ment*. Well regulated enthusiasm is honorable in every good cause; and nothing under God's grace gives so much nerve and energy to our endeavours at amendment. And make it your constant object to enlist the power of habit on the side of religion: remembering upon this score, that we are very far from valuing a servant less, because by long attention and assiduity, he has come to obey our commands habitually. Bear in mind too, that prayer, regular and earnest prayer, is the great engine by which, as it is promised, all spiritual blessings are to be obtained-all bad habits overcome all good resolutions acquired and confirmed.

But besides the control of our passions, and the regulation of our actions, (to say nothing of the discipline of the mind and affections, which is necessarily a secret process,) there is yet another duty which we are called upon to perform in the face of the world; I mean, the profession of the religion which Jesus Christ came to preach, without reserve or qualification. Our blessed Saviour distinctly promises, that, whosoever shall confess him before men, "Him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God." "But he, that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God." Luke xii. 8 and 9t. The duty, therefore, being clear, and both positive and negative, it can only be necessary to ascertain what is meant by confession and denial.

It is certainly not easy to steer a correct course in this respect, between false shame and cowardice, on the one hand, and an ostentatious spirit upon the other; and if it be a matter of such delicacy in practice, it must obviously be above the powers of such a tyro as I am in religion to lay down, on speculation, any precise or detailed rules of conduct. I should fail if I were to attempt it: but I may say in general language, that I do not think that a man, gifted as you are, can go far wrong if you consult your conscience humbly and honestly, and pray for strength of mind to estimate the cavils and sneers of the thoughtless or malignant at their proper value. You will observe that I apprehend, judging from my own feelings, that the impulses of false shame will be the principal sources of error. Indeed, I can safely say, from my knowledge of your character, that you are in no

I transcribe a passage that struck me with peculiar force, on reading it the other day, as bearing on the subject of my humble exhortation. "Even to the present hour, the crime of too much religion is held in a degree of dread and dislike which is not easily accounted for. Many persons, whose own moral character is irreproachable, seem to fear it more, and think it a greater misfortune in one for whom they are interested, than the extreme of vanity and extravagance. Acknowledging the authority of sentences like these, Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many will seek to enter in and shall not be able ;'-' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ;'-' Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat ;'- Many are called but few chosen ;'-acknowledging the authority which uttered these sentences, many shrink from the conduct which acts upon them as true; deem any such watchfulness superfluous, as a sense of danger must induce; any such zeal enthusi astic, as the importance of the subject would naturally inspire. If this apprehension arose from experience of real evils, resulting from a zealous pursuit of scriptural righteousness, it would be reasonable, and the hostility in question, no matter of surprise. But, let all of them, from the time of the apostles to the present day, be summed up together, they would not approach by a hundredth part the number of the victims of libertinism. Mischief may have been done by false views or impressions of religion. But if the whole of this mischief could be brought before us, it would not amount to the thousandth part of that which has arisen from the want of any religion. Of all the chimerical evils which the imagination of man ever alarmed itself with, the danger of a too scrupulous fear of displeasing God, or a too earnest desire to serve him, is the least really formidable. Yet we have daily reason to observe, that many far greater evils are much less dreaded, and many worse errors more easily pardoned."-Sumner on Christianity.

+See elsewhere, "For 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." Luke ix. 26, "If we deny Him (Jesus Christ), he will also deny us." 2 Timothy, ii. 12.

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danger whatever of falling into the opposite extreme of ostentation. So that your natural inflexibility and strength of resolution will, with God's assisting grace, carry you through, if you allow conscience and sober reason fair play in the first instance. Still, it is by no means an easy task to walk without deflection or inconsistency. The associations which our own old habits cannot fail to conjure up at times, are very much against men who have lived as we long did. I never heard you ridicule religion, as I confess with shame that I have done, (I recall one instance with peculiar sorrow,) but we both "made a mock at sin," and I still catch myself at times speaking in light, or by no means condemnatory terms of many actions which I know to be eminently sinful, particularly drunkenness, fornication, swearing, and the like. I take that habit to be a denial of the religion which de nounces these offences; and I cannot see how the toleration of the same levity of conversation in others, accompanied too often with smiles of encouragement and applause, is a whit better. With a view, in some measure, to the obviation of this evil, I constantly pray that my mind may never dwell with pleasure upon any of the sins of my past life; but, on the contra ry, may always recur to them with shame and remorse; for, knowing, that it is "out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh," I am sure that if I can cure the disease in the constitution, the topical sore will soon become healthy. That disease is the love of sin: and so strong is that principle, that I have great difficulty, at times, in maintaining a proper frame of mind, when wit is prostituted, by a union with licentiousness in the conversation of others; but I find my inclination to drink the poison for the sake of sugar in the cup becoming gradually weaker; a consummation which I hope is hastened by the reflection, that, in refined society, the mischief is exactly in proportion to the elegance and tact with which gross images are made palatable to tastes which would revolt from open ribaldry. "Of the mind that can trade in corruption," says Johnson, speaking of Dryden, "and can deliberately pollute itself with ideal wickedness, for the sake of spreading contagion in society, I will not conceal or excuse the depravity." most sly and subtle poison is the most dangerous; and all encouragement of the practice, direct or indirect, tacit or avowed, is more or less criminal.

The

I am wandering from my immediate subject; but you will remember the brief arguments that we have had regarding conversational indecencies, the recollection of which has now led me out of my way. We are forbidden, it is true, to cast our pearls before swine; but we are no way commanded to eat husks with those filthy animals, or so to herd with them, as, tacitly at least, to encourage their foul habits. On the contrary, we are directed to "abstain from all appearances of evil;" and there are many passages of Scripture, in obedience to which we are bound so to walk, as to do honor in the eyes of "those without,' to the pure, spiritual, and uncompromising religion which we profess. History informs us how well these precepts were observed by the early Christians. The heathen writers, who have lavished abuse upon their persons and tenets, were obliged to confine themselves to the most vague and empty generalities; whilst those eminent persons of the primitive church, who, in the times, or under the apprehension of persecution, presented to successive emperors Apologies for their own belief, and that of their brethren, have taken every opportunity of challenging investigation with regard to the scrupulous morality and blameless innocence of their actions and conversation. Doubtless, this behaviour on their parts was a great instrument in the hands of Providence towards the extension of religion; and I am equally certain, that similar conduct on the part of professed Christians operates in a similar manner at the present day. It follows as a corollary, that inconsistency between profession and conduct, (which shrewd men of the world are very quick to observe

and remark upon) has a tendency directly the contrary; and the ratio of this deteriorating influence is, I fear, sadly increased by its coincidence with the bad passions and general depravity of human nature. I apprehend that the misconduct of one inconsistent professor considerably more than counterbalances all the impression in favor of religion, produced by the moral and charitable life of a real Christian. For this, as well as other reasons, I consider any deflexion from the strictest purity of conversation, still more of conduct, to be a virtual and more or less decided denial of the religion of Christ. But this branch of the subject I willingly leave for your own consideration. Do not, I entreat you, pass it over lightly. For myself, I can truly say, that since I have, by God's grace, broken off my habits of gross licentiousness, no part of my conduct has occasioned me more lively compunction than the cowardice of false shame, with which I have frequently truckled to the evil practices and lying maxims of the world. I do not mean to say that a man is bound, upon all occasions, to sally out, like a knight-errant, against the giant vices of mankind: but silence, when morality or religion are more or less attacked, is often treachery; and though it may sometimes be true that our interference would be mischievous, yet I suspect that we often shelter ourselves under the plea, when if we examined our hearts closely and honestly, we should find that our real motive to stand neuter was the fear of being thought pharisaical and righteous over much. No doubt, we should exercise a sound discretion in such matters, but silence may be so managed, as to imply disapprobation: and if apparent neutrality be, in some very few cases, the proper line of conduct, it can never be proper to side with the enemy by chiming in with licentious conversation, or encouraging it by our smiles. Remember, that with regard to our sincerity, (the one thing needful in such matters,) our own consciences, under God, must judge us, and not our weak and fallible fellow-mortals*. From endeavouring to point out to you, my dear denying Jesus Christ in his religion, I am naturally led to consider our responsibility for the talents committed to our keeping with reference to the great duty of example.

the danger of

It has pleased the Almighty in His providence, to bestow upon you abilities in a far greater degree than that in which they are dispensed to the generality; and to accompany this great boon with one still more rare and valuable, a mind highly endued with firmness, judgment, and common sense. You are deeply and equally responsible for the use and abuse of those gifts: I mean that you are not only bound not to pervert them to evil purposes, to the injury of your fellow-creatures, but that you cannot even be passive, cannot suffer them to be dormant and unimproved, without incurring guilt before Him who has bountifully endowed you with the usufruct of those talents. Our Saviour's well-known parable of the talents shows that it is a grievous offence to be an "unprofitable servant," and God will assuredly reckon with us, not only for the direct employment of all our natural faculties, but also for the advantage taken of those capabilities of achieving good which He bestows upon us, or which (to say the thing in other words), He allows us to acquire, through the medium of our moral and intellectual powers. Among the highest of these stands charac

"A Christian spirit is habitually retired and inobtrusive; while vice has not only the majority on its side, but is over-bearing and domineering. But this, though it make the duty more difficult and painful, especially to some tempers, does not make it less a duty, To have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves." Eph. v. 15. It is impossible to say, how far some of the worst and commonest vices, such as swearing, indecent conversation, and jesting upon sacred subjects, might be restrained, if those who do not join with them, and even abhor them in their hearts, were to express their disapprobation, in an open and decided manner.”—Sumner.

ter. It has been said of character, as correctly as of knowledge, that it is power-power to effect good or evil in a greater or less degree. Now, flattery apart, I know no man in India, of equal or nearly equal rank and age, who stands so high as you do in the estimation of all your acquaintance for those qua lities to which, with great reason, most weight is attached by the world in matters both of opinion, and conduct,-I mean, as I said before, sound judgment and shrewd common sense. Your sentiments would have infinitely more weight in deciding the opinions of the majority of those with whom you mix, (i. e. the class of persons who venerate worldly wisdom, and yet, in nine instances out of ten, let others think for them, to save themselves trouble,) than the dictum of the most learned recluse, or of any hair-brained man of genius. And this holds at least equally good with regard to conduct. Mere worldlings say of the man of study and retirement, if such a person declare in favor of religion, that too much learning has made him mad, or that his ignorance of life disqualifies him from being a judge in matters of practice; and they taunt the genius with the ready sarcasm, that he has every sense but common sense. But every man of prudence looks around him, and takes some care to examine the security of his footing, if he find those, against whose established character sneers of the above nature would be pointless, leaving their station by his side, alleging that the path which they have been treading in common is beset with dangers, and ends in inevitable destruction, and seeking safety in a direction diametrically opposite.

It should be considered, too, that, with respect to religion, neutrality is opposition.

It strengthens the ranks of her enemies, for they reckon upon every man, who has not taken a decided part, as theirs ; and the careless and indifferent (a much larger class) are encouraged to take their chance of being right or wrong by the view of the crowd around them, and of the smallness of the party under the banners of serious Christianity. And this false confidence, with which the sense of numbers inspires the weak and unthinking, is almost incalculably increased, if they can lay the unction to their souls, that the most able and sensible men of their acquaintance act and think as they do. This excites complacency; and they then glance at the thin ranks of the opposite party, (if ever they do think of so inconsiderable a sect as it appears to be,) sometimes with contempt, sometimes, in the more amiable, with sentiments of compassion for their misdirected enthusiasm and painful self-denial. It is to be observed, too, that this appeal to numbers car. ries tenfold weight, if it happen that the lay portion of those with whom the careless are acquainted, who profess a warm attachment to religion, (for professional piety has not so much influence, being thought a matter of course,) be men not in any manner distinguished above their fellows for talents or acquirements. For the great majority of people do not reflect that the truth or falsehood of Christianity, and the necessity of a strict observance of its precepts, must be decided in a very different manner from pole or ballot, or a reference to example and authorities.

It appears to me, therefore, that it is the indispensible and solemn duty of every man, internally convinced of the truth and obligations of religion with regard to his individual conduct, to make a practical though unostentatious avowal of this conviction before the eyes of those with whom he associates, or may be thrown in contact; and that this sacred duty of confessing Jesus Christ before men (for the sake of example) is more intensely imperative upon those to whom the "talent" of influential abilities or cha racter has been given. You are bound to let the worldly and thoughtless know that they must not count upon you as one who think as they do ; and if, in mere physical peril, it would be thought disgraceful to draw back without warning your companions, (when such intimation might be given with out possible compromise of your own safety,) and this hold good even with

regard to strangers travelling the same road, surely greater culpability must be attached to parallel conduct when the danger is incomparably greater, and when, for aught we know, our participation in the hazard, (for most persons think that there is some hazard,) has induced others to brave it. I am sure that if it be a sin to withdraw without, at least, that tacit warning which a marked alteration of conduct implies, it is infinitely worse to endeavour to reconcile our own safety with an imposition upon our late fellow-travellers; to seek to persuade them by looking one way and walking another, or even to allow them to suppose, that we are still running common risks, whilst we are really endeavouring to secure selfish safety. Whether such inconsistent conduct, such an attempt to impose at once upon God and man, can be successful is another question:-I should think, of easy solution. Forgive me, my dear if I have urged these considerations too bluntly. My own heart accuses me of having very frequently erred in the manner I have attempted to depict; and I am sure that false shame and cowardice have been my chief or only stumbling-blocks in this matter. I pray for courage, a nice and deep moral perception, and an elevation of views and motives above those that formerly influenced me; and I hope that I have succeeded to some extent, in fortifying my mind against the fear of any person or thing but God and my own conscience. But my wretched vanity often misleads me to dread the appearance of singularity, and to seek the favour of men at the expense of conscious error. I have pressed the subject of example upon you more particularly, because I know that you are strong exactly where I am weak; and that, (religion apart,) you estimate the value of the "friendship of the world" more correctly than I do. This strength of mind, I repeat, is a talent for the use of which you are responsible; you cannot even bury it without great criminality, and the sin of perverting it to cherish pride, or to support one's self by ready sophistry in half-conscious error, will doubtless, be still more heavily visited. In the words of Scripture, "Let your light so shine before men," that they may see that you, for one, have made up your mind to prefer the service of the Lord to that of Baal; that you consider the paths of carelessness and indifference little less dangerous than those of gross and open vice, (even if some of those vices which the world kindly licences be not indulged in by the great. er part of those who would be thought neutral;) and that you are decidedly and dispassionately of opinion, that it can be said of righteousness alone, in this world of trouble, that "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

Hitherto I have endeavoured, with whatever success, to address myself entirely to your reason; but I cannot conclude this appeal without an attempt to engage your heart and affectionate feelings in favor of the cause which I advocate. To you, my dear, I am not ashamed to avow, that the love I bear for you is too warm and deeply seated to find an appropriate vehicle of expression in any words of which I am master; and that I am not content to limit the enjoyment of your friendship to this life of sorrow and infirmities. Here, friendship, however intense and disinterested, must, like all earthly blessings, have its shades and drawbacks; those who love best will at times be dissatisfied with each other; and, at the best, there are, as you too sadly know, sources of affliction to which even friendship cannot administer any balm beyond the tears of sympathy. Here, too, selfishness will overcloud the sunshine of mutual affection; and ill health (as I can speak from an experience which covers me with shame) will render us comparatively indifferent to any other impulses than those of physical suffering, which repress all the glow of the kindly feelings, and deaden, as it were, and benumb all the aspirations of the soul to elevate itself to objects beyond the scope of the mere senses. And even when every chord of the compound instrument is in tune-when mind and body