joyed by it, but very possibly may be taken off in the midst of his sins, and so undone to all eternity.

Again, it is a sin against nature, which has established a common relation between all men, designed for society, and, in order thereto, has made it one of its fundamental laws that we should love and protect, and do good to one another. Now, this law cannot possibly be more violated, than by murder. It is likewise a sin against civil society, the end of which is protection, to provide for the security and safety of its members, the very ties of which are thereby destroyed: further, it is a sin against the chief magistrate, who alone, under God, hath power of life and death, and who, by this violence, is deprived of the counsel and support of his subjects: and, lastly, it is in a peculiar degree injurious to the relations of the persons so deprived of life, being such an act as may utterly ruin them in their temporal affairs and happiness. The imagination will readily assist us with the melancholy situation of the helpless widow and the infant orphan, who have lost a parent by this atrocious act; the unavailing sorrows of fond relations, who miss their friend, protector, and support: in short, unless repentance wash it out, the account, we know, must be most heavy from these various aggravations; and the

consideration of its only remedy occasions me to touch upon a particular species of this crime, which excludes even the last hope of pardon, and with which I shall conclude this first division of the subject.

I mean that most wicked custom of duelling, where the parties meet with a savage purpose of destroying each other; where pride, malice, and revenge, under the cloke of honour, prompt men to be guilty of actual murder. This, in the polite language of the world, is most absurdly termed giving satisfaction. That this is a most unjust and unfair method of repairing wrongs, will appear by the uncertainty of the event; for, as that frequently depends upon superiority of skill, or strength of nerves, the innocent is as likely to fall as the aggressor; in which case, besides the most grievous injury a man can possibly receive, he runs the risk of being hastily and violently dispatched into another world; and if the offender happens to be killed, the case is, if possible, more dreadful, because he is sent to his endless state unprepared, with all his crimes upon his head, and the person originally offended becomes necessarily guilty of sending him out of the world. Can any thing be more inconsistent with common sense and justice? One man shall be guilty of the most atrocious trespass that can be committed against another, and, after this, shall not only claim a

right to be considered as a man of honour, but the suffering party must hazard his own life, and the crime of murder, or be reckoned not to equal a desperate villain in personal courage. That an effectual stop is not put to such a shocking prac tice, is not only a disgrace to every country professing Christianity, but to human nature and reason; and the evil is increased by the cause and the consequences. The most trivial or vicious motives often lead to this kind of murder, and innocent families frequently partake of the misfortune for a generation—a curse, or some most serious calamity, being the general attendant. Self-murder, or a duel, are frequently the consequence of that most destructive of all fashionable habits, GAMING-the infectious and vicious plague of the present age. Despair at having beggared a family, and resentment on the suspicion of being plundered, render a man regardless of his existence, and urge him to add sin to sin, and eternal ruin to temporal disgrace.

It is now time we should view the subject in a more spiritual sense, and inquire whether this sixth commandment does not forbid something besides the actual commission of this dreadful crime.

If we view it by that rule which Jesus Christ has given us, we shall easily perceive that, by pointing out to us the true spirit of

God's laws, he at the same time proposes the most effectual means of preventing the breach of them; for, by watching and over-ruling the principles and passions which naturally incline men to the most vicious actions, they will be most likely to avoid the commission of those positive sins which bring certain condemnation with them. With respect, therefore, to the crime of murder, it is possible, according to the declaration of the Gospel, so far to be guilty of it, without actually shedding blood, as to provoke the vengeance of the Almighty, and subject the soul to the punishment it deserves; for as, in the next commandment, our blessed Lord assures us, a man may be guilty of the sin of adultery by the mere indulgence of his vicious and corrupt desires, so in this we are told (Matt. xv. 19), that out of the heart proceed murders, as well as many other damnable crimes; and St. John (1 Ep. iii. 15) tells us that whoso hateth his brother, is a murderer; and, to warn his hearers from thinking lightly of such a degree of offence that does not proceed to the notice of civil laws, he adds, and no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. To steer clear, therefore, of admitting any such disposition to take root in our hearts, we must consider the commandment as expressly forbidding all variance, hatred, unjust emulation, envy, revenge, evil speaking, quarrelling, and

rash and immoderate anger; for these alone will not only render the possessor the object of God's most just hatred and punishment, but, if yielded to, they will be most likely to lead to the perpetration of the actual transgression.

Daily experience informs us that the most horrid deeds of this nature proceed from the spirit of resentment and revenge, and other evil tempers, set to work by inflamed passions, either through liquor, or through suggestions of the tempter, upon vicious and unguarded livers. Envy and discontent likewise, which are always attended by selfishness and covetousness, are principles which are very apt to incline men to a breach of this commandment in the spiritual sense, by which they may endanger their souls. God, who knows all things, has graciously warned his creatures against admitting such principles into their hearts, because, though a part of the motive of selfishness may keep a man from incurring the penalty due to the positive crime; yet the heart may be so dreadfully infected by the indulgence of unjust wishes, as to become that kind of murderer, as will have part in the lake mentioned in the Revelations (xxi. 18). But to be more particular: if a man, for example, has a worldly dependence upon another, and, instead of checking and guarding against those desires which will be continu