vours to hasten that era by spreading abroad the knowledge of the Lord within the sphere of his influence. Suppose that a person should spend his days in labouring to compose quarrels among his fellow-men, without, however, doing any thing to bring the parties whom he found in a state of animosity under the influence of Gospel principles, he would deserve the character of a peacemaker only in a very limited and inferior degree. He might meet with apparent success in various instances; yet, leaving unchanged the hearts of those who were the objects of his persuasions, he would contribute nothing real or permanent to the cause of peace. The sources of discord must be reached, in order to its prevalence among men being materially affected; and this can only be done by the Gospel. We, therefore, restrict the name of peacemaker to him whose influence is directed towards the advancement of the Gospel. Peacemaker and evangelist are one.

In adopting this view we put no strained interpretation upon the text. On the contrary, we conceive that we are bringing out its exact idea. The position which the beatitude under consideration has, in the series to which it belongs, favours this opinion. The immediate object of the beatitudes, with which our Lord commenced his sermon on the mount, was to bring out the distinctive marks of the members of his kingdom,-first, their internal characters; and next, their external relations. A regular progress may be observed in the internal features mentioned, -poverty of spirit, the germ of all vital godliness,— mourning, or godly sorrow on account of sin,-meekness, that readiness to bear injuries without complaint or retaliation, which follows upon a sense of our guilt in the sight of God; a disposition beautifully exemplified in the case of David, when he said regarding Shimei, "So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David," -a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, an earnest

longing, that is, for the holiness without which a spiritually enlightened man feels that happiness is impossible,– mercy, because those who have themselves been the objects of the divine compassion must feel compassion for their fellow-men; and, finally, purity of heart. This is the consummation. Christian character, internally considered, begins with poverty of spirit, and is perfected in purity of heart. Why, then, does our Lord, before proceeding to notice the external relations of the members of his kingdom ("Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake," and so on), interpose the beatitude of our text, "Blessed are the peacemakers"? What propriety is there in describing his people by their disposition to promote peace, after Christian character has been already fully developed, and its maturity indicated in the beatitude relating to purity of heart? The answer is, that peacemaking does not rank in the same class with poverty of spirit, godly sorrow for sin, meekness, and the other component elements of Christian character; but it rather assumes that an individual's Christian character has been formed, and it supposes him then to go forth and endeavour to leaven the world with those high and holy principles which have been implanted in his own soul, and the communication of which to others is the best way-in fact, the only true way—to promote peace and goodwill among men. Though purity of heart is the completeness of Christian characters, yet peacemaking is properly placed after it, because it is just in so far as we have become pure in heart that we can do the work of peacemakers,—the work of filling the earth with the influence of the Gospel,-the work of bringing men to live in harmony, by bringing them to receive that divine truth which, were it universally received, would utterly banish variance and contention from human society.

In order to the further elucidation of the subject, we

shall first make some remarks illustrative of the fact that the discord, which is so extensively prevalent, results from the sinful passions reigning in the hearts of men; then show that nothing but the Gospel of the grace of God is adequate to subdue men's sinful propensities; from which, in fine, our conclusion will be obvious, that the peacemaker is he who uses his endeavours to promote the spread of the Gospel.

I. In the first place, discord is the offspring of sin. It is because the world is full of sin that it is full of discord. The various lusts of the human heart are the fires that keep the caldron of contention boiling and bubbling up.

The wars, for instance, which have, in various ages, desolated the globe, and which exhibit strife in its most gigantic proportions, are mostly traceable to the sinful principle of ambition. An Alexander, a Cæsar, or a Bonaparte, is fired with the desire of displaying his military genius, of extending the limits of his empire, or acquiring renown as a conqueror. To gratify this passion wars are undertaken, -the wealth of kingdoms is expended, and their commerce ruined,—the fruits of the earth are destroyed, and cities reduced to ashes,-myriads upon myriads of human beings, in the noontide of their days, full of life and hope, are swept off to a sudden grave,—widows and orphans innumerable are thrown into lamentation,—and the direst miseries overflow, like a flood, scenes where order and prosperity were accustomed to prevail. Nor is the influence of ambition seen merely in the contests of nations. We every day perceive it working discord between private individuals also. How common is it for the disappointment suffered by an unsuccessful candidate for some trivial post of authority or distinction, to rankle for years in his mind, alienating him from all who have been in any way concerned in his defeat, or who have not been sufficiently

active in promoting his elevation! Covetousness is another pregnant source of contention. No one needs to be told what an amount of unfriendly feeling, and how many acrimonious controversies, originate in the excessive love of money. In his haste to be rich, an individual commits a fraud upon his neighbour, takes some indirect means of injuring his business, or otherwise acts in a mean and unworthy manner towards him. What is the consequence? The injured party resents the wrong he has suffered. Then come mutual recriminations and abuse; and the quarrel, thus commenced, may be carried to any length. Even the nearest relatives are at times alienated from one another by "the mammon of unrighteousness." Look again at pride. I form an estimate of myself, which is in all likelihood greatly exaggerated, and I expect others to treat me according to this estimate. In this, however, I am disappointed. I do not receive the honour which I think to be my due. I fancy that I have been slighted, or that sufficient deference has not been shown me. Hereupon I take offence. I quarrel with the parties whom I consider to have been disrespectful. The footing of goodwill on which I previously stood with them is broken; and they are henceforth my enemies. Once more, what streams of contention flow from the poisoned fountain of sensuality! The haunts of intemperance are the very temples of discord. You expect brawls among a company of men who are debasing themselves by drinking to excess. "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." Drunkenness entering into a house is of itself sufficient, were there no other causes of variance at work, to make that home, however loving and united previously, a perfect pandemonium of strife. And need I do more than refer to the kindred sin of licentious

ness? Estranged affections, desolated hearths, torn and bleeding families, cruel and inextinguishable feuds, violent and untimely deaths, are its natural fruits.

Such examples might be multiplied indefinitely; but enough has been said to confirm the assertion, that discord is the offspring of sin. The truth is clearly expressed by the apostle James, when he says, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?"

If this, however, be the case,—if wars and fightings arise from our lusts, the reign of peace can be effectually established upon the earth only in proportion as these lusts are extinguished. In so far as men are enabled to put away pride, and to be clothed with humility,—in so far as worldlymindedness and grasping avarice are disenchanted from the breast,-in so far as intemperance gives place to sobriety, and licentiousness to purity,-in so far as the envious are brought to rejoice in the good of their neighbours, and the selfish to look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others,—in so far as restless ambition, and an insatiable desire for earthly honour as an ultimate object, die out of the world,-thus far, and no farther, will human society cease to be distracted with contention.

II. This leads us to our second position, that the Gospel of the grace of God is alone adequate to subdue men's sinful propensities.

Most of the causes which those who put no faith in the Gospel look to, as having a chief efficacy in ameliorating human society, were in operation in various parts of the heathen world for ages before the coming of Christ; and what did they effect in the way of practical morality? Absolutely nothing. The character of the heathen, drawn by the apostle Paul, is as follows:-"God gave them over to