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SECT. II. to us, who is our "fhield" on earth, and will be our "exceeding

at reward" in heaven; who " guides us with his counsel, and will, after that, receive "us to glory Whom have we in

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heaven, O Lord, but thee; and there "is none upon earth we can defire in comparison of thee !"

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II. sc

-Through the tender mercy "of our God; whereby the dayfpring from on high hath vi"fited us,

12. "To give light to them that fit "in darkness, and in the fhadow "of death, to guide our feet "into the way of peace."

St. John was the morning-ftar, that preceded the fun of righteousness at his rifing; an event, the glory of which is due to the tender mercy of our God," fince towards the production of it man could do no more than he can do towards caufing the natural fun to rise upon the earth. The bleffed effects of the day

a Pfalm lxxiii. 24.

fpring which then dawned from on SECT. II. high, and gradually increased more and more unto the perfect day, were --- the difperfion of ignorance, which is the darkness of the intellectual world; the awakening of men from fin, which is the fleep of the foul; and the converfion and direction of their hearts and

inclinations into "the way of peace," that is, of reconciliation to God by the blood of Chrift, to themselves by the anfwer of a confcience cleanfed from fin, and to one another by mutual love. Happy is the people that is in fuch a "case; yea, happy is the people, whose "God is the Lord. They are the "children of the light and of the

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day. Their fun` fhall no more go down, neither fhall their moon with"draw itself; for the Lord fhall be un"to them an everlasting light, and the

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days of their mourning fhall be "ended."

SEC

SECT.III.

SECTION III.

Confiderations on St. John's education in the defarts.

A

LL the information we have concerning St. John,, from the time of his birth to that of his public appearance, is contained in the few following words --- " And the child grew, "and waxed ftrong in fpirit, and was " in the defarts till the day of his shewing unto Ifrael "." There, apart from the world, and under the tuition of heaven, he was catechized in the principles of divine wisdom, initiated into the mystery of a holy life, and perfected in the difcipline of felf-denial;

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The mofs his bed, the cave his humble cell,
His food the fruits, his drink the chryftal well:
Remote from man, with God be pass'd the days,
Pray'r all his bus'nefs, all his pleasure praise.

PARNEL L.

a Luke i. 80.

THIS difpenfation in the case of the SECT.III. Baptift, like many others relative to the prophets, was extraordinary and miraculous; confequently, not to be literally copied by any one, but in fimilar circumftances, and under a fupernatural direction. Nor has the monaftic scheme the fanction of fo great an example; as St. John was under the obligation of no vow, but having finished his preparation in folitude, came forth to act his part upon the theatre of the world. And it is well known, that, even in those ages when mankind ftood aftonished at the austerities practifed by reclufes and eremites, the epifcopal or facerdotal character was reckoned as much fuperior to the other, as charity is better than contemplation. "In folitude," faith a great mafter of this fubject, "à "man may go to heaven by the way prayer and devotion; but in fociety he carries others with him by the "way of mercy and charity. In foli❝tude there are fewer temptations, but "then there is likewife the exercise of "fewer virtues. Solitude is a good 66 school, and the world the best theatre.

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of

"The

SECT.III. "The inftitution is beft there, the "practice here. The wilderness hath "the advantage of difcipline, but fō

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retirement.

ciety furnisheth the opportunities of "perfection." To confirm this judicious ftate of the cafe, it may be obferved, that the only perfect life which hath ever been led on earth, was a mixture of the folitary and focial. Our Lord himself paffed thirty years in the privacy of Nazareth, and then appeared in public to exercife his miniftry; but ftill not without frequent intervals of "It was in folitude that " he kept his vigils; the defart places " heard him pray; in the wildernefs he vanquished Satan; upon a mountain apart he was transfigured." But in public he preached the Gofpel, and converted fouls; in public he healed the fick, and caft out devils; in public he fuffered, and, while he redeemed the world, fet it a pattern of humility, patience, and charity.

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FROM the circumftance of St. John's education in the defarts we may, therefore, venture to draw a conclufion which will be of general ufe, with regard to

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