Saviour. Such be your feelings, your cordial confessions! And finally, let your obedience be rendered to Christ. Be moral for his sake: be moral for the special purpose of pleasing God through him. If your morality be without that main purpose, hope not for its acceptance. If you do your alms that you may have glory of men, you may obtain that glory. And in that glory you have your reward; the reward your ostentation sought; the only reward which you shall receive: you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. If you are honest for the sake of your worldly advancement, you may gain advancement; and in that advancement you have the reward which you pursued, the only reward which integrity such as yours shall possess. If your leading motive for cultivating amiable tempers, and manifesting kindness in domestic life, is that relatives and connecyour you may render tions attached to you, you may win their attachment; and in that attachment you have your reward, you have the remuneration which you desired, the only recompence which you will receive. You have no rewara of your Father which is in heaven.

How

different is the recompense of the servant of

Christ!

Christ! Not the slightest act of self-denial, not the lowest deed of justice, not the gift of a cup of cold water; not the humblest manifestation, in whatever form, of moral rectitude, for the sake of the Lord Jesus, shall lose its reward.

SERMON II.

On the EVILS resulting from FALSE PRINCIPLES of MORALITY.

ISAIAH, viii, 20.

To the Law and to the Testimony! If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no Light in them.

IT

T happens almost of necessity, and under some points of view the circumstance must be deemed a misfortune, that erroneous principles which prevail in morals lead, in various instances, to the same conclusions which flow from principles that are sound. The wisdom of God has so closely connected and bound up the observance of moral duties with the welfare and the peace of society, that any principle which, in its immediate consequences, should be generally subversive of the rules of integrity, justice, and kind

ness;

ness; nay, which should not apparently display a favourable countenance to some branches of moral rectitude, would not attain extensive and lasting influence in a country moderately enlightened. The true conclusions inferred from false principles will be intimately blended with imperfections and mistakes. The coin will be debased by a large portion of alloy: but it will preserve a sufficient semblance of the precious metal to become current among the careless, and to acquire some credit with all except accurate observers. In proportion as these conclusions are consistent with any of the moral precepts of Scripture, they win the apparent sanction of the word of God for the principle from which they are derived. Whenever they deviate from the scriptural rule, it is always on the side of relaxation. Hence again, the principle advances in the estimation of the world. Here," men exclaim, " is a sober and "rational criterion of moral conduct. Here is morality, useful, but not puritanical;

correct, but not rigid: securing the inte"rests of society, but not pushing matters "to extremes: upholding the rule in ordi

nary cases, but liberally conceding every needful exception; and regarding with "duc

due lenity the erring agent who, under "the influence of temptation, adopts the "exception when it might have been more "prudent to have observed the rule."

In an early part of the preceding discourse I had occasion briefly to allude to the three erroneous principles of morality, which, in the present day, are prevalent among ourselves, expediency, honour, and custom. Several of their effects may deserve distinct consideration. But some few words must previously be employed in remarks on the principles themselves.

Expediency, borrowed from the storehouse of sceptical philosophy, and placed, by its wisest defenders, as nearly as might be done, on a Christian foundation, pronounces that an action is right or wrong accordingly as it tends to promote or to diminish general happiness. Whatever is expedient is right. Every moral precept is subject to exceptions. And of the expediency of regarding or disregarding the precept every man is in every case to judge for himself.

Honour, as a principle of action, refers to the estimation of the class of society in which the individual moves, and especially to the sentiments of the higher ranks, whose opinions will ever be of the most preponderating