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holy beings; because such affections are incompatible with the principle of love to God and to our fellow-creatures.

In opposition to this principle, which predominates in the minds of a fallen men, and apostate angels,-humility is a distinguishing characteristic of the sons of God, whether on earth or in heaven. Hence, we are told that " God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble,”—that “ even a proud look is an abomination in his sight," while he beholds with complacency "the humble and the contrite spirit.' Hence, we are exhorted "to clothe ourselves with humility;" and "to forbear one another in all lowliness and meekness of mind, and to esteem others better than ourselves." Humility consists in a just sense of our character and condition, both as dependent beings and as apostate creatures, accompanied with a correspondent train of dispositions and affections. However much this disposition has been disrelished by Hume and other infidels, who consider it as both vicious and contemptible, when viewed in its true light, it appears congenial to the best feelings of our nature, and to the plainest deductions of reason.—When we consider our condition as creatures, dependent every moment on a Superior Being " for life, and breath, and all things,”—when we reflect on the curious organization of our corporeal frame, the thousands of veins, arteries, muscles, bones, lacteals, and lymphatics, which are interwoven through its constitution; the incessant pulsation of the heart in the centre of the system, and the numerous other functions and movements over which we have no control. When we reflect on our character as guilty and depraved creatures, in the presence of Him “who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;" and on the numerous diseases, pains, sorrows, and physical evils from the war of the elements, to which we are subjected,—when we consider, that, ere long, our bodies must crumble into dust, and become the prey of noisome reptiles;—when we reflect on the low station in which we are placed in the scale of intelligent existence—that we are only like so many atoms, or microscopic animalculæ, when contrasted with the innumerable myriads of bright intelligences that people the empire of God-and that the globe on which we dwell is but as "the drop of a bucket," when compared with the millions of more resplendent worlds that roll through the vast spaces of creation ;– and, in short, when we consider the grandeur of that Omnipotent Being whose presence pervades every region of immensity, and in whose sight "all the inhabitants of the world,

are as grasshoppers, and are counted to him as less than nothing and vanity," there is no disposition that appears more conformable to the character and condition of man, than "lowliness of mind," and none more unreasonable and inconsistent with the rank and circumstances in which he is placed, than pride, haughtiness, and arrogance.

This amiable disposition forms a peculiar trait in the character of angels and other pure intelligences. It is poor, puny, sinful man, alone, who dares to be proud and arrogant. It is that rebellious worm of the dust alone, (if we except the angels of darkness,) that looks down with supercilious contempt on his fellow-creatures, and attempts to exalt himself above the throne of God. No such affections are ever felt in the breasts of superior beings who have kept their first estate. In proportion to the enlarged capacity of their minds; in proportion to the expansive views they have acquired of the dominions of Jehovah, in proportion to the elevated conceptions they have attained of the character and attributes of their Creator, in a similar proportion are their minds inspired with humility, reverence, and lowly adoration. Having taken an extensive survey of the operations of Omnipotence, having winged their way to numerous worlds, and beheld scenes of wisdom and benevolence, which the eye of man hath not yet seen, nor his imagination conceived, and having contemplated displays of intelligence and power, which are beyond the reach even of their own superior facul. ties to comprehend--they see themselves as finite and imperfect creatures, and even as it were fools,* in the presence of Him whose glory is ineffable, and whose ways are past finding out. Hence, they are represented as "covering their faces with their wings," in the presence of their Sovereign; and, in the Book of Revelation, they are exhibited as casting their crowns before the throne, and saying, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power." What a striking contrast does such a scene present to the haughty airs, and the arrogant conduct of the proud beings that dwell on this terrestrial ball, who are at the same time immersed in ignorance and folly, immorality and crime!

*In the book of Job, Eliphaz, when describing the perfections of the Almighty, declares, that "the heavers are not clean in his sight," and that even "his angels he chargeth with folly." Job iv. 18. xv. 15. + Isaiah vi. 2.

+ Rev. iv. 10, 11.

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In their intercourses with the inhabitants of our world, and the offices they perform as ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation, the same humble and condescending demeanor is displayed. One of the highest order of these celestial messengers- Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God," -winged his flight from his heavenly mansion to our wretched world, and, directing his course to one of the most despicable villages of Galilee, entered into the hovel of a poor virgin, and delivered a message of joy, with the most affectionate and condescending congratulations. Another of these benevolent beings entered the dungeon in which Peter was bound with chains, knocked off his fetters, and addressed him in the language of kindness, and delivered him from the hands of his future persecutors. When Paul was tossing in a storm, on the billows of the Adriatic, a forlorn exile from his native land, and a poor despised prisoner, on whom the grandees of this world looked down with contempt,—another of these angelic beings, "stood by him," during the darkness of the night and the war of the elements, and consoled his mind with the assurance of the Divine favour and protection. Lazarus was a poor despised individual, in abject poverty and distress, and dependent on charity for his subsistence. He lay at the gate of a rich man, without friends or attendants, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his table. His body was covered with biles and ulcers, which were exposed without covering to the open air; for 'the dogs came and licked his sores. What nobleman or grandee would have condescended to make a companion of a fellow-creature in such loathsome and abject circumstances? Who, even of the common people, would have received such a person into their houses, or desired his friendship? Who would have accounted it an honour, when he died, to attend his funeral? Celestial beings, however, view the circum. stances and the characters of men in a very different light, from that in which they appear to "the children of pride.' Poor and despised as Lazarus was, a choir of angels descended from their mansions of glory, attended him on his dying couch, and wafted his disembodied spirit to the realms of bliss.

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Since, then, it appears, that angelic beings, notwithstanding their exalted stations, and the superior glories of their character, are "clothed with humility,"-it must form a a distinguishing trait in our moral characters, if we expect to be admitted into their society in the world to come. For

how could we enter intó harmonious fellowship with these pure intelligences, if we were actuated with dispositions diametrically opposite to theirs, and what happiness would result from such an association, were it possible to be effected? A proud man, were he admitted into heaven, could feel no permanent enjoyment. The external glory of the place might dazzle his eyes for a little, but he would feel no relish for the society and the employments of that world. The peculiar honour conferred on patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and the noble army of martyrs, and the exalted stations of the cherubim and seraphim, would excite his envy and ambition, and, ere long, he would attempt to sow the seeds of discord, and to introduce anarchy and confusion among the hosts of heaven. So that the passion of pride, when cherished in the soul as the governing principle of action, is utterly incompatible with our admission into the regions of harmony and love.

Let me ask the man in whose heart pride and haughtiness predominate, if he really imagines that he can be a candidate for a glorious and immortal existence? Does he not at once perceive the inconsistency of such a thought with the dictates of reason, and the nature of future felicity ?-Of what has he any reason to be proud? Is he proud of his birth? of his ancestors? of his wealth? of his station? of his beauty? of his personal accomplishments? of his gallantry? of his debaucheries? of his military prowess? or of the thousands of human beings he has slain in battle? Is he proud of his skill in music, in dancing, in fencing, in fox-hunting, and in gambling of his knowledge in languages, in literature, in arts and sciences? Or is he proud that he is subject to the asthma, the gravel, the dropsy, and the gout, that his funeral will be attended by a train of mourners, and that a monument of marble will be erected to his memory, when his carcass is putrifying with the reptiles of the dust? Suppose he were admitted into the celestial mansions-which of all these topics would he choose for the theme of his conversation, and the ground of his boasting? Would he attempt to entertain the cherubim and the seraphim, by telling them how many rude chieftains he was descended from, how many ancient families he was connected with, and how inany acres of land he possessed as a patrimony in that wretched world which is soon to be wrapt in flames? Would he tell them of his expertness as a marksman, of his dexterity as a horse-racer, of his adroitness as a boxer, of his skill in ma

noeuvering an army, of the villages he had burned, of the thousands he had pillaged, or of the thousands he had butchered in storming a city?-He would be overwhelmed with shouts of indignation, and instantly hissed from their abodes. Would he boast of his skill in languages and antiquities, or of his knowledge in arts and sciences? What a poor ignoramus, (if I may use the expression) would he appear in the presence of Gabriel, the angel of God, who has so frequently winged his way, in a few hours, from heaven to earth, and surveyed the regions of unnumbered worlds! Would a poor worm of the earth, whose view is confined within a few miles around it, boast of its knowledge in the presence of beings endowed with such capacious powers, and who have ranged over so vast a portion of the universe of God? And, if he has nothing else to boast of, why is he proud? What a pitiful figure he would make among the intelligent and adoring hosts of heaven? While such a disposition, therefore, predominates in the mind, its possessor can enjoy no substantial felicity either in this life or in the life to come.

On the other hand, the man who, like the Redeemer, is "meek and lowly in heart," has "the witness in himself," that he has obtained the approbation of his God, that he is assimilated to angelic beings in his temper and affections, that he has the principle of eternal life implanted in his soul, and that he is in some measure qualified for joining in the exercises, and enjoying the felicity of the heavenly state."For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eter. nity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place --with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

4. Active Beneficence, with all its accompanying virtues, is another characteristic of the man who is training for the heavenly inheritance. Wherever the principle of love to God and man, and the grace of humility are in exercise, they will uniformly lead the individual who is under their influence to "abound in the fruits of righteousness, and to use every active endeavour to promote the comfort and happiness of mankind. He will endeavour, as far as his power and influence extend, to relieve the wants of the poor, the fatherless, and the widow, to sooth the disconsolate, to comfort the afflicted, to shelter the houseless and benighted traveller, to instruct the ignorant, and to meliorate the moral and phy. sical condition of every rank of society. He will patronize

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