"with unquiet passions; running headlong into dangers which thou canst not foresee, and habits which "thou canst not eradicate; mischievous to others, but "fatal to thyself!"

In things of higher and more important concern, which respect not time but eternity, we are all in a situation too nearly resembling that of Emilius, unless placed under the discipline of a better tutor. That tutor must be Religion; from the design of which shall be adduced a

Second argument in favour of self-denial. Religion supposes the corruption of our nature, and is given to heal and restore it—a consideration which will carry us a step farther into the nature of this evangelical duty. For the physician who undertakes to cure a disease, must of course, while he administers proper medicines, enjoin his patient to abstain from every thing (however pleasing and agreeable) which may, in any degree, counteract those medicines, and nourish the disease. The wisdom and the kindness of the physician are manifested by the injunction, whatever the sick man may, and through ignorance, frowardness, and peevishness, probably will, think to the contrary. It is easy therefore to conceive, that many indulgences, though in themselves not, strictly speaking, perhaps vicious or immoral, may yet be prohibited as dangerous on account of the infirmity of our minds; for the same quantity of wine which would be of no disservice to a person in health, might prove fatal to one in a fever. In this light human nature is considered (and surely with the utmost truth and propriety) by the Gospel. We are fallen into a

state of sin, and being so fallen, we find ourselves in a fallen world, where, unless we are upon our guard, every thing around us will contribute to aggravate and inflame the distemper. Therefore, are we, in mercy, commanded to abstain. Christ came to deliver us from this state of sin and death, and to restore us to all those tempers which may best prepare us for a state of glory, with immortal spirits, in another and a better world to come. Now what are those tempers? Read the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, and see:-humility, meekness, mourning, purity, heavenly-mindedness, righteousness, peace, patience, resignation, and joy in being counted worthy to suffer abuse, ridicule, and persecution for our Saviour's sake. We must renounce our religion, or acknowledge the excellency of these tempers, and the necessity of their being formed in us, that our Redeemer may pronounce us blessed. If therefore we find ourselves engaged in any habits of life, in a course of any indulgences and enjoyments, any pleasures or diversions, which prevent the formation of these tempers in us, and tend to strengthen and confirm their opposites, in such instances it will undoubtedly be expedient to practise self-denial. When we return home in the evening, before we retire to our rest, let us sometimes, for the experiment's sake, only read over the first twelve verses of our Lord's sermon on the mount, and observe how our minds stand affected toward them. If at any time we are in doubt concerning a particular employment or amusement, instead of inquiring nicely into the lawfulness of it, and whether there be in Scripture any special pro

hibition of it, the shorter and safer way is to ask oneself, whether it be agreeable to the general spirit of Christianity? whether it tend to beget and increase in us all the holy tempers of that divine religion, or to suppress and extinguish them?

To account for the strictness of the Gospel precepts, and the manners of the first Christians, it is likewise to be observed under this head, that if we would possess the power of self-control in things unlawful, we must sometimes exercise it in things lawful; as he who wishes to avoid a fall from a precipice, if he be a prudent man, will not venture too near the verge of it. The desires that have been suffered, upon all occasions, to reach the line which separates virtue from vice, will by a very small temptation be seduced to pass it. The Christian soldier, like all others, must be put under the discipline of war in the time of peace, or when the hour of actual service arrives, he will be found greatly wanting. He who has accustomed himself to govern his thoughts and words, will easily govern his actions; and he who has learned at proper seasons to abstain, will find no difficulty in being temperate.—It may be added, that he who has attained to temperance, has gone a great way towards the acquisition of many other virtues.-This leads us to a

Third reason upon which the doctrine of self-denial is founded, namely, the influence which the body exerts upon the soul. So great and extensive is this influence, that the fall of man seems to have consisted very much in the subjection of the soul to the power and dominion of the body; as the characteristic mark

of his restoration through Christ is the reduction of the body under the power and dominion of the soul. For thus the Scriptures describe the whole process as a contest between the flesh and the spirit, ending, after many struggles and vicissitudes, in the victory of the latter. "The corruptible body," says the wise man, "presseth down the soul, and the earthly ta"bernacle weigheth down the mind." It must be our endeavour, as it is both our interest and our duty, to take off as much as may be, this pressure, and to diminish this weight. The body must have its supplies, or the soul will lose a good servant; but great care must be taken as to the quantity and quality of those supplies, or it will acquire a very bad master. He who fares sumptuously every day, and makes each meal a full and luxurious one, may, after any such meal, feel the force and energy of the above-cited description" The corruptible body presseth down "the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind." The heat and heaviness caused in the body by repletion, induce, for the time, an uneasiness and dulness on the soul; nay, what is more extraordinary, even vitiate and deprave its taste. The intellectual, moral, or spiritual truths, which, after the light repast of the morning were relishing as the patriarch's savoury meat, are now become tasteless as the white of an egg. The man has contracted a temporary indifference, at least, if not an aversion towards every thing that is wise, and great, and good. His faculties are not equal to any thing higher than a newspaper, or a novel, or a conversation more trifling than either; and a very few sentences in a religious

way would infallibly send him to sleep. In short, there is not more difference between any two men, than between the same man when full and when fasting.

To say, with a celebrated physician, that no Englishman has an idea of temperance, would be saying too much but we shall say no more than the truth, perhaps, when we say, that most of us are frequently wanting in many degrees of that self-denial which is so powerfully recommended and enforced upon us, by the preceding consideration, and which would conduce no less to the health and comfort of our bodies, than to the improvement and welfare of our minds.

The reciprocal influence of the soul and body on each other, has been largely demonstrated by modern philosophers; but they have been far too hasty in concluding from thence, that the soul, as well as the body, is material. There are arguments sufficient to evince them distinct beings, with different powers, though capable of exerting a mutual influence on each other. There is no absurdity in supposing them so to do. That they cannot exert such a mutual influence, allowing them to be distinct substances, is a negative, which never has been, nor ever can be proved. But an inference of great weight and importance to the conduct of mankind may be drawn from the circumstance of this reciprocal influence, namely, that we should labour, on the one hand, by temperance and abstinence, to preserve the body in that state which may produce a benign and kindly influence on the soul; and, on the other, to fill the soul with such ideas, sentiments, and affections, as