consecrate their labours to God, as a penance imposed on them for their sins, and performing it in a spirit of contentment, resignation, cheerfulness, and joy, even as Christ performed his; looking forward to that time, when they shall enter into the promised rest.

In the morning let the first thoughts be turned to God; let the mind be seasoned with devotion and heavenly wisdom, to fit it for its daily employment; and in the evening to prepare it for its repose. Let the Sabbaths and festivals of the Church be in no sense. days of idleness, much less of vice and irreligion, but given to the heavenly works of piety and charity; that they may be to us, what they were designed to be to all, minute representations of the Sabbath that remains to the people of God; preludes to that everlasting jubilee, that shall be one day cele brated in the heavenly Canaan. Woe be to that man who wastes these hallowed days upon the concerns of the world, and the lusts of the flesh, stranger to the resurrection of Jesus, the glories of the saints, and the joys of heaven. He rejects the pledges of his eternal inheritance, and throws those jewels into the mire, that should have adorned his crown of righteousness.

Be moderate, also, my brethren, in your recreations; take care that they be innocent; which they will be if they give rise to no evil passion, such as anger or avarice, too generally attendants upon games of every description; and let no more time be spent in them than is necessary to unbend the mind, and fit it for a return to its employment. When recreation becomes a trade and a profession, and is made a means of putting the soul upon the rack of contending passions, it no longer deserves the name, but is in reality a drudgery, imposed by the adversary of human.

us.

happiness upon those who will not give their time to the service of their Creator. Cut off as much as possible unnecessary visits: of all thieves they are the worst who rob us of our time, because for the loss of that no amends can be made There are in every place some who, being idle themselves, do their utmost to make others So. An assembly of such persons can be compared to nothing but a slaughter-house, where the precious hours, and almost always the characters of their brethren, are butchered without mercy. Examine every evening how you have spent the day; for how can that man know the state of his affairs, who keeps no account? The task at first will be irksome, and the devil will try every means to make you neglect, and by degrees drop the practice. And why? Because he knows that no person who continues it will long remain under his power. It will lead you into many secrets, that will greatly shock and alarm you: but you must know your follies; how else can you reform them? Whereas, when a constant and faithful performance of this exercise (the benefits of which are without number and without end) has brought you acquainted with your errors, every day will correct those of the preceding. You will find that God has given you time enough for every good purpose, but none to waste: you will soon know the true value of time, and become an adept in the management of it; you will embrace every opportunity with joy, and on bended knees adore that mercy, so much beyond all you could hope for, which has made it possible for you by any means to redeem the time you have lost.

Considering, therefore, how unchangeable your state will be, whether in woe or bliss; and how your everlasting happiness depends upon the use

you make of your time here; you are infinitely concerned to redeem what is lost, with a very quick hand, lest you loss proves utterly irrecoverable. Time here is short at the most; the pleasures of sin are but for a season; the world passes away gradually; our brethren every day go away before us; and a few feet of earth will in a little time serve to hold the most insatiable and troublesome man that now lives. It would be wise to look forward, and to consider in what a short space there will be an end of a man's sins and vanities here. In a few years, months, or days, there the haughty head will be laid low; there the unconscionable oppressors cut down; there the luxurious thrown to nourish and fatten worms; there the envious eye closed; there the mouth of the prophaner stopt; and there a füll end put to vicious courses here in all which time the souls of those miserable wretches are gone off, with an eternity of guilt upon them, to an eternity of punishment!

Think, O think, my beloved, on those wretched spirits, who mispent their time while in the body, and are therefore now entered upon their portion of everlasting sorrow. What would they give for the opportunity vouchsafed you of being reconciled to God, and bringing forth fruits of penance? Could any of them be released from their prison-house, and sent back into the world for one year, in how holy and heavenly a manner would they spend it! How deeply would they mourn for their sins! How frequently would they pray for pardon! How earnestly would they exhort others to do likewise! I shall close this discourse with that amazing description given us by St. John in his Apocalypse, of a transaction which is one day to happen: "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven clothed with a cloud,

and a rainbow upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; and he had in kis hand a little book open; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth; and when he had cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices."* But this wonderful and glorious person has a message to deliver to the inhabitants of the world, far more terrible than his cry, or the seven thunders that followed it: “And the angel, which I saw standing upon the sea and upon the land, lifted up his hand to heaven: and he swore by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things which are therein, that time shall be no more." The proper inference surely is this: "While we have time let us do good."+ And of this be assured, for your comfort and encouragement, that the time rightly employed, be it when it may, is with God an acceptable time. May every day therefore you spend in future be unto you a day of salvation. Amen.

*

Apoc. x. 1, 2, 3.

Ibid. x. 5, 6.

SERMON XXXII.

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

On forgiveness of Injuries.

Not returning evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but, on the contrary, blessing; for unto this you are called, that by inheritance you may possess a blessing. 1 Peter iii. 9.

THE apostle, from a well-grounded assurance of the happiness of a well-spent life, lays down in this day's epistle several excellent rules for the more perfect guiding us therein; inculcating, in a special manner, the great duty of brotherly love and kindness; particularly cautioning us against returning evil for evil, or curse for curse; intreating us, by the endearing appellation of dearly beloved, not to avenge ourselves, from a full conviction, that vengeance belongs to God alone. It has been disputed, whether the forgiving of injuries be a duty of natural religion, or only of positive institution. That it does not arise from any clear or evident principles of natural reason, is argued from the writings of the heathen moralists; yea the greatest authorities among them are particularly cited to prove, that tamely to put up with insults is so far from being a matter of