tions bears upon it more of the aspect of holiness than honesty in great ones; and that thus in the faithfulness of the household maid, or of the apprentice boy, there may be the presence of a truer principle than there is in the more conspicuous transactions of human business; what they do being done not with eye-service—what they do being done unto the Lord 1."

One caution let me here suggest. "In the reproof of sin," says Bishop Jeremy Taylor, "be as particular as you please, and spare no man's sin, but meddle with no man's person: neither name any man, nor signify him, nor make him to be suspected. He that doeth otherwise maketh his sermon a libel, and the ministry of repentance an instrument of revenge, and in so doing he shall exasperate the man, but never amend the sinner "." Even with the most perfect freedom from ill-will, and most genuine Christian feeling, still it is misplaced to make personal allusions. How ill it sounds in a sermon to speak thus—“A second remark which I would make with all due reverence, and yet in all faithfulness is this:-Confess, I entreat you, my Lord Mayor, confess your Saviour manfully before men, and do him all honour both in your own family and in that high and honourable station in which his Providence has placed you. If, at the civic feast, or in the civic senate, any blasphemer (which God forbid)

1 Chalmers's Sermons.

2 Bishop Taylor's Advice to his Clergy.

should dare to open his lips to impugn the Christian faith, or to deny the government of God, then, then I beseech your Lordship, as chief magistrate of the first Christian city in the world, stand forth, even at the risk of opprobrium and insult, to confess your Saviour's name." In spite of the earnestness and Christian temper of this passage, still it approaches very near the borders of the ridiculous.

It is not easy to keep the just medium in application. One frequent fault into which preachers fall, in their anxiety to avoid personality, is to speak in such a manner that their congregation shall think they are alluding to other persons, and not to them. Nay, some preachers do intentionally speak of other persons, and edify their congregation with tirades against Papists and Dissenters, Infidels and Heretics. This is very different from the model which our Saviour and his Apostles have left us. We do not find our Saviour dilating before the Sadducees on the pride and formality of their Pharisaic brethren, nor amusing the latter with arguments against the errors of their rival sect. Nor do we observe the Apostles addressing Jews on the ignorance of the Gentiles, nor Gentiles on the pride and obstinacy of the Jews. What is the use before your village congregation of inveighing against luxury and effeminacy? You might just as well preach against stealing, as some one did, at court. Every minister," says Bishop Taylor, "in reproofs of sin and sinners ought to concern himself

in the faults of those that are present, but not the absent." Nevertheless, you may sometimes speak, as if applicable to the poor and ignorant, things very serviceable to others. In lecturing or catechizing your Sunday-school, you may convey very wholesome lessons to older persons who may be listening.

There is another very common fault, which is to make the application rather a corollary or inference from the subject than a conclusion; to make the discussion of the subject every thing, the application merely a secondary consideration. By far the better plan is to let your mind dwell on the application, or practical part, and treat the subject with a constant view to that. Such is universally the spirit of the Holy Word: the theoretical part is every where subservient to the practical.

The last point to be mentioned is not an unimportant one. As subsidiary to your application it will often be well to give directions or instructions. That is to say, if you have been speaking of any sin, and have brought it home to your hearers, you should then tell them the means to avoid it: or, if you have filled them with love and desire of any Christian grace, you should instruct them how to attain it. This will introduce a number of topics connected with watchfulness and prayer; such as to avoid evil company, to check evil thoughts, guard against evil habits, to bow to the will of God, to seek him humbly and earnestly. A few words of well-timed

advice left on your hearers' minds are often the most useful part of the sermon.

The following is an instance in which this topic is most admirably enlarged on-" Christ says, Watch and pray. Herein lies your cure. To watch and to pray are surely in your power, and by these means we are certain of getting strength. You feel your weakness; you fear to be overcome by temptation. Then keep out of the way of it-this is watching; avoid society which is likely to mislead you; flee from the very shadow of evil-you cannot be too careful: better be a little too strict, than a little too easy; it is the safer side. Abstain from reading books which are dangerous to you. Turn from bad thoughts when they arise, set about some business, begin conversing with some friend, or say to yourself the Lord's Prayer with seriousness and reverence. When you are urged by temptation, whether it be the threats of the world, false shame, self-interest, provoking conduct on the part of another, or the world's sinful pleasures; urged to be cowardly, or covetous, or angry, or sensual, shut your eyes, and think on Christ's precious blood-shedding. Do not dare to say you cannot help sinning. A little attention to these points will go far, through God's grace, to keep you in the right way. And, again, pray as well as watch." There is a good deal more of excellent matter to the same effect 1.

1 See Newman's Sermons. Serm. iii. vol. i. p. 42.

LETTER XXIX.

ON THE CONCLUSION.

SOME preachers throw all their strength into the discussion, or principal part of the sermon; and as they have dispensed with an exordium, so they lay little stress on the conclusion; but end when the subject is finished, as it may happen. You will not find the mode satisfactory, either as a hearer or a preacher, for, as a bad exordium spoils the reception of a sermon, so a bad conclusion ruins its effect.

The object which you should have in view in your conclusion, is to leave on the minds of your hearers a vivid impression of the particular matter of your discourse, not a mere intellectual perception of its sense and meaning, but a consentaneous feeling of its moral import. Whatever may be the subject of your discourse, you should make a last vigorous effort