regrets is it followed! No doubt, the first impulse of nature is to hate him who seeks to injure us: but is there, I would ask, a burthen worse to bear than hatred? Is there any thing more fitted to poison every pleasure-any feeling more apt to inflict upon him who yields himself up to it the tortures of an anticipated hell? Again, our Lord enjoins us to supply

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each other's need, to love as brethren:-Oh, if you are not devoid of every sentiment of pity and humanity, which will you find painful, like the inhuman Levite spoken of in the Gospel, to steel yourself against the groans of a perishing fellow-creature; or, touched, like the generous Samaritan, with his complaints, to hasten to his assistance, to stanch his bleeding wounds, and to lavish on the sufferer all those cares which the tenderest commiseration can suggest?

Is this, however, you will ask, all which the Gospel requires of its followers? Does it not likewise seek to enslave our inclinations, and to curb our natural propensities in subservience to its severe precepts? Seek to enslave our inclinations! Man, created in the image of the God of perfection and holiness! is it then enslaving thy inclinations, to direct them towards that glorious end which reason itself assigns to them, to preserve among them that wise and delightful harmony, which is so worthy of the dignity of a rational creature? Is it enslaving thy inclinations, to withdraw them from earthly things-from those vain and perishable objects