greatly defective. Now of such, it is surely both charitable and reasonable to suppose, that their judgment is in fault rather than their principles. Perhaps they do not sufficiently comprehend the extent of Christian obedience. Perhaps they do not consider, that certain habits which they indulge, or certain dispositions which they cherish, come under the province of religion. Even of those duties which they recognise, and which they are desirous to obey, they may not in every case see the application, and understand the bearings. Here therefore the patient investigation of Christian obedience is imperiously demanded. Respecting the great points of external conduct, such men are probably instructed. But there may be unchristian tempers, to which they are indifferent, because they are not aware of their criminality. There may be inordinate affections, which they do not mortify, because they are ignorant of their danger. In some cases, they may even deceive themselves so far, as to give specious names to their beset

ting sins, and thus transform them into virtues. They may call their indolence, indifference to the world; their pride, concern for the Christian character which they are desirous to support; their unforgiving disposition, firmness of mind; their want of mercy, a laudable anxiety for justice. It is true that, while the principle of religion exists in the heart, and no wilful and acknowledged sin is habitually indulged, the characters which I have described may yet be the children of God; but their errors are not therefore to be overlooked. If, by presenting to their view, even the minutest ramifications, of the duty in which they are defective, we can teach them to "add to their faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;" can we perform a more acceptable service to God, when we instruct them to "glorify in their body, and in their spirit ?"

Having said thus much respecting the usefulness, of mingling with general exhortations to repentance, faith, and holiness, particular explanations of the various duties,

incumbent

incumbent on us as Christians; I proceed to the beatitude, which forms the subject of the present discourse.

When our Saviour said to his hearers : "blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy;" we may be assured that he did not confine his idea, to the absence of that cruel propensity, which delights in torture and in death; and which finds in the agonies of animals, or even of men, a strange and horrid satisfaction. The habits of civilized life, no less than the precepts of the Gospel, are shocked by the barbarity to which I allude. There are indeed who call themselves Christians, yet frequent the scenes where innocent animals are tormented for their amusement, and where even men are wounded and disfigured, and sometimes expire under blows inflicted by each other. In a few, want of reflection may perhaps palliate this conduct; and while many receive from such sports a delight congenial to their savage natures, the giddy and the thoughtless may seek only a busy and animating specta

cle.

cle. But upon the principles of the Gospel, such an indulgence, with whatever palliations, is utterly inadmissible. The serious Christian flies from such scenes with horror. He imagines the mild but touching reproof, with which the meek and benevolent Jesus would reprobate this conduct. Amidst intemperance and riot, as well as cruelty, the look which was turned upon Peter, would seem turned-upon him; and if he could be tempted thus to belie his Christian profession and to forget his Christian character, like the penitent apostle, he would "remember the word of the Lord, and go out and weep bitterly."

If it be incompatible with real Christianity to make the sufferings of others an amusement, it is equally so to enjoy them from a principle of revenge. Some denominations of Christians have carried their idea of mercy so far as to think it inconsistent with selfpreservation, not only in their individual but in their collective capacity. In their opinion, even defensive war is unlawful, and every

injury is to be borne without resistance, even when it attacks our property, our liberty, or our lives. But this seems an improper application of the principle, an application contrary to reason, and unauthorized by Scripture. Many of our Saviour's early converts were soldiers; and we do not find that he pressed on them the necessity of abandoning their profession: on the contrary, by giving injunctions respecting their conduct when engaged in it, he afforded at least an indirect sanction to some kinds of warfare. But Christian mercy must absolutely condemn the aggressor, whether wielding the strength of thousands, or deciding by his single arm his own individual quarrel. The only principle upon which the crimes and miseries of war can be tolerated by the Christian, is that, not of revenge, but of prevention: and in his particular case, self-defence, when his life is endangered, will alone induce him to draw the sword. No fancied or even real insult, no feeling of wounded pride, no fear of worldly disgrace, can justify him in exposing

VOL. II.

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his