is needless, however, to mention ex- It clearly appears, therefore, that the indulgence of anger is not always sinful-not always inconsistent with a truly Christian temper. Much more has been said in illustration of this point, than would otherwise have been thought either necessary or proper, if very serious doubts and no inconsiderable discussion had not lately been raised on this subject, in so excellent a work as the Christian Observer. Every truth of holy scripture is valuable on its own account; and much injury is sometimes done to a good cause, by pressing the demands of duty beyond their legitimate bounds. As anger is not al ways sinful, to represent it as being so, is to demand more than is demanded by the law and gospel of our God. But let it by no means be supposed, that in what has been said, any plea is intended to be made for the free and frequent indulgence of anger, or of any feelings and passions which are its kindred. On the contrary, it is the wish of the writer, while he would separate truth from error and avoid all extremes, to inculcate on every reader, that probably true Christian temper is oftener lost or violated by the indulgence of some of the malevolent affections, than by any other single cause. There is probably no one thing, against which the greater number of Christians who would aim at a close imitation of their divine Redeemer, will need so incessantly to watch, as against the indulgence of some unhallowed feeling of the kind we contemplate. There is doubtless a very great difference, even in constitutional make, in relation to the irascible passions. Anger, in some of its multiform manifestations, is, with a number, and with some that we would hope are the subjects of renewing grace, the sin that "easily besets them." The grace of God can dwell where neither you nor I cansaid a shrewd minister of the gospel, to a young man who consulted him on the choice of a wife. A number there are, on the other hand, who have naturally, such a happy temperament, that they experience little or no disturbance, from any irascible emotions or dispositions. This happy temperament, however, should always be carefully distinguished from the effects of divine grace. It is not piety; although it may, when possessed by the real Christian, render some of the duties of practical religion comparatively easy. But this natural benignity is, on the whole, a very rare allotment. In by far the greater part of our race, much of the corruption of our nature is perceptible in anger, hatred, revenge, indignation, envy, pride, arrogance, pevishness, petulance, discontent, murmuring, repining; and in the sinful effects of these feelings, manifested by words of wrath, reproach, reviling, complaining, slandering, and evil speaking; as well as by all the actions, not to be enumerated, in which our neighbour may be injured in his character, person, property, prospects and connexions. Against all these workings and exhibitions of the native depravity of his heart, he who would maintain a truly Christian temper, must be incessantly on his guard. "He-saith Solomon-that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." But alas! what failures in this ruling of the spirit, have been witnessed in some of the best of men. A failure in ruling his spirit was the cause that the meekest of men was excluded from the land of promise; the cause that the most patient of men cursed the day of his birth; the cause that the man after God's own heart was on the point of murdering a whole innocent family; the cause that a prophet of the Lord wished to die, when it was the purpose of God that he should never die, but ascend to heaven in a fiery chariot; the cause that another prophet said, "I do well to be angry even unto death," because God would not save him from the possibility of reproach, by utterly destroying a populous repentant city, on which a conditional doom had been pronounced; the cause that two of the most distinguished disciples of the Prince of Peace, were for commanding fire to come down from heaven, to consume those who offended them-the cause too of their receiving a rebuke from their Lord, which all his followers should frequently call to mind-" Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; for the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." In the view of such examples, "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Let every Chris tian be sensible that he is never free from the danger of departing from a Christian temper, by some indulgence of angry or vindictive feelings. Let him be careful, when he is lawfully angry, "not to sin, and that the sun go not down on his wrath, and that thus he give no place to the devil." On this divine injunction, to which a reference has before been made, the following excellent commentary will, it is believed, furnish as proper intimations, in regard to the occasions on which anger may be lawful, and the bounds within which it must always be restrained, as any that can be offered in a narrow compass-"It would be proper to express displeasure at what was wrong, on many occasions, both in the management of their families, in reproving sin, and even in ordering their temporal concerns, so that all anger was not to be prohibited. Yet let Christians be sure to restrain that dangerous passion within the bounds of reason, meekness, piety, and charity; not being angry with out cause or above cause, or in a proud, selfish, and peevish manner; not expressing their displeasure by reproaches, or furious rage, or suffering it to settle into resentment; but always endeavouring to subordinate its exercise to the glory of God, and the benefit of the offender himself, as well as that of others; and to show stronger disapprobation of the sin committed against God, than of the injury done to themselves. This would induce them to attend to the caution annexed, "not to let the sun go down upon their wrath," not to close the day without forgiving and praying for those, who had offended them, or expressing a disposition to reconciliation and kindness. In this and in other respects, they must take care not "to give place to the devil," who watched his opportunity of filling their minds with rancour and malice, and of thus exciting divisions and contentions among them." (SCOTT.) To this it may be proper to add, in the very words of the apostle, what we find him adding, in immediate connexion with the text on which this comment is made"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." If any should remark that we are here commanded to put away" all anger," we need only observe, that this is one of a thousand instances, in which, in the sacred writings as in all others, we must compare one part of a composition with another, if we would obtain its genuine meaning. There would be no end of guarding and explaining, if a writer should do it with all the words and phrases that he uses. His meaning should be clear when his whole discourse is taken in connexion; and so it always is in the sacred writings-" All anger," in the last mentioned text, must mean, all that is beyond what he had before admitted to be lawful. The result, then, of our inquiries is, that there are occasions on which severity of speech, and even the indulgence of anger, are proper for those who seek to preserve and cherish a truly Christian temper; and yet that all such severity and indulgence will be their strange work To this they will seldom be called, never without reluctance, only when the occasions for it are clearly marked, and always with the greatest care that they do not proceed too far. The general complexion of their temper, will be that which is the exact opposite of severity and anger. They will be habitually kind, and affectionate, and gentle; thus making it manifest that the great law of love rules sweetly, and powerfully, and predominantly in their bosoms. We have been led in this essay to consider the law of love, chiefly as it is exercised toward men. But it is to be carefully noted and remembered, that true Christian love to men, is not only always accompanied with supreme love to God, but springs from this, as from its only proper source. Such a Christian temper as we have been considering, will never exist till the heart is renewed by the Spirit of grace, and supreme love to God implanted there by his sacred influence. When this takes place, love to mankind will follow as a natural consequence-follow as the stream flows from its fountain. He that loves God, will love his brother also. And it is of the utmost importance to keep in mind, that love to men will always be the most pure, the most easily maintained, and the most steadily and vigorously exercised, when love to God is the most warm, and active, and elevated When all the graces of the Spirit are in the most powerful operation in the renewed mind. Then, not only all anger, but all the other corrupt affections "which war against the soul," and to which Christian temper and feeling are opposed, will be most effectually subdued and most completely lose their influence. Uniform experience, it is believed, confirms this representation. When the soul of the believer has been dissolved, as it were, in love to God, and sweetly drawn into humble and delightful "fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ;" when it has been filled with admiring and adoring views of the plan and the covenant of Redeeming mercy-then is "love to the brethren" always the most tender and ardent; then is the Christian most disposed to a full and unreserved forgiveness, even of his worst enemies and their most cruel injuries; then are all mankind the objects of a genuine and warm benevolence, and no hostile feeling to an individual of the human race can find a moment's indulgence; then all corrupt affections of whatever kind are loathed and abhorred; a deliverance from all sin is most earnestly wished, and complete conformity to the mind and temper of Christ is panted after, with the purest desire and the greatest intensity. E. E. FROM THE LONDON CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTOR, "He causeth it to come whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy."-JOB xxxvii. 13. From the woods of Sabea, the gale of the south, Shakes the spice-breathing incense, and gladdens the grove; Now it opens the blossom, enamels the spring, It curls the blue wave, and breathes health through the sky, Miscellaneous. FOR THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. Mr. Editor,-Living in the midst of our happy institutions, and awake, as I hope, to every thing which ought to inspire an American with admiration, either for the excellence of those institutions, or for the character and talents of those who preside over them; I cannot, as a lover of my country, or as a Christian, look with unconcern upon any thing which lessens their importance, or casts a shade over their moral or political aspect. At this moment, our country stands the gaze of all the civilized world. And for a prize worth all our jealous vigilance and a nation's efforts, we are running a race in the career of fame and of human glory; the result of which time will inscribe on his brazen monument, and hold up, we trust, as a signalized triumph, when the thrones of despotism shall have crumbled into ruins, and the dark empire of superstition and ignorance shall have vanished before the meridian rays of moral truth. What then ought to be our just regard for the integrity and the moral character of every publick officer, and especially of those placed in the highest ranks of honour, in this mighty republick? Our statesmen, like our institutions, should exhibit in their moral and political deportment, an example worthy of their origin and their dignity; without which, indeed, our honour is but a name, and our pretended virtue only a covering for crimes. In the honourable competition of talent in our legislative halls, I witness with pride and pleasure, the conflict of intellectual and native greatness, and all its splendid acquisitions; and I know that the lustre which attends it is reflected over both hemispheres. But I can never sacrifice virtue and moral excellence at the shrine of any zeal, or patriotism, or talents, however ardent, or high, or splendid. And indeed, what is boasted patriotism, or high pretences to political zeal, if moral principle be absent, and the sacred monitor within has lost his just and controlling power over the man? In such a case, my confidence is gone, and so is that of a virtuous community. I contend, Mr. Editor, for no super-human excellence, or extra virtue or honesty; but I do contend for fair moral character in our publick men; because the more responsible and conspicuous the stations which they occupy, the more beneficial or deleterious is their influence and example. In accordance with this feeling and these sentiments, I must enter my protest, with that of every good citizen and every good Christian, against the practice of duelling, so lately and so loudly asserted and appealed to, by one of our most conspicuous and most splendid states men. With what surprise and lamentation have the reflecting and virtuous part of the community, seen and read the CARD of an honourable member?-in the writing of which, the hand of the writer must have trembled with unjustifiable and intemperate passion. It was surely a moment, in which, like our great Hamilton, he forgot himself. Adorning the speaker's chair in the House of Representatives, and lately a candidate for the chief magistracy of the nation, he has, in one unhappy moment of irritation, tarnished the bright page of his illustrious services and actions. And for this, Mr. Editor, I trust you will let the Advocate lift up its voice as promptly and as loudly, as the act has been indiscreet, and prominent, and baneful.-Who can tell what injury he has done to the youth of our country? How many years may roll away, before the influence of this powerful example shall cease to operate in favour of the murderous and infatuated practice of duelling? How many gallant and noble minds, that had retained some moral and tender sense of rectitude, will, through the influence of this high example, break through every restraint, and rush to the detestable and deadly combat? Our fields, stained and crimsoned with the blood of devoted victims, who have already fallen ignominious sacrifices to this ferocious and infernal practice, cry, and witness aloud against us as a people. While false notions of honour exist, and are encouraged by our honourable men, who form the popular sentiment and give the fashion of the day, and fix the standard of lofty character and conduct, the evil, in all its turpitude and magnitude, must continue. But if our people, as a people, would express their will, and declare its absurdity and enor mity, by refusing their suffrages to those who engage in it, we should soon have no occasion to lament its prevalence and its horrible consequences. Surely the perversion and malignity of human nature, in its various evil propensities, exhibit vices and crimes enough for our virtuous citizens and patriotick statesmen to deplore, without giving encouragement to an unnatural arbitrary custom, the offspring of barbarism and superstition-for such was the origin of duelling. And yet, "tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon," the very hall of our Representatives in Congress, reechoes the admiring plaudit of this Gothick custom. The citadel, sacred to liberty and intelligence, and consecrated to the dearest rights of our country, must witness and resound the desperate and deadly deeds of those who fight and fall in single combat. An undeniable proof of this fact was furnished a few months since, in one of the most eloquent speeches that was ever delivered in the House of Representatives. In that speech the unhappy and deprecated sentiment was publickly avowed and advocated. Let me ask has the warrior, who has nobly fought for his country, in the hour of its perilous encounter who has fearlessly walked the fields of death and stood the bursting blaze of the bloody onset,-has he any need to convince the world that he is brave, by retiring to some darksome pathway, to settle a childish point of ho nour? Must such a man, conscious of the purity of his intentions, and whose bosom swells with the noble sentiments which honour and virtue inspire, descend to the arena of the gladiator? Must he rashly sport with that life which God has given him, or take away that of his antagonist, at the call of his murderous opponent? No: the man who fights a duel, may be, or he may not be, a coward. A momentary passion, or deliberate revenge, or blind delusion, may operate to impel the unhappy votaries of duelling, to acts of bloodshed and murder. But as the standard of right and wrong is immutably fixed and as eternal as the throne of God, if there is a fool in the universe, that fool must be the duellist. For, blindfold and wildly, against reason, conscience and religion, he makes an infidel plunge, beyond the hope of redemption. A frail creature, enjoying the space of a few days, and soon enough to make the dread discoveries of eternity, with his coffin and his shroud in view, to balance his chance upon a bullet, and to barter a thousand hopes human and divine, yea, his unchanging destiny, upon the flash of a pistol-tell us of another folly that equals this. Before so inconceivable a risk is incurred-and for a point often comparatively worthless, or suppose it as important as you please let the duellist pause. Let him measure and comprehend the sum total of the consequences of what he is about to do. Let him place before his eyes fully, the prize and the cost; and then we shall hope he will attempt rather to soften his death-bed by the virtues of forgiveness, and the noble deeds of charity, than rush himself, or send a fellow sinner, uncalled, to the dread tribunal of God. To counteract the magnitude and |