in which her heart still longs to dwell, her grief will be, not for the iniquities of her life, but that cruel death should snatch her away in the days of her gaiety, and from the midst of her sensual enjoyments. You think that a libertine, who has been accustomed to treat the doctrines and mysteries of religion with sacrilegious ridicule, will at the approach of dissolution become devout and pious, be filled with faith, with hope and divine love. Ah! perhaps he will then do violence to himself to display a pretended strength of mind, which flatters his vanity: he will affect to be superior to vulgar prejudices, to view a future state with a calm and steady eye; or will die in all the horrors of infernal desperation. In a word, my beloved, the oracles of eternal truth assure us, that the end of the wicked shall be according to their works. (2 Cor. xi. 15.). This is a truth which the sacred writings confirm by innumerable examples;-a truth which resounds in all the menaces of the prophets :a truth which Christ Jesus declares, in a manner which should make the most insensible tremble; and may Heaven forbid that experience should make any of us know it, by the most melancholy of all convictions. What then remains to be done, if we do not give up every hope of our eternal salvation, what re mains to be done? Draw the conclusion yourselves, and you will each of you begin this instant to labour for your everlasting happiness. Do not defer till the end a business which you cannot too early begin. Do not carry with you to the grave only desires of conversion, but fruits worthy of repentance. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him while he is near. (Isa. lv. 6.) Behold now is the acceptable time: behold now is the day of salvation. Receive not the grace of God in vain. Embrace the proffered mercies of Heaven; that your last end may resemble that of the righteous, and your death be the passage to a blissful immortality. SERMON XXXIX. TENTH SUNDAY AFTER ON HUMILITY. Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one was a Pharisee, and the other a publican. -Luke viii. 10. WE have here set before us two portraits, drawn and coloured by a masterly hand, calculated to display the deformity and iniquity of pride, and to represent to us the loveliness and grace of humility. In the person of the Pharisee you behold all that is arrogant, injurious, and insulting. What vain confidence in his false virtues! What ridiculous ostentation of his pretended good qualities! What disdain and contempt for his neighbour! Not content with exhibiting his own imaginary merits, he maliciously blackens the character of his brother, making an odious comparison, which he artfully turns to his own advantage; and this under pretence of giving glory to God. In the language and behaviour of the publican, we are delighted with that openness, candour, modesty and sincerity, which are so pleasing in the sight of the Deity, and have such a tendency to conciliate to us the esteem and the friendship of our fellow-creatures. He leaves to others the distinguished places in the temple, and puts himself in the very lowest : there with his eyes cast down, as being unworthy to stand before the Lord of glory and majesty, and overwhelmed with confusion, from the reflection on his manifold offences against him, he strikes his breast, and supplicates the Father of mercies to have pity on him, and pardon his iniquities. Therefore did he return home justified before that Being, who resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble; (1 Pet. 5.) while the prayer of the Pharisee only increased his blindness, and added to the measure of his crimes. Yes, my beloved friends, humility is the first disposition for obtaining the graces of heaven, and is consequently, the foundation of every other virtuous endowment. Humility enlightens our paths, directs our steps, leads us to truth, corrects our defects, and forms us to every virtue. But where is humility chiefly to be found? Is it the distinguishing characteristic of the great ones of the earth; or is it confined to the lower orders of men? No: it is, perhaps, as seldom seen in the lowly cottage, as in the gorgeous palace. In every station of life, pride spreads its baneful influence, engendering a melancholy train of troubles, distresses, and crimes. Though each one esteems humility, and is pleased to see it in others; in himself he considers it as a weakness, and thinks that the practice of it would be a mark of a mean and grovelling spirit. To combat this dangerous error, I will, in the first place, explain to you the nature of humility, pointing out in what it precisely consists; and, secondly, suggest to you some reflections on the unreasonableness of human pride. 1. Humility implies in it these two things; that we entertain a just and moderate opinion of ourselves, and that we do not prefer ourselves unreasonably to others. All virtues lie in a middle point, between two opposite extremes: and thus humility is situated exactly between pride and abjectness of mind. The proud man thinks too highly of himself; the abject man too meanly but the humble man thinks justly concerning himself and what belongs to him. We must be careful to avoid each of these errors; keeping as far from mean-spiritedness, on the one hand, as from pride, on the other. But, since men are naturally inclined to exceed, ra |