is the Christian protected from the necessity for fearfulness.

On the contrary, great advantages result from the humble, simple, unaffected fear of the Lord; as for instance," the fear of the Lord prolongeth days; but the years of the wicked shall be shortened." Proverbs x. 27. "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence;

and his children shall have a place of refuge." Ibid. xiv. 26. "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death." Ibid. xiv. 27. "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life; and he that hath it shall abide satisfied: he shall not be visited with evil." Ibid. xix. 23. By humility, and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honour, and life." Ibid. xxii. 4. But a very great variety of blessings are promised to those who fear God; as, "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." Psalm xxv. 14. "The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy." Ibid. xxxiii. 18. "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Ibid. xxxiv. 7. O fear the Lord, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him." Ibid. xxxiv. 9. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him." Ibid. lxxxv. 9. "As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him." Ibid. ciii. 11. "Like as a

66

father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Ibid. ciii. 13. "He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also

VOL. II.

S

will hear their cry, and will save them." Ibid. cxlv. 19." And the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him." Ibid. cxlvii. 11.

And since such are the evils resulting from the principle of fear unduly excited, such its advantages when fixed on its proper object, and such the blessings promised to its exercise, let it be the design of education to develop, to controul, and to direct this passion: and to conclude the whole, "Ye that fear the Lord praise him;" and ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; he is their help and their shield." Psalm cxv. 11.

66

SECTION IX. Of Courage.

THE basis of courage rests on the desire after superiority to others, and of evincing that superiority by a higher reach of noble daring, or by a firmer and more unbending fortitude; in fact, in a greater capacity for doing and suffering under the difficulties and trials of life. It consists in encountering danger from which fear would induce us to shrink; in employing the means of resistance or escape with promptitude and effect; and in maintaining our ground with unyielding patience, where we cannot make a successful advance, and under difficulties which we cannot hope to overcome, as well as in dangers from which we cannot fly; and all this without a loss of that self-possession which is usually termed

presence of mind. Courage is then the power of conquering fear, and arises from confidence in our own prowess and constancy. Where however it is the mere result of passion, it is not always to be relied upon; for it will suddenly fail in the hour of greatest danger, and its influence will be superseded by unforeseen terror; the brave man shall become a coward, and shall act so as he would blush to acknowledge to any but himself. They do not always possess the greatest share of courage, who make the most obtrusive display of its exercise; and that will be often found to be deficient in sustained exertion, which was the most dazzling, and brilliant, and shewy at the first appearance of difficulty. As a mere passion, it is liable to the excitement of animal feeling; but very quickly subsides again, as soon as that feeling which gave it birth may have evaporated: it is also readily superseded by a revulsion of sensibility of an opposite character, or by the occasion of any new and unexpected situation for which the mind was not prepared. Before, therefore, it can be rendered available, as a moral principle, it must be educated as such; and while it retains all the fervour of passion, and the intensity of desire, it must be invested with all the firmness of decision; and all the constancy of unquestioned motive, sustained by that powerful will, which is the result of deliberate judgment and conviction; and it must be supported by all the arguments of reason, and assisted by the dic

tates of conscience, and governed by the laws of religion.

There is a great difference as to the degree of courage evinced by different individuals: one child shall be fearless of danger, another shall tremble at his own shadow; yet it can by no means be predicated from this circumstance which will form the most courageous character; for place, in after life, the former in a situation where he will need the energetic support, and the prolonged aid of moral motive, and the latter under circumstances of danger, in which he will have had an opportunity of forming an acquaintance with the nature of that danger, and of thus obviating the ignorance which has made him a coward from his own shadow; and it will be found, that the passion of the man will yield to the principle of the intellectual being, and à fortiori, to the fortitude of the Christian.

Courage is to be carefully distinguished from a certain degree of fearlessness, which may be found in combination with it, but which is oftener met with as the result of peculiar physical tempera

ment.

It consists not in an unconsciousness, or disregard of danger, or in a disbelief of its existence, or in the absence of fear, but in overcoming its agency, in forming an exact estimate of danger, and in selecting and employing the means of obviating its influence.

Although we have stated that fearlessness is in a great measure depending upon peculiar animal

temperament, yet neither this nor courage are to be found in any proportion corresponding to the amount of physical power: witness the unbroken constancy, the undaunted perseverance, the heroic devotion of the female, contrasted with the wavering honour, the changeful principle, the selfish poltroonery of the mere man of muscle and nerve, and bone and fibre. Strength of body may indeed add to the self-confidence which is necessary for the exercise of courage; but firmness of mind will live through difficulties under which the former sinks, and will conduct to efforts which would have been thought almost incredible. A great mind united to a feeble body, will do more, and sustain more, than gigantic animal power with more puny mental manifestations; exactly in proportion as principle is of more value than passion, moral virtue than feeling, habit than occasion, and above all the steady hope of religion than the support of inferior motive.

Solitude is the sphere for the truest exercise of courage: it is when the individual stands alone, that he is called upon for the highest efforts of this principle; for the idea of being sustained by numbers, gives energy to fortitude, while it diminishes the impression of danger, and therefore the most difficult situation for its display is, where there is no exterior support, and where those around us are seeking to weaken our strength; and the effort of bravery consists in steadily opposing their sinister influence. The operation of numbers upon this passion is particularly visible