fus! can thy compaffionate heart pronounce fo fevere a fentence, Depart? Whither fhall those wretches go that depart from thee? But go they muft, and accurfed alfo; nay, and into fire. O God! must this pamper'd body lie ftretched on a bed of fire? Alas! we are neither compofed of iron nor fteel, but of tender flesh and fenfible arteries. One fit of the stone makes life a burthen, and of the gout a torment we cannot endure the flame of a candle one minute; how then fhall we dwell with fire and brimftone? But we obey the fentence; we accept the punishment not only with joy, but even with tranfport, if once this fire will expire: but oh! to depart from Thee accurfed, and into fire, nay, and into eternal fire! who can think of fo ftrange a lot without horror? In this black cloud fets all the glory of the world. Her titles, amours, pleafures end, to enter upon torments above expreffion, and despair without end.

Dear reader, you believe this truth. Why then do you make no preparation for your trial? or rather, why do you increase the articles of your indictment? as if you feared to be brought in, not guilty, or placed your fecurity in guilt, and your happiness in eternal mifery. If you defire to appear at this bar without fear; live without great fins, and repent of the lefs. Imagine with St. Jerome, you hear continally ring in your ears this terrible fummons, Arife ye dead, and come to judgment! The secureft way not to fear judgment, is always to apprehend it. Chrift will not condemn him, who pronounces himfelf guilty.

O God of mercy! give me in this world a true notion of thy justice in the other. Affift me with thy grace, that I fall not into thy difpleasure, or that I may be fo fortunate as to rife. O let me live innocent, or at least die penitent. Pronounce not fentence against a foul, the price of thy blood, and once the object

object of thy love. Torment me in this world with Job's leprofy, and Tobit's blindness: only spare me

in the next.

EPISTLE to the Romans, Chap. xv. Verse

4. For whatfoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the fcriptures might have hope.

5. Now the God of patience and confolation grant you to be like-minded one towards another, according to Chrift Jefus :

6. That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift.

7. Wherefore, receive ye one another, as Chrift alfo received us, to the glory of God.

8. Now 1 fay, that Jefus Chrift was a minifter of the circumcifion for the truth of God, to confirm the promifes made unto the fathers:

9. And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, For this caufe I will confefs to thee among the Gentiles, and fing unto thy name. 10. And again be faith, Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people.

11. And again, Praife the Lord all ye Gentiles, and laud him all ye people.

12. And again Efaias faith, There shall be a root of Feffe, and be that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him fhall the Gentiles truft.

13. Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the holy Ghost.

TH

The MORAL REFLECTION.

HE Apoftle endeavours to compofe fore heats and differences, that arofe between the Jewish and Pagan Converts: he tells them; Seeing

C

it

it has pleafed God to call both to the faith and grace of Jefus Chrift, they must fhew their gratitude, by returning thanks for the favour, and live in peace like brethren, not in difcord like aliens. And that his exhortation might make the stronger impreffion, he proposes Christ's example, who did not pleafe himself: but, as it is written, The rebukes of them that rebuked thee, are fallen upon me. Pfal. Ixix. 9. He laboured not for his own intereft, but for his heavenly Father's glory, and for the falvation of men, though his enemies. For thus he embraced all the inconveniencies of an abject and penurious life, and fuffered the torments of an ignominious and cruel death. And by this example, we are taught to love our neighbour, tho' he hates us, and to affift him (not out of any view of fordid intereft) both with our purfe and counfel, as much as our circumftances permit, and his exigencies require.

Whatsoever things were written, for our learning they are written. For all that the scripture contains, whether by way of precept or example, was penned for our inftruction. That, to fhew us the extent of our duty this, as an incitement to fulfil it; that by the continual exhortations to virtue, and rare examples of patience, we may be animated to bend all our care to practife virtue in this world, and to hope for heaven in the next. Why has God drawn up fuch an exact scheme of his fervant Job's life, and recommended it to pofterity, but to fet before us a lively pattern of patience in adverfity, and of moderation in a smoother fortune? but to teach us, that good and evil come from the fame hand, and that we must receive this without complaint, and that without pride? but to teach us, that he can raise the humble, and humble the proud, and will reward the refignation of the one, and crush the infolence of the other?

And

And, because the poifon of original fin has tainted all the faculties of our foul, darkened the understanding, and congeal'd the will, and fo rendered them unfit for the practice of christian virtues, unless they receive a supply of grace; the apoftle befought God, to impart his divine affiftance to the Romans: The God of patience and confolation grant you to be likeminded one towards another, according to Jefus Chrift, that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. That they might keep up to the height of their profeffion by loving their neighbour, as Chrift loved them; that is, by returning favours for affronts, and revenging all the evil they can fuffer by all the good they can do.

And because this duty runs ftrong against the biafs of depraved nature, we must make our addreffes to God, who is able to remove the difficulty, or to give us force to master it; nay and will, if we take the pains to follicit his mercy with confidence and fubmiffion.

The reason why temptations triumph over our innocence, and we fall a facrifice to the violence of flesh and blood, is, because we never think of imploring the fuccour of heaven. We lean violently to liberty: exterior objects play fmoothly upon fenfe, and follicit the heart with a charming oratory: hence we fall into a fit of defpondency, and imagine our paffions as invincible, as the Ifraelites did the inhabitants of Canaan. They are a race of giants, and we but grafhoppers. And thus magnifying and multiplying the difficulties, we fit down and are overcome, not for want of ftrength, but of care and prudence. For tho' indeed we are unable to fubdue them with our own forces, we have an omnipotent ally to back us: and if we are fo fenfelefs, or fo careless, as not to call upon him, our defeat must

*There we faw the giants, the fons of Anak, and we were in our own fight as grafhoppers. Numb. xii. 33. C 2

lie

lie at our own doors. Tho' his commands are impoffible to nature, they are easy to grace. My yoke is eafy, and my burthen light. And St. John, after a long trial, pronounced the fame truth: they are only hard to those, who lie drowned in fenfuality, who fleep in fin, and fear to be awaked out of the pleafing lethargy.

Complain not therefore of the precept; Receive one another, as Chrift alfo has received us. Sacrifice all refentment to peace and charity never think of affronts, but to pardon them: in fine, receive, that is, love all men without distinction, as Christ did, without any regard to flesh and blood, to country or religion. This univerfal love is a doctrine, neither taken from the Jews, nor borrowed of the Gentiles, but delivered by Jefus Chrift, who redeemed both Jew and Gentile: thofe indeed, to fulfil the promise God made to Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob; these, out of pure mercy: For I fay, that Chrift Jefus was a minifter of the circumcifion for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers: and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

And if you comply with this favourite precept of God, made man; I may affure you, without playing the false prophet, firft, that God will fill you with all joy. You will feel the fatisfaction of having practised a virtue; nay, and find less pain in compofing difcords, than in fomenting them. For it is certain, as pardon is more chriftian, fo is it lefs troublesome, than revenge: and he suffers lefs, who forgets an injury, than he who ftands upon the formality of fatisfaction.

Secondly, you will abound in hope, that is, you will have a juft confidence, that God will deal no lefs favourably with have with your you you, than brother. He will cancel your fins, and intitle you

* His commands are not grievous.

to