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BELIGIOUS MAXIMS 
 
 HAYING A CONNEXION 
 WITH 
 
 THE DOCTRINES 
 
 AND 
 
 PRACTICE OF HOLINESS. 
 
 By THOMAS C. UPHAM, D. D. 
 
 Author of the Life of Faith, &c. 
 SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 WILLIAM S. MARTIEN 
 
 No. 144 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 1854. 
 

 Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year IS 
 
 WILLIAM B. Mai;tii:\ 
 Iu the office of the CU-rk of the District Court fur the I 
 
 l)L-trict of reun^lvania. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Religious Maxims Page 9-106 
 
 Christian Humility 107-113 
 
 Christian Love 114-127 
 
 Personal Feelings — Extracts from the 
 
 Author's Letters from Palestine 128-136 
 
 Religious Stanzas: 
 
 Penitence 137 
 
 If there is sunshine in the face 138 
 
 Thou Giver of the rising light 139 
 
 I^ng did the clouds and darkness roll. • . . 140 
 
 First day of the New Life 140 
 
 Jehovah, Sovereign of my heart 141 
 
 Man's spirit hath an upward look 142 
 
 Although affliction smites my heart 143 
 
 If clouds and storms appear 143 
 
 The Divine Life 144 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 TnE following Maxim- do not have relation t 
 
 gion in it.- full extent; hut to tin' higher 
 religious experience. They embody, in a o 
 and simple form, many of the principles -which arc 
 laid down and illustrated at some length in the 
 larger treatises on holiness. Tested not more I 
 
 own personal experience than by a careful ODfl 
 
 don of others, they seem to me to !"■ oharaoi 
 by the truth: hut 1 am not bo Banguineai 
 
 that they will all lie OOrreotly DJlderstOOd and appre- 
 
 oiated by all persons. They most be inter] 
 and applied, in Borne degree at Least, by the existing 
 mental position. Those who arc truly seeking 
 holiness of heart, and have realised, in some consid- 
 erable degree, the object of their search, will i 
 likely to foil, either in understanding their import, 
 ox in making a proper application of them. 
 
 r. 
 
KELIGIOUS MAXIMS. 
 
 I. 
 
 Faith is the continuance as well as the be- 
 ginning of the religious life. No man can 
 be justified in Christ, unless he is willing to 
 renounce all merit and hope in himself; and, 
 in the exercise of faith, receive Christ alone 
 as the propitiation for his sins. No man 
 can experience the grace of sanctification, 
 unless, renouncing all other means of sancti- 
 fication, all wisdom and all strength of his 
 own, he is willing to receive from God, in 
 the exercise of faith, that wisdom and that 
 strength, moment by moment, without which 
 the sanctification of the heart cannot exist. 
 II. 
 Seek holiness rather than consolation. 
 Not that consolation is to be despised, or 
 thought lightly of; but solid and permanent 
 2 
 
10 &1LIGK 
 
 ilation la the result rather than the fore- 
 runner of holiness; therefore, he « 
 consolation as a distinct and independent 
 
 object, will mi- -ess holi- 
 
 . and consolation (not perhaps often in 
 
 the form of ecstatic and rapturous joys, hut 
 rather of solid and delightful peace) will 
 follow, as assuredly as warmth follows the 
 dispensation of the rays of the sun- He 
 
 who is holy, must be happy. 
 in. 
 In whatever you are called upon to do, 
 endeavour to maintain a calm, collected, and 
 prayerful state of mind. Self-recollection is 
 of great importance. "It is good for a man 
 to wait quietly for the salvation of the 
 Lord." He, who is in what may be called 
 a spiritual hurry, or rather who runs with- 
 out having evidence of being spiritually sent, 
 makes haste to no purpose. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Be silent when blamed and reproached 
 
 unjustly, and under such circumstances that 
 
 the reproachful and injurious person will be 
 
 likely, under the influence of his own rellee- 
 
MAXIMS. 11 
 
 tions, to discover his error and wrong speedi- 
 ly. Instead of replying, receive the inju- 
 rious treatment with humility and calmness ; 
 and He, in whose name you thus suffer, will' 
 reward you with inward consolation, while 
 he sends the sharp arrow of conviction*into 
 the heart of your adversary. 
 v. 
 Be not disheartened because the eye of 
 the world is constantly and earnestly fixed 
 upon you, to detect your errors, and to re- 
 joice in your halting. But rather regard 
 this state of things, trying though it may 
 be, as one of the safeguards which a kind 
 Father has placed around you, to keep alive, 
 in your own bosom, an antagonist spirit of 
 watchfulness, and to prevent those very mis- 
 takes and transgressions, which your ene- 
 mies eagerly anticipate. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Do not think it strange when troubles 
 and persecutions come upon you. Bather 
 receive them quietly and thankfully, as com- 
 ing from a Father's hand. Yea, happy are 
 ye, if, in the exercise of faith, you can look 
 
U RBLIG] 
 
 above the earthly instrumentality, above the 
 
 ihneas and malice of men, to bin who 
 has permittee! them for your good, 
 persecuted they the Saviour and the pro- 
 phets. 
 
 VII. 
 
 "Be ye angry and sin not." The life of 
 our Saviour, as well as the precepts of the 
 apostles, clearly teaches us, that there may 
 
 be occasions, on which we may have feedings 
 of displeasure, and even of anger, without 
 sin. Sin does not necessarily attach to 
 anger, considered in its nature, but in its 
 degree. Nevertheless, anger Beldom i 
 in fact, without becoming in its measurement 
 inordinate and excessive. Hence it is im- 
 portant to watch against it, lest we be led 
 into transgression. Make it a rule, there- 
 fore, never to give any outward ezprei 
 to angry feelings (a course which will ope- 
 rate as a powerful check upon their 6 
 sive action) until you have made them the 
 BUDJect of reflection and prayer. And thus 
 you may hope to be kept. 
 
MAXIMS. 13 
 
 VIII. 
 
 True peace of mind does not depend, as 
 some seem to suppose, on the external inci- 
 dents of riches and poverty, of health and 
 sickness, of friendship and enmities. It has 
 no necessary dependence upon society or se- 
 clusion; upon dwelling in cities or in the 
 desert; upon the possession of temporal 
 power, or a condition of temporal insignifi- 
 cance and weakness. "The kingdom of God 
 is within you." Let the heart be right, let 
 it be fully united with the will of God, and 
 we shall be entirely contented with those 
 circumstances in which Providence has seen 
 fit to place us, however unpropitious they 
 may be in a worldly point of view. He 
 who gains the victory over himself, gains the 
 victory over all his enemies. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Some persons think of obedience as if it 
 were nothing else, and could be nothing else, 
 than servitude. And it must be admitted 
 that constrained obedience is so. He who 
 obeys by compulsion, and not freely, wears 
 a chain upon his spirit which continually 
 2* 
 
14 RELIGIOUS 
 
 frets and torments, while it confines him. 
 But this is not Christian obedience. To 
 obey with the whole heart, in other words, 
 to obey as Christ would have us, is essential- 
 ly the same as to be perfectly resigned to 
 the will of God; having no will but his. 
 And he must have strange notions of the 
 interior and purified life, who supposes that 
 the obedience, which revolves constantly and 
 joyfully within the limits of the divine will, 
 partakes of the nature of servitude. On the 
 contrary, true obedience, that which has its 
 seat in the affections, and which flows out 
 like the gushing of water, may be said, in a 
 very important sense, to possess not only the 
 nature, but the very essence of freedom, 
 x. 
 A sanctified state of heart does not require 
 to be sustained by any mere forms of bodily 
 excitation. It gets above the dominion, at 
 least in a very considerable degree, of the 
 nerves and the senses. It seeks an atmo- 
 sphere of calmness, of thought, and holy 
 meditation. 
 
MAXIMS. 15 
 
 XI. 
 
 Our spiritual strength will be nearly in 
 proportion to the absence of self-dependence 
 and self-confidence. When we are weak in 
 ourselves, we shall not fail, if we apply to 
 the right source for help, to be found strong 
 in the Lord. Madam Guyon, speaking of 
 certain temptations to which she had been 
 exposed, says, "I then comprehended what 
 power a soul has which is entirely annihi- 
 lated." This is strong language; but when 
 it is properly understood, it conveys import- 
 ant truth. When we sink in ourselves, we 
 rise in God. When we have no strength in 
 ourselves, we have divine power in Him who 
 can subdue all his adversaries. "The Lord 
 is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliv- 
 erer; my God, my strength, in whom I will 
 trust ; my buckler, and the horn of my sal- 
 vation, and my high tower." 
 
 XII. 
 
 In proportion as the heart becomes sancti- 
 fied, there is a diminished tendency to enthu- 
 siasm and fanaticism ; and this is undoubt- 
 edly one of the leading tests of sanctification. 
 
16 RELIGIOUS 
 
 One of the marks of an enthusiastic and 
 fanatical state of mind, is a fiery and unre- 
 strained impetuosity of feeling; a rushing 
 on, sometimes very blindly, as if the world 
 were in danger, or as if the great Creator 
 were not at the helm. It is not only feeling 
 without a due degree of judgment, but, what 
 is the corrupting and fatal trait, it is feeling 
 without a due degree of confidence in God. 
 True holiness reflects the image of God in 
 this respect as well as in others, that it is 
 calm, thoughtful, deliberate, immutable; and 
 how can it be otherwise, since, rejecting its 
 own wisdom and strength, it incorporates 
 into itself the wisdom and strength of the 
 Almighty ? 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The hidden life, which God imparts to his 
 accepted people, may flourish in solitudes 
 and deserts; far from the societies of men 
 and the din and disturbance of cities. From 
 the cave of the hermit, from the cell of the 
 solitary recluse, the fervent prayer has often 
 arisen, which has been acceptable in the 
 sight of God. But it would be a strange 
 
MAXIMS. 17 
 
 and fatal misconception, that religion, even 
 in its most pure and triumphant exaltations, 
 can flourish nowhere else. The home of 
 holiness is in the heart, irrespective of out- 
 ward situations and alliances; and therefore 
 we may expect to find it, if there are hearts 
 adapted to its reception and growth, in the 
 haunts of business as well as in the silence of 
 retirement; in the palaces of Rome, as well 
 as in the deserts of the Thebais. It is a 
 fatal mistake to suppose that we cannot be 
 holy except on the condition of a situation 
 and circumstances in life such as shall suit 
 ourselves. It is one of the first principles 
 of holiness to leave our times and our places, 
 our going out and our coming in, our wasted 
 and our goodly heritage, entirely with the 
 Lord. Here, Lord, hast thou placed us, 
 and we will glorify thee here. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 In the agitations of the present life, beset 
 and perplexed as we are with troubles, how 
 natural it is to seek earnestly some place of 
 rest ! and hence it is that we so often reveal 
 our cares and perplexities to our fellow-men, 
 
18 RELIGIOUS 
 
 and seek comfort and support from that 
 source. But the sanctified soul, having ex- 
 perienced the uncertainties of all human 
 aids, turns instinctively to the great God; 
 and hiding itself in the presence and pro- 
 tection of the divine existence, it reposes 
 there, as in a strong tower, which no ene- 
 mies can conquer, and, as on an everlasting 
 rock, which no floods can wash away. It 
 knows the instructive import of that sublime 
 exclamation of the Psalmist, (Ps. lxii. 5,) 
 "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for 
 my expectation is from him." 
 xv. 
 Speak not often of your own actions, nor 
 even, when it can be properly avoided, make 
 allusion to yourself, as an agent in transac- 
 tions which are calculated to attract notice. 
 We do not suppose, as some may be inclined 
 to do, that frequent speaking of our actions 
 is necessarily a proof, although it may fur- 
 nish a presumption, of inordinate self-love or 
 vanity; but it cannot be denied, that, by 
 such a course, we expose ourselves to tempta- 
 tions and dangers in that direction. It is 
 
MAXIMS. 19 
 
 much safer, and is certainly much more pro- 
 fitable, to speak of what has been done for 
 us and wrought in us; to speak, for instance, 
 of ourselves as the recipients of the goodness 
 of God, than to speak of what we have our- 
 selves done. But even here, also, although 
 it may often be an imperative duty, there is 
 need of deliberation and caution. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 There are many persons, who would will- 
 ingly be Christians, and eminent Christians 
 too, if Christianity were limited to great oc- 
 casions. For such occasions they call forth 
 whatever pious and devotional resources they 
 have, or seem to have, and not only place 
 them in the best light, but inspire them, for 
 the time being, with the greatest possible 
 efficiency. But on smaller occasions, in the 
 every-day occurrences and events of life, the 
 religious principle is in a state of dormancy ; 
 giving no signs of effective vitality and move- 
 ment. The life of such persons is not like 
 that of the sun, equable, constant, diffusive, 
 and beneficient, though attracting but little 
 notice; but like the eruptive and glaring 
 
20 RELIGIOUS 
 
 blaze of volcanoes, which comes forth at 
 remote periods, in company with great thun- 
 derings and shakings of the earth; and yet 
 the heart of the people is not made glad by 
 it. Such religion is vain ; and its possessors 
 know not what manner of spirit they are of. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Out of death springs life. We must die 
 naturally, in order that we may live spirit- 
 ually. The beautiful flowers spring up from 
 dead seeds ; and from the death of those evil 
 principles that spread so diffusively and 
 darkly over the natural heart, springs up 
 the beauty of a new life, the quiet but 
 ravishing bloom of holiness. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 A strong faith has the power to make a 
 virtual and present reality of those things 
 which are in fact future. Be it so that we 
 have not the thing itself in the literal sense 
 of the term ; that we have not heaven ; that 
 we have not the visible presence of Christ; 
 that we have not those things, whatsoever 
 they may be, which constitute the glory and 
 blessedness of the future world. But it is 
 
MAXIMS. 21 
 
 certain that in the Bible we have the pro- 
 mise of them — we have the title deed, the 
 bond, the mortgage, most solemnly made out 
 and delivered to us. All these things are, 
 therefore, ours, if we fully believe in the 
 promise; and they can all be made, in the 
 exercise of entire faith, a virtual and present 
 reality. A man reckons his notes, bonds, 
 and bills, which are the certificates and con- 
 firmations of absent possessions, as so much 
 property, as actual money, although it is 
 only virtually and by faith realized to be 
 such. He counts himself as truly and really 
 owning the property, in amount and kind, 
 which the face of his papers, of his notes and 
 bonds, represents; and yet he has nothing 
 in hand but his papers and his faith in the 
 individuals who have signed them. How 
 much more then, should we have faith in our 
 title-deeds, in our bonds and testaments, 
 which are written in the blood of the Son of 
 God, are confirmed by the oath of the 
 Father, and are witnessed by the Holy 
 Ghost! And how much more should we, 
 having such deeds and bonds, and such im- 
 
22 RELIGIOUS 
 
 mutable confirmations of them, count God 
 ours, and Christ and the Holy Spirit ours, 
 and eternal glory ours ! 
 
 XIX. 
 
 It is an excellent saying of the celebrated 
 Fenelon, " It is only imperfection that com- 
 plains of what is imperfect." It would be 
 well for those who aim at Christian perfec- 
 tion to remember this. Surrounded by those 
 who constantly exhibit defects of character 
 and conduct, if we yield to a complaining 
 and impatient spirit, we shall mar our own 
 peace, without having the satisfaction of 
 benefitting others. When the mind is in a 
 right position, absorbed in God and truly 
 dead to the world, it will not be troubled by 
 these things. Or if it be otherwise, and we 
 are in fact afflicted, it will be for others and 
 not for ourselves ; and we shall be more dis- 
 posed to pity than to complain, 
 xx. 
 
 Prayer without faith is vain. A pious 
 English writer, one who lived as far back as 
 the days of the Puritans, and who uses vari- 
 ous homely but instructive illustrations after 
 
MAXIMS. 23 
 
 the manner of those times, calls prayer "the 
 bucket of the soul, by which it draws water 
 out of the wells of salvation; but without 
 faith, you may let down this bucket again 
 and again, and never bring up one drop of 
 solid comfort."* It is faith which fills the 
 bucket. And accordingly, if our faith be 
 weak, we shall find but poor and famishing 
 returns. A full bucket depends on the con- 
 dition of a strong faith. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 One of the most important requisites of a 
 holy life is patience: and by this, we do 
 not mean merely a meek and quiet temper, 
 when one is personally assaulted and injured; 
 but a like meekness and quietness of temper 
 in relation to the moral and religious pro- 
 gress of the world. We may be deeply 
 afflicted in view of the desolations of Zion ; 
 but let us ever remember and rejoice, that 
 the cause of truth and holiness is lodged 
 safely in the hands of God. With him a 
 thousand years are as one day; and, in the 
 darkest moments, when Satan seems to be 
 
 * Symond's Sight and Faith, printed in 1651. 
 
24 RELIGIOUS 
 
 let loose with ten-fold fury, let us thank God 
 and take courage, because the Lord God 
 Omnipotent reigneth. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 It may sometimes be practically important 
 to make a distinction between a renunciation 
 of the world and a renunciation of ourselves. 
 A man may, in a certain sense and to a cer- 
 tain extent renounce the world, and yet may 
 find himself greatly disappointed in his anti- 
 cipations of spiritual improvement and bene- 
 fit. He has indeed renounced the world as 
 it presents itself to us in its externalities; 
 he has renounced its outward attractions; 
 its perverted and idle shows. He may have 
 carried his renouncement so far as to seclude 
 himself entirely from society, and to spend 
 his days in some solitary desert; but it 
 avails nothing, or almost nothing, because 
 there is not at the same time an internal 
 renunciation; a crucifixion and renunciation 
 of self. A mere crucifixion of the outward 
 world may still leave a vitality and luxuri- 
 ance of the selfish principle; but a cruci- 
 fixion of self necessarily involves the cruci- 
 
MAXIMS. 25 
 
 fixion, in the Scripture sense, of every thing 
 else. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 It is one among the pious and valuable 
 maxims, which are ascribed to Francis de 
 Sales: "A judicious silence is always better 
 than truth spoken without charity." The 
 very undertaking to instruct or censure 
 others, implies an assumption of intellectual 
 or moral superiority. It cannot be expected, 
 therefore, that the attempt will be well re- 
 ceived, unless it is tempered with a heaven- 
 ly spirit. "Though I speak with the tongues 
 of men and of angels, and have not charity, 
 I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling 
 cymbal." 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 We may be deprived of outward consola- 
 tions, and still have consolations of heart; 
 but this is not all. We may be deprived, in 
 the sovereignty of God, and for wise pur- 
 poses, of inivard consolations also ; and may 
 be left for a time, in a state of mental bar- 
 renness and desolation; and yet faith, pre- 
 cious faith, discouraging as this state of 
 
26 RELIGIOUS 
 
 things may seem, may still remain ; and not 
 feebly merely, but in the strength and ful- 
 ness of its exercise. It is still our delight- 
 ful privilege to say of God, that he is our 
 God, our Father, our Friend and portion. 
 "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the 
 Lord." 
 
 xxv. 
 No man ever arrived at Christian perfec- 
 tion, no man ever can arrive at that en- 
 nobling state, who walks by sight, rather 
 than by faith, and of whom it cannot be 
 said, as of the father of the faithful, "he 
 went out, not knowing whither he went" 
 Perhaps we may say, it is the highest attain- 
 ment of the soul, (certainly it is the founda- 
 tion of the highest or perfect state in all 
 other Christian attainments,) that of entire 
 and unwavering confidence in God. God, 
 we are thine, for ever thine. We will not 
 let thee go until thou bless us; and when 
 thou dost bless us, still we will not let thee 
 go. For without thee, even blessing would 
 be turned into cursing. Therefore we will 
 ever trust in thee. 
 
MAXIMS. 27 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Always make it a rule to do every thing 
 ■which it is proper and a duty to do, in the 
 best manner, and to the best of your ability. 
 An imperfect execution of a thing, where we 
 might have done better, is not only unprofit- 
 able, but it is a vicious execution, or in other 
 words, is morally wrong. He who aims at 
 perfection in great things, but is willing to 
 be imperfect in little things, will find him- 
 self essentially an imperfect man. The per- 
 fection of the greater will be no compensa- 
 tion, and no excuse for the imperfection of 
 the less. Such a person wants the essential 
 principle of universal obedience. Consider 
 well, therefore, what God, in his providence, 
 would have you perform ; and if you feel the 
 spirit of those directions which require us to 
 do all things as unto God rather than unto 
 men, you will not do them with a false heart 
 or a feeble hand. And thus in small things, 
 as well as in great, in those which are unseen, 
 as well as in those which attract notice, it 
 shall be said of you, "Well done, good and 
 faithful servant." 
 
28 RELIGIOUS 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 A fixed, inflexible will, is a great assist- 
 ance in a holy life. Satan will suggest a 
 thousand reasons why we should yield a 
 little to the temptations by which we are 
 surrounded; but let us ever stand fast in our 
 purpose. A good degree of decision and 
 tenacity of purpose is of great importance 
 in the ordinary affairs of life. How much 
 more so in the things of religion ! He who 
 is easily shaken will find the way of holiness 
 difficult, perhaps impracticable. A double- 
 minded man, he who has no fixedness of 
 purpose, no energy of will, is "unstable in 
 all his ways." Ye who walk in the narrow 
 way, let your resolution be unalterable. 
 Think of the blessed Saviour. "My God, 
 my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" 
 Though he was momentarily forsaken, at 
 least so far as to be left to anguish incon- 
 ceivable and unutterable, his heart, never- 
 theless, was fixed, and he could still say, 
 "iJ/y God, my God." 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 We may pray with the intellect without 
 
MAXIMS. 29 
 
 praying with the heart; but "we cannot pray 
 with the heart without praying with the in- 
 tellect. Such are the laws of the mind, that 
 there can be no such thing as praying with- 
 out a knowledge of the. thing we pray for. 
 Let the heart be full, wholly given up to the 
 pursuit of the object; but let your perception 
 of the object be distinct and clear. This will 
 be found honourable to God and beneficial 
 to the soul. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Many persons think they are seeking 
 holiness, when they are in fact seeking the 
 "loaves and fishes." To be holy is to be 
 like Christ, who, as the Captain of our sal- 
 vation, was made perfect through suffering. 
 We must be willing to bear the cross, if we 
 would wear the crown. In seeking holiness, 
 therefore, let us think little of joy, but much 
 of purity; little of ourselves, but much of 
 God; little of our own will, but much of the 
 divine will. We will choose the deepest 
 poverty and affliction, with the will of God, 
 rather than all earthly goods and prosperi- 
 ties without it. It is God we seek, and not 
 
30 RELIGIOUS 
 
 happiness. If we have God, he will not fail 
 to take care of us. If we abide in him, even 
 a residence in hell could not harm us. "As 
 the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so 
 panteth my soul after thee, God. My 
 soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Thou hast contended with Satan, and hast 
 been successful. Thou hast fought with him, 
 and he has fled from thee. But 0, remem- 
 ber his artifices. Do not indulge the belief 
 that his nature is changed. True, indeed, 
 he is now very complacent, and is, perhaps, 
 singing thee some syren song; but he was 
 never more a devil than he is now. He now 
 assaults thee, by not assaulting thee; and 
 knows that he shall conquer, when thou 
 
 PALLEST ASLEEP. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 The value of a thing is known by what it 
 takes to preserve it, as well as by what it 
 originally cost. Men may steal your dia- 
 monds, who would not trouble things of less 
 worth. The cost of holiness was the blood 
 of the Son of God; and greatly does he mis- 
 
MAXIMS. 31 
 
 take, who supposes that it can be preserved 
 by any thing short of eternal vigilance. 
 xxxii. 
 If earthly plants are permitted to spring 
 up in the heart, how is it possible that the 
 tree of holiness should nourish? With the 
 ground already occupied with earthly pro- 
 ducts, the roots of sanctification, deprived of 
 the nourishment which should sustain them, 
 necessarily wither and die. There is not 
 nutriment enough to sustain both. Hence it 
 is that our Saviour, in his divine wisdom, 
 tells us of those who are choked with the 
 riches, and cares, and pleasures of this life, 
 
 "and BRING NO FRUIT TO PERFECTION." 
 XXXIII. 
 
 The power of Satan is great; and it is 
 his appropriate business continually to as- 
 sault the saints of God. If then, in some 
 unhappy and evil moment (by thine own 
 fault be it remembered) he gains an advan- 
 tage, lament over it deeply, but do not be 
 discouraged. Remember, if the great ene- 
 my gets from thee thy resolution, thy fixed 
 purpose, he gets all. To be defeated is not 
 
32 RELIGIOUS 
 
 wholly to be destroyed ; but on the con- 
 trary, he, and he only, hath victory written 
 upon his forehead, who, in the moment of 
 severest overthrow, hath still the heart to 
 say, " with the Lord helping me, I will tey 
 again." 
 
 xxxiv. 
 It seems to have been the doctrine of some 
 advocates of Christian perfection, especially 
 some pious Roman Catholics of former times, 
 that the various propensities and affections, 
 and particularly the bodily appetites, ought 
 to be entirely eradicated. But this doctrine, 
 when carried to its full extent, is one of the 
 artifices of Satan, by which the cause of holi- 
 ness has been greatly injured. It is more 
 difficult to regulate the natural principles 
 than to destroy them ; and there is no doubt 
 that the more difficult duty in this case, is 
 the scriptural one. We are not required to 
 eradicate our natural propensities and affec- 
 tions, but to 'purify them. We are not re- 
 quired to cease to be men, but merely to be- 
 come holy men. 
 
MAXIMS. 66 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 It is of the nature of holiness to unite with 
 whatever is like itself. It flies on eagle's 
 wings to meet its own image. Accordingly 
 the soul, so long as it is stained with sin, has 
 an affinity with what is sinful. But when it 
 is purified from iniquity, it ascends boldly 
 upward, and rests, by the impulse of its own 
 being, in the bosom of its God. The element 
 of separation is taken away, and a union, 
 strong, sincere, and lasting, necessarily takes 
 place. "He that is joined unto the Lord, 
 is one spirit." 1 Cor. vi. 17. 
 xxxvi. 
 
 It is sometimes the case, that those who 
 are seeking sanctification, anticipate results 
 which are more accordant with human wis- 
 dom than with the ways of divine Provi- 
 dence. They say, "make me clean, and I 
 shall have understanding. Sanctify me, 
 and I shall be made strong." Such antici- 
 pations, which show that the heart is not yet 
 delivered from its worldliness, are not con- 
 firmed, in the sense in which they now exist 
 in the mind, by their subsequent experience. 
 4 
 \ 
 
34 RELiaious 
 
 When sanctified, as they are thoroughly 
 emptied of self, they have neither wisdom 
 nor strength of their own. They know not 
 what to do, nor how to do it. They abhor 
 the idea of placing confidence in themselves, 
 and find they must apply to the Saviour for 
 everything. They derive all from him. In 
 the language of Scripture, he is made to 
 them " wisdom, and righteousness, and sanc- 
 tification, and redemption; that, according 
 as it is written, he that glorieth, let him 
 
 GLORY IN THE LORD." 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 It is a melancholy fact, that the religion 
 of many persons is not constantly operative, 
 but is manifested periodically, or at some 
 particular times. It is assumed, for instance, 
 on the Sabbath, but is laid aside on the shelf 
 during the week days ; but true holiness, be 
 it remembered, is not a thing to be worn for 
 occasions; to be put off or put on, with an 
 easy accommodation to circumstances, or to 
 one's private convenience. It takes too deep 
 root in the heart to be so easily disposed of 
 as such a course would imply. It is meat, 
 
MAXIMS. 35 
 
 with which we are fed; clothing, with which 
 we are clothed; the interior and permanent 
 principle of life, which animates and sustains 
 the whole man. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 The remark is somewhere made, and very 
 correctly, that "it is a great loss to lose an 
 affliction" Certain it is, that afflictions have 
 great power in purifying the mind; and if 
 it be true that mental purification, in other 
 words, holiness, is a result of all others the 
 most desirable, we may properly attach a 
 great value to whatever tends to this result. 
 Prosperities flatter us with the hope that our 
 rest is here; but afflictions lead our thoughts 
 to another and better land. "Whom the 
 Lord loveth he chasteneth; and scourgeth 
 every son that he receiveth." 
 xxxix. 
 
 It is a striking remark, ascribed to St. 
 Augustine, that grayer is the measure of 
 love. A remark, which implies that those 
 who love much will pray much; and that 
 those who pray much will love much. This 
 remark is not more scripturally than philoso- 
 
36 RELIGIOUS 
 
 phically true. It is the nature of love to 
 lead the person who exercises this passion, 
 as it were, out of himself. His heart is con- 
 tinually attracted toward the beloved object. 
 He naturally and necessarily exercises, in 
 connection with the object of love, the com- 
 munion of the affections; and this, it will 
 be readily seen, viz. the communion of the 
 affections, is the essential characteristic, and 
 perhaps, it may be said, the essence and sum 
 of prayer. In acceptable prayer the soul 
 goes forth to God in various acts of adora- 
 tion, supplication, and thanksgiving; all of 
 which imply feelings of trust and confidence, 
 and particularly love to him who is the ob- 
 ject of prayer. Accordingly, he who loves 
 much, cannot help praying much; and, on 
 the other hand, when the streams of holy 
 communion with God fail in any considerable 
 degree, it is a sure sign that there is a shal- 
 lowness and drought in that fountain of love 
 from which they have their source. 
 
 XL. 
 
 The divine life, which in every stage of its 
 existence depends upon the presence of the 
 
MAXIMS. 37 
 
 Spirit of God, places a high estimate on 
 mental tranquillity. It is no new thing to 
 remark that the Holy Spirit has no con- 
 geniality with, and no pleasure in the soul, 
 where strife and clamour have taken posses- 
 sion. If, therefore, we would have the Holy 
 Spirit with us always, we must avoid and 
 flee, with all the intensity of our being, all 
 inordinate coveting, all envying, malice, and 
 evil speaking, all impatience, jealousy, and 
 anger. Of such a heart, and such only, 
 which is calm as well as pure, partaking 
 something of the self-collected and sublime 
 tranquillity of the divine mind, can it be 
 said, in the truest and highest sense, that it 
 
 is a TEMPLE FITTED FOR THE INDWELLING OF 
 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 xli. 
 
 Where there is true Christian perfection, 
 
 there is always great humility, a Christian 
 
 grace which it is difficult to define, but which 
 
 implies at least a quiet and subdued, a meek 
 
 and forbearing spirit. Whatever may be our 
 
 supposed gifts and graces, whatever may be 
 
 our internal pleasures and raptures, they are 
 4* 
 
d$ RELIGIOUS 
 
 far from furnishing evidence of completeness 
 of Christian character without humility. It 
 is this grace, which, perhaps more than any- 
 other, imparts a beauty and attractiveness 
 to the religious life ; and which, while it is 
 blessed with the favour and approbation of 
 God, has the additional efficacy of disarming, 
 in a considerable degree, even the hostility 
 of unholy men. It has the appearance of a 
 contradiction in terms, but is nevertheless 
 true, that he who walks in humility walks in 
 power. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 It is, perhaps, a common idea, that humili- 
 ty implies weakness ; and that lowliness of 
 spirit is the same thing with spiritual imbe- 
 cility; but this certainly is not a correct 
 view. Christian humility, it is true, has 
 nothing in itself; but it has much in God. 
 In a word, it is the renunciation of our own 
 wisdom, that we may receive wisdom from 
 above ; the negation and banishment of our 
 own strength, that we may possess divine 
 strength; the rejection of our own righteous- 
 ness, that we may receive the righteousness 
 
MAXIMS. 39 
 
 of Christ. How, then, can it possibly be 
 weak and imbecile, while it merely casts off 
 the broken shield of earth, that it may put 
 on the bright panoply of heaven ? 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 In vain does the man attempt to see, whose 
 sight is obscured by the cataract, or by some 
 other equally ruinous disease. Nor is he less 
 blind, over whose spiritual eye sin has drawn 
 its opaque scales and films. Hence it is said 
 in Scripture, "The light shineth in darkness, 
 and the darkness comprehended it not." 
 But break off and purge away the spiritual 
 cataract, and the power of vision will return. 
 In proportion as the eye of the soul is puri- 
 fied from the perplexity of earthly corrup- 
 tions, does Christ become the true light of 
 the mind; and the beauty of the divine cha- 
 racter begins from that moment to unveil itself 
 in all its wonderful perfection. "Blessed 
 are the pure in heart, for they shall 
 see God." 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Pray earnestly for sanctification. Let 
 this be the desire of your heart from morn- 
 
40 RELIGIOUS 
 
 ing till evening, and from evening till morn- 
 ing. On this subject keep the soul resolute- 
 ly fixed. Take no denial. Refuse to be 
 comforted till you are blessed. But, never- 
 theless, be careful that you impose no con- 
 ditions upon God. Say not, Thou must do 
 it in this way or in that. Remember, He is a 
 sovereign, and that you are nothing. Some- 
 times he comes and turns out the evil legions 
 of the heart with observation and with a 
 triumphant shout. But not unfrequently he 
 is mighty in his silence, and smites and 
 destroys his enemies by an agency so myste- 
 rious and secret, that it seems to be alike 
 unseen and unheard. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 When, on a certain occasion, the pious 
 Fenelon, after having experienced much 
 trouble and persecution from his opposers, 
 was advised by some one to take greater 
 precautions against the artifices and evil 
 designs of men, he made answer in the true 
 spirit of a Christian, moriamur in simplict- 
 tate nostra, " let us die in our simplicity." 
 He that is wholly in Christ, has a oneness 
 
MAXIMS. 41 
 
 and purity of purpose altogether inconsist- 
 ent with those tricks and subterfuges which 
 are so common among men. He walks in 
 broad day. He goes forth in the light of 
 conscious honesty. He is willing that men 
 and angels should read the very bottom of 
 his heart. He has but one rule. His lan- 
 guage is, in the ordinary affairs of life, as 
 well as in the duties of religion, "My Father, 
 what wilt thou have me to do?" — This is 
 Christian simplicity ; and happy, thrice hap- 
 py is he who possesses it. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 If we wish to rise high in God, we must be 
 willing to sink low in ourselves. It may 
 seem like a contradiction in terms, but it is 
 nevertheless true, that there is no elevation 
 in true religion higher than that of profound 
 humility. He that would be the greatest 
 must become the least. He who was equal 
 with God, condescended to become man; 
 and it was the beloved Son of the Most 
 High that washed the feet of the disciples. 
 
 XL VII. 
 
 It is not by the mere number of our words 
 
42 RELIGIOUS 
 
 and actions, that we can most effectually 
 serve the cause of God, and glorify his name. 
 It is the temper in which they are done, 
 rather than the mere multiplication of them, 
 which gives them power. It was the remark 
 of a good man, who had much experience as 
 a minister of the gospel, that "we mar the 
 work of G-od by doing it in our own spirit" 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 Many persons seem to be more solicitous 
 for strong emotions than for right emotions. 
 It would perhaps be a fair representation of 
 their state to say the burden of their prayer 
 is, that their souls might be like "the chariots 
 of Amminadib," or that, like Paul, they may 
 be caught up into the third heavens. They 
 seem desirous, perhaps almost unconsciously 
 to themselves, to experience, or to do, some 
 great as well as some good thing. Would it 
 not be better for them, in a more chastened 
 and humble temper of mind, to make it the 
 burden and emphasis of their supplication, 
 that they may be meek, forbearing, and for- 
 giving ; that they may have a willingness to 
 wash the disciples' feet, and have great love 
 
MAXIMS. 43 
 
 even for their enemies; in a word, that they 
 may bear the image of Christ, who came, not 
 with observation, but was " meek and loivly 
 of heart?" 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 It is quite possible for a man to possess 
 evidence of sanctification, who is temporarily 
 destitute of joyful and rapturous emotions; 
 but it is not possible for a man to possess 
 such evidence, who is destitute of a living, 
 operative, and effective conscience. On no 
 part of our nature does sanctification work 
 greater effects than on the conscience. It 
 may be said to give to it an intensity aud 
 multiplicity of existence; so that like the 
 flaming sword of the cherubims, it turns 
 every way and guards the tree of life. 
 
 L. 
 
 The man who is troubled at great sins, 
 particularly such as involve a degree of noto- 
 riety, but finds himself slightly affected and 
 troubled in the commission of small or hid- 
 den ones, has but little claim to the grace of 
 sanctification. One of the surest marks of 
 sanctification is an increased sensitiveness to 
 
44 RELIGIOUS 
 
 sin in all its degrees. The slightest sin is a 
 source of unspeakable misery to the sancti- 
 fied heart; and gives the soul no rest, till 
 it is washed out in overflowing tears of peni- 
 tence. 
 
 LI. 
 
 In a state of mere justification, it is often 
 and perhaps generally the case, that it re- 
 quires a great mental effort to turn our 
 thoughts and affections from worldly objects, 
 and to fix them, promptly and firmly, upon 
 God. In a state of sanctification, it is the 
 reverse of this. To a holy heart, the diffi- 
 cult and painful effort is to turn away its 
 thoughts and affections from the supreme 
 object of its love, and to fix them, even when 
 duty authorizes it, upon objects of an infe- 
 rior nature. 
 
 LII. 
 
 Persons sometimes miss the blessing of 
 sanctification by aiming at it, not being 
 aware of the artifices of the adversary, in 
 what may perhaps be called an unsanctified 
 manner. We are not to desire sanctifica- 
 tion, which is probably the case with some, 
 
MAXIMS. 45 
 
 merely because it is an elevated and honour- 
 able state of soul, and in point of rank 
 far above any other moral condition, but 
 because it is the only true and worthy con- 
 summation of our moral and religious exist- 
 ence, and especially because it is the will of 
 our heavenly Father. 
 
 Lin. 
 All persons are willing to be justified, be- 
 cause all are willing to be saved. But all 
 are not willing to be sanctified, because all 
 are not willing to renounce the pleasures of 
 the world. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 A spirit of entire obedience is one of the 
 important characteristics of a sanctified state. 
 Not obedience merely, but entire obedience. 
 He who obeys in some things, but is fretful 
 and rebellious in others, has not the reality ; 
 and it can hardly be said that he has even 
 the appearance of holiness. 
 
 LV. 
 
 He that is united to God loves solitude; 
 but it is solitude in the relative rather than 
 the absolute sense. True, he is secluded 
 5 
 
46 RELIGIOUS 
 
 from men ; but while he is shut out from the 
 world, he is shut up in God ; and in the ab- 
 sence of human society, has the far better 
 society of the Infinite Mind. 
 
 LYI. 
 
 " Little love, little trust," says Archbishop 
 Leighton. The converse of this is equally 
 true. If there be but little trust, there will 
 be but little love. If we believe the words 
 of our heavenly Father with the whole heart, 
 it will be certain that we shall love him with 
 the whole heart. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 Sanctification consists in love, rather than 
 in knowledge. Nevertheless, it is a great 
 and delightful truth, that those who love 
 much, shall know much. They shall be led 
 to the very heights of knowledge. Love 
 shall bring light. The great God himself 
 will be their teacher. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 How pleasant, how delightful is a holy 
 imagination! It instinctively refuses and 
 throws away every thing that can defile. It, 
 is a sort of inner sanctuary; or perhaps we 
 
MAXIMS. 47 
 
 may call it the bridal chamber of the soul, 
 fitted up and adorned with everything pure 
 in earth and beautiful in heaven ; and God 
 himself is the bright light thereof. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 " Let not your heart he troubled" And 
 in regard to those who indulge the hope that 
 they are sanctified in Christ Jesus, we may 
 well inquire, why should their heart be trou- 
 bled? Have they not a great Protector? 
 Must not the archers first hit Him whom 
 thy soul loveth, before they can hit thee ? 
 "What can harm thee," says Archbishop 
 Leighton, who spoke on these things from 
 the fulness of his own pious spirit, "when 
 all must first touch God, within whom thou 
 hast enclosed thyself?" 
 
 LX. 
 
 It is a great art in the Christian life to 
 learn to be silent. Under oppositions, 
 rebukes, injuries, still be silent. It is 
 better to say nothing, than to say it in an 
 excited or angry manner, even if the occa- 
 sion should seem to justify a degree of anger. 
 By remaining silent, the mind is enabled to 
 
48 RELIGIOUS 
 
 collect itself, and to call upon God in secret 
 aspirations of prayer. And thus you will 
 speak to the honour of your holy profession, 
 as well as to the good of those who have in- 
 jured you, when you speak from God. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 It is important to make a distinction be- 
 tween sorrow and impatience. We may feel 
 sorrow without sin, but we can never feel 
 impatience without sin. Impatience always 
 involves a want of submission; and he who 
 is wanting in submission, even in the small- 
 est degree, is not perfect before God. 
 
 LXII. 
 
 We may lay it down as a principle in the 
 religious life, that everything is wrong in 
 regard to which we cannot ask the divine 
 direction and blessing. When we sin, we 
 wish, like our first parents, to hide ourselves 
 from Him whom we have offended. But it 
 is the nature of a pure heart always to seek 
 God. Its language is, in all the occurrences 
 and duties of life, "My Father, what wilt 
 thou have me to do?" 
 
MAXIMS. 49 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 A Christian is prospectively a citizen of 
 heaven; but actually, and at the present 
 time, he is a citizen of the world. Remem- 
 ber this, and do not think so much of what 
 is to be as to forget what is. We have a 
 great work in the present life, and in the 
 precise situation where God has placed us. 
 Angels glorify God in heaven; men must 
 glorify him on the earth. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 Many profess religion; many, we may 
 charitably hope, possess religion; but few, 
 very few, if we may judge from appearances, 
 are aiming with all their powers at perfec- 
 tion in religion. Nevertheless, it is only 
 upon this last class that the Saviour looks 
 with unmingled approbation. In regard to 
 all those who aim at anything short of bear- 
 ing his full image, it may be said with truth, 
 that he is wounded in the house of his 
 friends. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 If we would walk perfectly before God, 
 we must endeavour to do common things, 
 5* 
 
50 RELIGIOUS 
 
 sucli as are of every day's occurrence, and 
 of but small account in the eyes of the 
 world, in a perfect manner. Some persons 
 are so mentally constituted, that they could 
 more easily undergo the sufferings of mar- 
 tyrdom, than properly regulate and control 
 their feelings in their families during twenty- 
 four hours. How dreadful is that delusion, 
 which excuses itself in its imperfections, be- 
 cause in the providence of God, it is not 
 permitted to do or suffer some great thing. 
 Happy is he who can do God's will in the 
 solitary place, and who can win the crown 
 without going to the stake. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 It is a most dangerous mistake to suppose 
 that we can compensate, by exterior acts, 
 however important they may be, for a want 
 of interior devotion. Men may even minis- 
 ter at the altar, with all the outward elo- 
 quence of a Massillon, and yet with hearts 
 full of unbelief. A want of a right or per- 
 fect state of the outward action, may expose 
 us to the condemnation of men; but an im- 
 perfection of the inward or spiritual action, 
 
MAXIMS. 61 
 
 exposes us to the condemnation of God. If 
 we can please both God and men, it is well; 
 but above all things, let us not fail to please 
 God, who, in opposition to the course which 
 men usually take, regards the inward princi- 
 ple much more than the mere outward de- 
 velopment of it. 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 If we fail on suitable occasions to declare 
 what God has done for our souls, we shall 
 be likely to offend our heavenly Father. 
 But on the other hand, if we make such de- 
 clarations, Satan will be likely to be present, 
 and tempt us to spiritual pride. Happy is 
 the man who can relate and extol God's 
 gracious dealings with him, with such meek- 
 ness and humility as to furnish no entrance 
 to evil. 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 It will help us to ascertain whether we are 
 truly humble, if we inquire whether we are 
 free from the opposites of humility. The 
 opposites of a humble state of mind, (or at 
 least those things which sustain a divergent 
 and antagonist relation,) are impatience, 
 
/ 
 
 52 RELIGIOUS 
 
 uneasiness, a feeling that something, and 
 perhaps much, depends on ourselves, undue 
 sensitiveness to the praise and the reproofs 
 of men, and censoriousness. No man should 
 account himself truly humbled, who is the 
 subject of these unhappy states of mind. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 It is a great practical principle in the 
 religious life, that a state of suffering fur- 
 nishes the test of love. When God is pleased 
 to bestow his favours upon us, when his 
 blessings are repeated every hour, how can 
 we tell whether we love him for what he is 
 or for what he gives f But when, in seasons 
 of deep and varied afflictions, our heart still 
 clings to him as our only hope and only joy, 
 we may well say, " Thou knowest all things. 
 Thou knowest that I love thee." 
 
 LXX. 
 
 In believing in the possibility of present 
 sanctification, and in combining with this be- 
 lief the determination to attain to it, we realize 
 in ourselves the possession of that shield of 
 faith mentioned in the Scriptures, by means 
 of which we are enabled to quench the fiery 
 
MAXIMS. 53 
 
 darts of the adversary. On the contrary, in 
 rejecting this belief, and in acting in accord- 
 ance with this rejection, we throw away our 
 shield ; and it is no more than reasonable to 
 expect that we shall be pierced through and 
 through with the enemy's weapons. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 As a general thing, it may be expected 
 that all Christians will find themselves able 
 to bear the great crosses of life, because 
 they come with observation; they attract 
 notice by their very magnitude; and by put- 
 ting the soul on its guard, give it strength to 
 meet them. But happy, thrice happy is he, 
 who can bear the little crosses which ever 
 lie in wait, and which attack us secretly, and 
 without giving warning, like a thief in the 
 night. 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 We are told in the Scriptures that all 
 things are the Christian's. Heaven, Christ, 
 God, things present, and things to come, all 
 are his. But the possession in the present 
 life is of a two-fold nature — sometimes by 
 present enjoyment, and sometimes by faith. 
 
54 RELIGIOUS 
 
 
 More commonly, and undoubtedly for wise 
 reasons, the possession is by faith; but in 
 the view of Him, whose life is hid with 
 Christ, the possession is not on that account 
 any the less sure. 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 In endeavouring to estimate the genuine- 
 ness of our religious experiences, we should 
 ever keep in mind that all those experiences 
 which are wrought by the Spirit of God, and 
 are genuine in their character, tend decided- 
 ly and uniformly to personal humility. 
 " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is 
 the kingdom of heaven." How can it be 
 otherwise? The tendency of all true reli- 
 gion is to make God everything, and our- 
 ourselves comparatively nothing; to sink the 
 creature, while it elevates and enthrones the 
 Creator in the centre of the heart. " God 
 resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto 
 the humble." 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 The height and sum of religion is to bear 
 the image of Christ. But can those flatter 
 themselves that they bear the Saviour's 
 
MAXIMS. 55 
 
 image, who are overcome and are rendered 
 impatient by every trifling incident of an 
 adverse nature ? 0, remember that the life 
 of Christ was from beginning to end a life of 
 trouble. He was often misunderstood and 
 ill-treated by all classes ; he was persecuted 
 by the Pharisees ; sold by the traitor whom 
 he had chosen as one of his disciples; reviled 
 by the thief on the cross; put to death. But 
 he was far more desirous of the salvation 
 and good of his enemies, than he was of 
 personal exemption from their persecutions. 
 " Father, forgive them; for they know not 
 what they do." 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 There are various views of Christian per- 
 fection, which, on being analyzed, amount to 
 the same thing ; and when properly under- 
 stood, may be regarded as all equally cor- 
 rect. The author of the Imitation of Christ, 
 says, it consists in man's offering up himself 
 " with his whole heart to the will of God ; 
 never seeking his own will either in small or 
 great respects, either in time or eternity; 
 but with an equal mind weighing all things 
 
56 RELIGIOUS 
 
 in the balance of the sanctuary; and receiv- 
 ing both 'prosperity and adversity with con- 
 tinual thanksgiving." 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 Men bestow honour upon one another. 
 Sometimes they build up, sometimes they 
 pull down. But human opinions cannot 
 alter the reality of things, by making it 
 greater or less that it is. Every man is 
 truly such and such only AS HE IS IN the 
 sight of God. 
 
 LXXYII. 
 
 Some persons seem to be able to trust God 
 in everything, excepting in one particular, 
 viz., they feel that they must do their own 
 fighting. But what is the language of Scrip- 
 ture? "Dearly beloved, avenge not your- 
 selves. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." 
 It is said of Christ himself, Matt. xii. 19, he 
 
 SHALL NOT STKIVE. 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 When I witness the erroneous estimate 
 which men often place on certain kinds of 
 human knowledge, I am reminded of one of 
 the remarkable sayings which abound in the 
 
MAXIMS. 57 
 
 practical writings of St. Augustine. "Un- 
 happy is he who knows everything else, and 
 does not know God. Happy is he who 
 knows God, though he should be ignorant of 
 everything else." 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 There are two classes of Christians ; those 
 who live chiefly by emotion, and those who 
 live chiefly by faith. The first class, those 
 who live chiefly by emotion, remind one of 
 ships, that move by the outward impulse of 
 winds operating upon sails. They are often 
 at a dead calm, often out of their course, 
 and sometimes driven back. And it is only 
 when the winds are fair and powerful that 
 they move onward with rapidity. The other 
 class, those who live chiefly by faith, remind 
 one of the magnificent steamers which cross 
 the Atlantic, which are moved by an interior 
 and permanent principle; and which, setting 
 at defiance all ordinary obstacles, advance 
 steadily and swiftly to their destination, 
 through calm and storm, through cloud and 
 sunshine. 
 
58 RELIGIOUS 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 There are some heathen philosophers, 
 such as Socrates, Cicero, and Seneca, that 
 occasionally announce moral and religious 
 truths of great value — truths which are sus- 
 ceptible of an interpretation that will bring 
 them into close harmony with the practical 
 doctrines of Christianity. " The fewer things 
 a man wants," said Socrates on a certain oc- 
 casion, "the nearer he is to God." 
 
 LXXXI. 
 
 A parent, who loves an obedient and affec- 
 tionate child, will sometimes give him a pic- 
 ture book, a musical instrument, or some 
 other thing, as a token of his confidence and 
 love. But if the parent should find the child 
 so much taken up with the picture book as 
 to forget the parental commands, and to be 
 getting into ways of disobedience, he will 
 take it away. And thus God sometimes im- 
 parts especial spiritual consolations to his 
 children; but if he finds them, as he some- 
 times does, .more taken up with the joys he 
 gives than they are with himself and his 
 commands, he will remove them. And he 
 
MAXIMS. 59 
 
 does it in mercy. It is certainly better to 
 lose the gift than to lose the Giver; to lost 
 our consolations, than to lose our God. 
 
 LXXXII. 
 
 The past is gone ; the future has no exist- 
 ence. The present, which a certain writer 
 calls the " divine moment," or moment of 
 God, is the only period of time which is real- 
 ly committed to us. As there is no other 
 point of time in which we can really serve 
 God but this, which is present to us, the lan- 
 guage of the heart should ever be, What wilt 
 thou have me to do now ? 
 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 All deliberate deviation from the will of 
 God necessarily implies a degree of moral 
 imperfection. If we would be perfect, there- 
 fore, our wills must, in the direction of their 
 movement, be completely blended with the 
 will of God. But this does not imply the 
 annihilation of the human will, nor even an 
 obstruction of its appropriate action. It is 
 a correct saying of Francis de Sales, that 
 our "will is never so much enslaved as when 
 we serve our lusts; and never so free as 
 when it is devoted to the will of God." 
 
60 RELIGIOUS 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 Many who do not love God with the whole 
 heart, nevertheless say that they desire, that 
 they wish so to love him. 0, blinded ones ! 
 How can this possibly be, when they are so 
 obviously unwilling to renounce the pursuits 
 and pleasures of the world, by which God is 
 offended and separated from them ! 
 
 LXXXV. 
 
 Often the water that is enclosed in a glass 
 vessel appears to the unaided eye clear and 
 pure. But if a ray of bright light suddenly 
 strikes the vessel and illuminates it, we at 
 once discover various impurities which had 
 before escaped our notice. So our sins have 
 many hiding places, which conceal them from 
 the natural conscience. And we should ask 
 light from God, a clear, heavenly illumina- 
 tion, that we may find them out. 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 
 When in the instruction and admonition 
 of others, we have faithfully done our duty, 
 we shall be willing, if we are in a right state 
 of heart, to leave the event, with entire 
 calmness of mind, in the hands of God. We 
 
MAXIMS. 61 
 
 know not what shall profit, whether this or 
 that; but we may be assured, to say the 
 least, that God will do his part, as well as 
 we have done ours, although perhaps in a 
 different way from what we expected. "I 
 have observed," says Bunyan, "that a word 
 cast in by the bye, hath done more execu- 
 tion in a sermon, than all that was spoken 
 besides. Sometimes, also, when I have 
 thought I did no good, then I did the most 
 of all; and at other times, when I thought I 
 should catch them, I have fished for nothing." 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 
 It is undoubtedly a duty to reprove, on 
 suitable occasions, those who are not perfect 
 before God. But it is sometimes the case 
 that the reproof of others, especially when 
 sharply and frequently uttered, is an evi- 
 dence of our own imperfection. It too sadly 
 shows that we have not that spirit of entire 
 self-sacrifice and heart-felt charity which, in 
 the language of the Apostle, "thinketh no 
 evil, but beareth all things, hopeth all things, 
 enduring all things." 
 6* 
 
62 RELIGIOUS 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 
 If at any time we are injured by others, 
 and find feelings of anger arising in our- 
 selves, we should ever be careful, before at- 
 tempting to reprove and amend them, to ob- 
 tain a victory over our own hearts. Other- 
 wise our reproofs, though fully deserved, and 
 although it may be our duty to give them, 
 will be likely to be in vain. 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 We must not only do the right things, but 
 do them in the right manner. The manner 
 of a holy person is generally characterized, 
 as compared with that of others, by a great 
 degree of meekness and quietude, particular- 
 ly in the ordinary intercourse of life. And 
 this for three reasons. 1. A religious one, 
 viz., that his whole soul rests calmly in the 
 will of God; and therefore, ordinarily, he 
 sees no occasion either for inward or outward 
 perturbation. 2. A philosophical one, viz., 
 an outward perturbation or excitement of 
 manner reacts upon the mind, and some- 
 times stimulates the inward emotions and 
 passions so much as partially to take them 
 
M A X I M S . 63 
 
 out of our own control, which is injurious. 
 3. A practical one, viz., a quiet and subdued 
 manner, when flowing from deep religious 
 principle, has an exceedingly impressive and 
 happy effect upon the mass of mankind, espe- 
 cially upon persons of intelligence and culti- 
 vation. Still there are some occasions, per- 
 haps not very frequent, when an energy and 
 even violence of manner is not inconsistent 
 with holiness. 
 
 xc. 
 
 It is a sure sign that our heart is not per- 
 fect before God, and does not entirely rest 
 in him, when, like the unconverted Athenians 
 of old, we are anxious to hear or tell some 
 new thing, when we are exceedingly troubled 
 about our own reputation among men, and 
 when in regard to anything of a worldly na- 
 ture, we exhibit an eager and precipitate 
 state of mind. 
 
 xci. 
 
 We are at liberty to take to ourselves the 
 pleasure which naturally results from the use 
 or gratification of the senses, such as eating 
 and drinking, when such use or gratification 
 
64 RELIGIOUS 
 
 occurs in the providence of God, and with 
 the divine permission ; but if in our thoughts 
 we unnecessarily anticipate such pleasures, 
 or, when they are past, recall them to recol- 
 lection in a sensual manner, it is a melan- 
 choly evidence that God is not the full and 
 satisfying portion of our souls, and that our 
 heart is not wholly right with him. 
 
 XCTI. 
 
 While we admit the duty of ever hearing 
 the cross, we are to remember that we must 
 bear it just where God, in his providential 
 dealings, sees fit to impose it upon us, with- 
 out assuming the responsibility of either 
 seeking or shunning it. We shall find that 
 God has placed it in the whole course of our 
 life, and at precisely the right place ; and all 
 he requires of us is to bear it with a faithful 
 heart when we meet it. 
 
 XCIII. 
 
 Our advancement in the Christian life 
 may be said to depend upon one thing, viz., 
 whether we wish to direct God, or are willing 
 to resign ourselves to be wholly directed 
 by him. 
 
MAXIMS. 65 
 
 XCIV. 
 
 We may give up all outward things to 
 God; we may surrender houses and lands, 
 wife and children, and whatever else has a 
 worldly value; but unless we give the heart 
 with them, it is after all no real gift. It is 
 a saying of William Penn, in that remarkable 
 book of his, entitled "No Cross, no Crown," 
 that "it is not the sacrifice that recommends 
 the heart, but the heart that gives the sacri- 
 fice acceptance." 
 
 xcv. 
 
 One of the blessed results of a life of en- 
 tire religious consecration is, that it necessa- 
 rily unites us to God. We cannot live, we 
 connot breathe ? we cannot move, even for a 
 moment, in the straight and narrow way, 
 without the divine presence and aid. A half- 
 way Christian is living, or endeavouring to 
 live, in his own strength: but the whole- 
 hearted Christian lives wholly in the strength 
 of God. 
 
 XCVI. 
 
 It was a saying among the fathers of the 
 Christian Church, "novit recte viveee, qui 
 
66 RELIGIOUS 
 
 novit recte orare." In English, "He 
 knows how to live well, who knows how to 
 pray well." And it will always be found, , 
 that he who does not live a holy life, either 
 prays amiss, or does not pray at all. 
 xcvu. 
 He who serves God perfectly at the pre- 
 sent moment, though it be in a very small 
 thing, such as the hewing of wood or the 
 drawing of water, does in reality glorify 
 him more than another who is prospectively 
 athirst and anxious for things of much great- 
 er consequence, but at the same time ne- 
 glects or imperfectly performs his present 
 duties. 
 
 XCVIII. 
 It is very desirable that we should always 
 keep ourselves in the order of God's provi- 
 dence; in other words, that we should re- 
 ceive things as they come, and do things as 
 they are presented to us, in the spirit of 
 Christian acquiescence and faithfulness; for 
 that is the only way in which we can truly 
 recognize God as at the helm of affairs, or 
 realize our own nothingness. Let us never 
 
MAXIMS. 67 
 
 forget that God is competent to the direction 
 of his own movements; and that whatever 
 we may think of our own capabilities, he has 
 other agencies in other situations. And 
 what he requires of us, is to be and do just 
 as he would have us, in his own providential 
 time, in his own manner, and his own place, 
 xcix. 
 
 Everything that exists has its converging 
 point, its elementary principle, its great 
 centre. And when separated from the 
 central tendency, it is necessarily upon a 
 wrong track. The soul, therefore, whose 
 tendencies are towards the world, can be at 
 most only partially holy. The centre of the 
 sanctified soul is the great God. To that it 
 tends. In that it rests. Neglecting all 
 other attractions, it aims earnestly after the 
 divine mind. It is there, and there only, 
 that it finds a present and everlasting home, 
 c. 
 
 The devil is very skilful in availing himself 
 of particular or especial occasions. He has 
 the sagacity to perceive that it is of no use 
 to throw arrows at the man whose armour is 
 
68 RELIGIOUS 
 
 completely on. He therefore keeps himself 
 at a distance, hides himself as it were, says 
 nothing, does nothing. He is waiting to see 
 the shield displaced, or the helmet taken off. 
 And he will be found returning suddenly and 
 powerfully, and too often effectually, when 
 the favourable opportunity presents itself, 
 ci. 
 
 He who keeps his ear open to calumny and 
 backbiting, may reasonably expect to have it 
 filled. The best way, both for our own sakes 
 and that of others, is to keep it shut; to hear 
 but little, and to pray the more, 
 en. 
 
 It is important to remember that the ex- 
 istence of holiness in the heart does not 
 necessarily alter the manner of action, al- 
 though it does the principle of action. The 
 farmer and the mechanic plough their fields 
 and smite their anvils as they did before; 
 and if they are estimated by the outward 
 action and the outward appearance merely, 
 they are the same men in many respects as 
 they ever were. But the difference inter- 
 nally, as it reveals itself to the eye of God, 
 
maxims. t>y 
 
 who searcheth the heart, is as great as that 
 between sin and holiness, between heayen 
 and hell. 
 
 cm. 
 
 Self-contrivances, in other words, calcula- 
 tions made in our own wisdom and strength, 
 and for worldly purposes, are mournful evi- 
 dences of unbelief and of a heart but partial- 
 ly sanctified. The sanctified heart has learnt 
 the great lesson of a holy cessation from its 
 own plans, and of a humble and patient 
 waiting for the manifestation and forthcom- 
 ing of the plans of God, that it may have the 
 exceeding blessedness of co-operating with 
 him; moving as he moves; going where he 
 goes; stopping where he stops; knowing 
 that he careth for us; and that our bread 
 and water are safe in his hands. u Re that 
 helievetJi shall not make haste." 
 civ. 
 
 Often amid the duties and distractions of 
 the day, it is impossible for us to visit our 
 usual place of retirement. It is important, 
 therefore, if we would realize the benefits of 
 closet worship when our closets are necessa- 
 7 
 
70 RELIGIOUS 
 
 rily closed to us, that we should form the 
 habit of interior retirement and of recollec- 
 tion in God. Can it be doubted, that it is 
 our privilege by means of suitable religious 
 training, accompanied with divine assistance, 
 to remove in a moment every troublesome 
 thought; and retiring inward, to hold com- 
 munion with God in the secret chamber of 
 the soul ? Thus in every place, however dis- 
 turbed by noise and perplexed by business, 
 we may find a place of inward seclusion, a 
 spiritual closet, where God will meet us with 
 his heavenly visitations, 
 cv. 
 God is not a God afar off. He is ever 
 , present, ever near. But how can he be near 
 us, and not be known? How can he be pre- 
 sent, and not be felt? It is because we have 
 blocked up the door of our hearts with the 
 rubbish of the world. It is because the visi- 
 tant is more ready than the host. It is he, 
 and he only, who is willing to clear the door 
 of entrance, that will find the divine glory 
 coming in. 
 
MAXIMS. 71 
 
 CVI. 
 
 If, as the wise men of the world assure us, 
 "knowledge is power," the Christian can 
 assert with still greater truth, that holiness is 
 power. But holiness wins its victories, not 
 by the accessory aids of cunning devices and 
 of artificial eloquence, but by its own intrin- 
 sic excellence. It is gentle in its language, 
 and mild in its gesticulation ; but the energy 
 of the great God is heard with transcendent 
 efficacy in its still small voice, 
 cvn. 
 
 There is a remarkable expression of the 
 Saviour, and worthy of serious consideration, 
 viz., "I can of mine own self do nothing." 
 John v. 30. Hence the voice from heaven 
 recognizing the paternal care over him, and 
 saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
 am well pleased." Hence the interesting 
 statement, that Jesus, who had his weeping 
 infancy and his helpless childhood, "in- 
 creased in wisdom and stature, and in favour 
 with God and man." Hence the Saviour's 
 disposition to go apart into gardens and 
 forests and mountains, that he might hold 
 
72 RELIGIOUS 
 
 communion with God in prayer. Hence, in 
 the mount of transfiguration, the appearance 
 of Moses and Elias, who " spake of his de- 
 cease, which he should accomplish at Jeru- 
 salem." Hence the appearance and the 
 ministration of angels, who appeared to him 
 and administered to him after the tempta- 
 tion in the wilderness and in the agony of 
 the garden. But if the Saviour, in his 
 human nature, was thus dependent on the 
 Father, deriving all things from him and 
 able to do nothing of himself, who among his 
 followers can hesitate for a moment to ac- 
 knowledge his own littleness and depen- 
 dence? Who can doubt that whatever reli- 
 gious light and strength he has, comes from 
 God? Who will not rejoice in the " All of 
 God and nothing of the creature?" 
 
 CVIII. 
 
 Amid all the trials of life, amid the re- 
 bukes, calumnies, and persecutions of evil 
 men, in seasons when Satan seems to tri- 
 umph, there is one great consideration which 
 ought to tranquillize and elevate the Chris- 
 tian mind; and that is, that God, who sees 
 
MAXIMS. 73 
 
 the end from the beginning, will glorify him- 
 self, and will make even the wrath of his 
 enemies to praise him. 
 cix. 
 
 Let the time of temptation be the time of 
 silence. Words react upon feelings; and if 
 Satan, in the time of our trials, can induce 
 us to utter a hasty or unadvised word, he will 
 add, by so doing, to the power of his pre- 
 vious assaults, and increase the probability 
 of his getting the victory, 
 ex. 
 
 It is one of the surest signs that the natu- 
 ral life still exists and flourishes in us, if we 
 have what may be called an outward eye; 
 and, instead of looking inwardly upon our 
 own failings, are prone closely to watch and 
 to judge others. "Judge not, that ye be not 
 judged." One of the first inquiries arising 
 in the mind of a truly humbled and sanctified 
 person, when he sees another in transgres- 
 sion, is, "Who maketh me to differ?" And 
 one of the first supplications which he offers 
 is, "Lord, have compassion upon my offend- 
 ing brother!" 
 7* 
 
74 RELIGIOUS 
 
 CXI. 
 
 He. whose life is hid with Christ in God, 
 may suffer injustice from the conduct or 
 words of another, but he can never suffer 
 loss. He sees the hand of God in every- 
 thing. He knows that everything which 
 takes place has either a direct or indirect 
 relation to his present state, and is designed 
 for his benefit. "All things work together 
 for his good." 
 
 cxn. 
 
 It is impossible for a person to experience a 
 true and deep compassion for sinners, and to 
 be earnestly desirous to rescue them from 
 their state, who does not hate and renounce 
 sin in himself. 
 
 CXIII. 
 
 He that standeth in God in such a manner 
 as to have no will but the divine will, ac- 
 counts everything which takes place as a 
 manifestation of God. If God is not the 
 thing itself, God is nevertheless manifested 
 in the thing. And thus it is with God that 
 he first communicates through the medium 
 of the thing in which he manifests himself. 
 
MAXIMS. 75 
 
 And consequently, as God is the first object 
 which presents itself, he imputes nothing to 
 the subordinate creatures, neither condemn- 
 ing nor approving, neither sorrowing nor re- 
 joicing, without first referring whatever takes 
 place to God, and viewing it in the clearness 
 and truth of the divine light. 
 cxiv. 
 
 It is not safe to dwell upon the failings 
 and weaknesses of the Church, without at 
 the same time dwelling upon the resources 
 and goodness of God. In the exercise of a 
 humble faith we must connect the greatness 
 of the remedy with the virulence of the 
 disease. Otherwise we shall promote the 
 plans of our great enemy by falling into a 
 repining and censorious spirit; a state of 
 mind which is equally injurious to ourselves 
 and offensive to our heavenly Father. 
 cxv. 
 
 It is a sign that our wills are not wholly 
 lost in the will of God, when we are much in 
 the habit of using words which imply elec- 
 tion or choice; such as, I want this, or I 
 want that; I hope it will be so and so, or I 
 
76 RELIGIOUS 
 
 hope it will be otherwise. When our wills 
 are lost in the will of God, all our specific 
 choices and preferences are merged in God's 
 preference and choice. The soul truly loves 
 the arrangements of God, whatever they may 
 be. In regard to whatever is now, and what- 
 ever shall be hereafter, its language is, " Thy 
 will be done." 
 
 CXVI. 
 
 A holy person often does the same things 
 which are done by an unholy person, and 
 yet the things done in the two cases, though 
 the same in themselves, are infinitely differ- 
 ent in their character. The one performs 
 them in the will of God, the other in the will 
 of the creature. 
 
 cxvu. 
 
 The desires and affections should all con- 
 verge and meet in the same centre, viz., in 
 the love of God's will and glory. When this 
 is the case, we experience true simplicity or 
 singleness of heart. The opposite of this, viz., 
 a mixed motive, partly from God and partly 
 from the world, is what is described in the 
 Scriptures as a double mind. The double- 
 
MAXIMS. 77 
 
 minded man, or the man who is not in true 
 simplicity of heart, walks in darkness, and 
 is unstable in all his ways. "If thine eye 
 be single, thy whole body shall be full of 
 light." 
 
 CXVIII. 
 
 Confession of sin is an important duty; 
 but there is no true confession of sin where 
 there is not at the same time a turning away 
 from it. 
 
 cxix. 
 
 The Scriptures assert the doctrine of a 
 local heaven, and also of a local hell. But 
 it is not the locality or place which consti- 
 tutes either the one or the other. Supreme 
 love to God is the element or constituting 
 principle of heaven. And nothing more is 
 wanted than its opposite, viz., supreme self- 
 ishness, to lay the foundation of all the dis- 
 order and misery of hell, 
 cxx. 
 
 When Satan cannot prevent our good 
 deeds, he will sometimes effect his evil ob- 
 jects by inducing us to take an undue and 
 selfish satisfaction in them. So that it is 
 
78 RELIGIOUS 
 
 necessary, if we would not convert them into 
 destructive poisons, to be crucified and dead 
 even to our virtues. 
 
 cxxi. 
 
 No person can be considered as praying 
 in sincerity for a specified object, who does 
 not employ all the appropriate natural means 
 which he can, to secure the object, 
 cxxn. 
 
 The rays of the sun shine upon the dust 
 and mud, but they are not soiled by them. 
 So a holy soul, while it remains holy, may 
 mingle with the vileness of the world, and 
 yet be pure in itself. 
 
 CXXIII. 
 
 God not only has the disposition to do 
 what is right, but he always does it. Men 
 may have the disposition, and yet fail through 
 physical infirmity, in the realization of the 
 thing; that is to say, in the outward act. 
 But the disposition is accepted. 
 cxxiv. 
 
 We often speak of desiring or wishing to 
 be the Lord's; but there is not much ground 
 for supposing that there is any considerable 
 
MAXIMS. 79 
 
 degree of sincerity or strength in such de- 
 sires, if they stop short of a fixed determina- 
 tion or resolve to be his. 
 
 CXXY. 
 
 No person can pray earnestly that the 
 impenitent may be freed from their sins, 
 while he himself knowingly cherishes sin. 
 cxxvi. 
 
 The decisions of the conscience are always 
 based upon perceptions and acts of the judg- 
 ment; consequently he who acts from mere 
 desire, without any intervention and helps of 
 the judgment, necessarily acts without the 
 approbation of conscience ; and may be said, 
 therefore, in the moral sense of the terms, to 
 act without God. 
 
 cxxvn. 
 
 God is perfectly tranquil. He is never 
 subject to agitation in any case whatever. 
 And unlikeness to him in this respect, except 
 in what is instinctive and physically unavoid- 
 able, indicates the existing state of the mind 
 to be in some respects wrong. 
 
 CXXVIII. 
 
 Two things, in particular, are to be guard- 
 
80 KELIGIOUS 
 
 ed against in all the variety of their forms, 
 viz., creatuhe love and self will; in other 
 words, dependence upon self, and dependence 
 upon our fellow men. 
 
 cxxix. 
 
 Some portions of the Bible are addressed 
 to the intellect, and some to the heart. The 
 parts addressed exclusively to the intellect, 
 are always understood, where there are cor- 
 responding powers and exercises of intellect. 
 The parts addressed to the heart, and which 
 involve truths having relation to the religious 
 affections, can be fully understood only where 
 there arc corresponding exercises of the 
 heart. And on this principle, the higher 
 experimental truths of the Bible, such as re- 
 late to a full inward salvation, are not likely 
 to be understood and appreciated, except in 
 connection with the experience of such sal- 
 vation. 
 
 exxx. 
 
 To be willing to execute or do the will of 
 God, cannot be acceptable to him, unless we 
 are willing, at the same time, to endure and 
 suffer his will. 
 
MAXIMS. 81 
 
 CXXXI. 
 
 The will of God includes every possible 
 good. He who seeks conformity to the will 
 of God, necessarily seeks whatever is most 
 desirable and best for himself, 
 cxxxn. 
 
 One of those things which particularly 
 characterizes the holy mind, in distinction 
 from the unholy or natural mind, and also in 
 distinction from the partially sanctified mind, 
 is, that in the allotment which falls to it in 
 life, it chooses to be, and loves to be ivhere it 
 is; and has no disposition and no desire to 
 be anywhere else, till the providence of God 
 clearly indicates that the time has come for 
 a removal. 
 
 CXXXIII. 
 
 Whenever we propose to change our situa- 
 tion in life, by establishing some new rela- 
 tions, or by entering into some new business, 
 it becomes, first of all, a most important re- 
 ligious duty, to lay all our thoughts and 
 plans before our Heavenly Father, for his 
 approbation. Otherwise it is possible, and 
 even probable, that we shall be found run- 
 
OU RELIGIOUS 
 
 ning the immense risk of moving in our own 
 wisdom and out of God's wisdom, in our own 
 older and out of God's order, for our own 
 ends and out of God's ends. 
 
 ex XX IV. 
 It is one of the marks of a soul wholly 
 given to God, when we find that we are able, 
 viewing all things in God and God in all 
 thing ive both praise and blame with 
 
 a quiet and equal spirit ; neither unduly de- 
 pressed on the one hand, nor elated on the 
 other. 
 
 CXXXY. 
 It is good to take uj) and to bear the cross, 
 whatever it may he, which God sees fit to 
 impose, liut it is not good and not safe to 
 make f our own; and, by an act of 
 
 our own choice, to impose upon ourselves 
 burdens which God does not require, and 
 does not authorize. Such a course always 
 implies either a faith too weak or a will too 
 strong; either a fear to trust God's way, or 
 a desire to have our own way. 
 
 cxxxvi. 
 The more we are disunited from the urine- 
 
MAXIMS. 83 
 
 cessary and tangling alliances of this life, 
 the more fully and freely will our minds be 
 directed to the life which is to come. The 
 more we are separated from that which is 
 temporal, the more closely shall we be allied 
 to that which is eternal ; the more we are 
 disunited from the creatures, the more we 
 shall be united to the Creator. 
 
 CXXXVII. 
 
 Adversity, in the state of things in the 
 present life, has far less danger for us than 
 prosperity. Both, when received in the pro- 
 per spirit, may tend to our spiritual advance- 
 ment. But the tendency of adversity, in 
 itself considered, is to show us our weakness, 
 and to lead us to God; while the natural 
 tendency of prosperity, separate from the 
 correctives and the directions of divine grace, 
 is to inspire us with self-confidence, and to 
 turn us away from God. 
 
 CXXXVIII. 
 
 The goods of this world, those things 
 which are suited to our convenience and com- 
 fort, are not necessarily unholy. Unholiness 
 attaches to the manner ; that is to say, to the 
 
84 RELIGIOUS 
 
 spirit or temper, considered in relation to 
 God, in which wc receive, and hold, and em- 
 ploy them. If we receive and hold them as 
 God's gifts, and in subordination to his will, 
 they are good. But if we hold and employ 
 them as our own possessions, and irrespective 
 of ( tod's will, they arc evil. 
 
 CXXXIX. 
 
 It i :irv, in the progress and sup- 
 
 port of a holy life, to regulate our friendships 
 and our mean here our love of 
 
 creator* b, as it ie to regulate our displeasure 
 and anger. We may as really love too much 
 and may be displeased too much 
 
 and Bin. The holy mind may be said, with 
 a degree of propriety, to stand in a state of 
 indifference, relatively to itself. That is to 
 sires nothing, loves 
 nothing, is averse from nothing, and is angry 
 with nothing, except in God's time and way, 
 IN God and FOB God. 
 
 CXL. 
 
 As Christians, who aim at the highest re- 
 sults of Christian experience, attach a suita- 
 ble value to your reputation ; to that honour- 
 
MAXIMS. 85 
 
 able acceptance and name which God may 
 see fit to give to you with your fellow men; 
 but do not seek it in the first instance, nor 
 seek to maintain it afterwards by any other 
 means than those which God approves. As 
 no other name is desirable, except what he 
 in his providence gives, so no other name is 
 desirable except what he is able and willing 
 to keep for us. In other words, trust your 
 reputation with God in the same way and on 
 the same principles that you trust every 
 thing else with him. 
 
 CXLI. 
 
 It is a principle in sound morals, and 
 equally so in religion, that actions should be 
 judged of by the intentions which prompt, 
 rather than by the success which attends 
 them. Our great work, therefore, is to have 
 a right heart. 
 
 CXLII. 
 
 It is very important that our desires 
 should be kept in entire subjection. If the 
 providence of God reaches to all things, not 
 excepting the numbering of the hairs of our 
 heads, it is certain that a man never desires 
 
80 RELIGIOUS 
 
 strongly without running the hazard, "which is 
 always a very great and responsible one, of 
 exercising desire against the claims of God's 
 providential order. We cannot keep in har- 
 mony with God, without having our desires 
 in subjection to a higher desire or purpose, 
 that of God himself. 
 
 cxLin. 
 It is the providences of God, taken un- 
 doubtedly in connection with other sources 
 of Information, which indicate, in particular, 
 
 the will of God; and those providences are 
 :!ed, and can be revealed, only moment 
 by moment. The doctrine of living in the 
 Ht moment, therefore, or in the state 
 of momentary inward recollection, is founded 
 not only on the necessity of watching against 
 temptation, which is one reason for it, but 
 on the fixed and immutable relation existing 
 between the providences of God and the 
 claims of God upon the human soul. If we 
 are bound to obey the will of God, and if we 
 can know his present will, which is nee 
 rily the source of present obligation, only in 
 connection with his providences, it is very 
 
MAXIMS. 87 
 
 obvious that there can be no other mode of 
 holy living than that of living by the mo- 
 ment. 
 
 CXLIV. 
 
 In the discharge of those duties which are 
 incumbent upon us, if our hearts are right 
 with God, we shall consider it indispensably 
 necessary to employ just means, as well as to 
 aim at just ends. And however just and de- 
 sirable the ends may be, in themselves con- 
 sidered, if the methods or means are such as 
 we cannot rightfully employ, we must always 
 regard the end as forbidden. 
 
 CXLV. 
 
 " The kingdom of God is within you.' 7 
 The soul's inward redemption, that is to say, 
 its redemption from present sin, and its uni- 
 ty with God in will and life, can be sus- 
 tained, and sustained only, by the present 
 indwelling and operation of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 CXLVI. 
 
 The world is sometimes described as a 
 troublesome world; but there is still greater 
 and more practical truth in a remark which 
 is sometimes made, that our chief troubles 
 
00 RELIGIOUS 
 
 do not arise from our living in the world, 
 but from the fact of the world's living in us. 
 
 CXLVII. 
 
 It is difficult to attach too much import- 
 ance to the present moment, considered in 
 its relations to inward experience. The 
 value of our past experience, in itself con- 
 in never be changed; and the un- 
 tried future is wholly unknown to us. It is 
 obvious, therefore, that we arc what we arc 
 iii be, only what wo 
 are, when we are estimated by the facts, the 
 relations, and the duties of the present mo- 
 ment. It is only in the facts, the relations, 
 and the duties of the present moment that 
 offers himself to our notice. We must 
 meet with him there, and harmonize with 
 him there, or meet with him and harmonize 
 with him nowhere. 
 
 CXLVHL 
 
 Happiness can be found only in being re- 
 signed and contented in the Divine Order. 
 That is to say, in being resigned and con- 
 tented in that situation, whatever it may be, 
 in which God's providential order has cvi- 
 
MAXIMS. 89 
 
 dently placed us. If the angels in heaven, 
 like men under the influence of the natural 
 life, were constantly desiring to change their 
 position, and to assume the place of archan- 
 gels or other higher beings, they would ex- 
 hibit a spirit which would be displeasing to 
 God, and which could not fail to render 
 them unhappy. 
 
 CXLIX. 
 
 There are various relations running through 
 the different kinds and degrees of faith, 
 which are worthy of notice. For instance, 
 we must have a belief that God is, and that 
 he is the rewarder of those who diligently 
 seek him, before we can believe in him as 
 accepting us. And again, we must believe 
 in him as granting forgiveness and accept- 
 ance to ourselves, and consequently as sus- 
 taining to us the relation of a Father and a 
 friend, before we can have faith to make 
 known to him our requests to him in the 
 behalf of others. 
 
 CL. 
 
 It implies great grace to remain, for any 
 considerable length of time, in religious soli- 
 
90 RELIGIOUS 
 
 tude, and in the performance of private 
 religious duties. But it implies equally 
 great, and perhaps greater grace, to enter 
 into society and to mingle in human con- 
 versations in a proper religious spirit. If 
 it were otherwise, why is it so common for 
 religious men to prepare for the special 
 hazards of society, by first seeking religious 
 strength in retirement '.' 
 
 CLI. 
 What is done hastily, is not likely to be 
 done well. There is need, therefore, of 
 HOLY DELIBERATION; especially when we 
 ler, that the results of an eternity may 
 depend on the movements of a single mo- 
 ment. 
 
 < LIT. 
 
 When we are injured and afflicted by our 
 
 fellow-men, Ave should remember, that our 
 heavenly Father felt the wound first. He 
 always feels in what his people feel, and if, 
 for wise purposes, he is patient, and bears 
 with the infliction, whatever it may be, we 
 should both be taught and be encouraged to 
 do likew'- 
 
MAXIMS. 91 
 
 CLIII. 
 
 Our Heavenly Father takes an interest in 
 all the works of his hands. He beholds the 
 reflection of his own wisdom in every blade 
 of grass, in every flower of the desert, in 
 every waterfall. There is no living thing in 
 the earth, the air, or the waters, over which 
 God does not watch with a Father's love. 
 Those who bear God's image, in being pos- 
 sessed of a holy heart, not only connect God 
 with all his works, but sympathize with him 
 in his deep interest for everything he has 
 made. 
 
 CLIV. 
 
 God, in the formation of his spiritual 
 work, can stamp no image and form no fea- 
 ture, but the image and the feature which 
 exists eternally in himself. And according- 
 ly, all holy souls are not only lights in the 
 world ; but being born of God, and bearing 
 his image, are necessarily mirrors of the 
 Divinity. If the mirror is clear, God is 
 manifest. And just in proportion, as it is 
 stained and soiled, there is no divine reflec- 
 
92 RELIGIOUS 
 
 tion. God is no longer a subject of inward 
 consciousness, nor of outward observation. 
 
 CLV. 
 
 In the early periods of our religious expe- 
 rience, we are chiefly interested in what 
 Christ was by situation, his birth in the 
 manger, the incidents of his childhood, his 
 temptations and labours, his betrayal and his 
 crucifixion. At a later period, we are in- 
 terested, in a still higher degree, in what 
 Christ was and is bj CHARACTER, his purity, 
 his condescension, his forbearance, his readi- 
 ness to do and suffer his Father's will, his 
 love. The first method of contemplating 
 Christ is profitable; the second still more 
 so. The tendency of the one is to lead to a 
 Christ outward, to Christ of the times of 
 Herod and of Pilate, to Christ with blood- 
 stained feet, and with a crown of thorns; 
 who is now gone, and who never can exist 
 again, as he was then. The tendency of the 
 other i3 to lead us to a Christ inward; who 
 lives unchanged in his unity and likeness 
 with his Father; for ever the same in him- 
 
MAXIMS. 93 
 
 self, and for ever the same in the hearts of 
 those who are born in his image. Christ 
 outward, is precious, and always will be pre- 
 cious, historically; "the star of memory/' 
 Christ inward, who can never die, and who 
 reproduces himself in the hearts of his fol- 
 lowers, is still more precious, by present 
 realization ; the star, the sun of the affec- 
 tions. 
 
 CLVI. 
 
 God is not only in the beginning and the 
 end; but in all the intermediate methods 
 and instrumentalities which connect them to- 
 gether. He who lifts a finger or moves a 
 foot in any enterprise without God, does it 
 at the hazard, not only of displeasing God, 
 but of failing of his object. We ought, 
 therefore, to exercise the same sense of de- 
 pendence, and the same submissiveness of 
 spirit, in the choice and employment of the 
 means applicable to a given end, which we 
 exercise in relation to the end, when in the 
 providence of God it is either accomplished 
 or fails to be accomplished. " Except the 
 Lord build the house, they labour in vain 
 9 
 
94: RELIGIOUS 
 
 that build it. Except the Lord keep the 
 city, the ivatchman ivaketh but in vain." Ps. 
 cxxvii. 1. 
 
 CLVII. 
 
 The Holy Spirit does not teach by arbi- 
 trary acts, or those acts which have no rela- 
 tion to the constitution of the human mind; 
 but by silently, and yet effectually, inspiring 
 and guiding the movements of the natural 
 powers of perception and knowledge, in co- 
 operation with their own action. " Strive, 
 therefore, to enter in." lie who desires 
 and purposes to be holy, must employ the 
 appropriate means to be holy. He must be 
 willing to think and to reason; he must bo 
 willing to reflect, to resolve, to pray ; doing 
 all, however, under the guidance of the great 
 inward Teacher, who gives life without coun- 
 tenancing inactivity, who is the inspirer of 
 human movement, but is not the substitute 
 for it. 
 
 CLVIII. 
 
 It is one part of the office of the Holy 
 Spirit to illuminate the intellect, and through 
 the intellect to impart clearness and strength 
 
MAXIMS. 95 
 
 to the conscience. We ought, therefore, 
 highly to value not only those affections, 
 which are originated and strengthened by 
 the Holy Spirit, but also an intellect and 
 conscience enlightened from the same source. 
 Especially when we consider, that a spirit- 
 ually enlightened conscience is the surest 
 guide in relation to the true character and 
 the right degree of the affections. 
 
 CLIX. 
 
 If an intellect and conscience, enlightened 
 by the Holy Spirit, furnish the instrumen- 
 tality, which indicates the nature and regu- 
 lates the degree of the religious affections, 
 then the law of religious experience requires 
 us to know the right, as well as to be and do 
 the right. Be not contented, therefore, to 
 remain in ignorance. Sit at the feet of the 
 great Teacher, and learn. "For this cause," 
 says the Saviour, "came I into the world, 
 that I should bear witness unto the truth." 
 And again he says in another place, " The 
 truth shall make you free." John viii. 32, 
 xviii. 37. 
 
96 RELIGIOUS 
 
 CLX. 
 
 He who can say from a full and sincere 
 heart, thy will be done, is in a state of 
 continual prayer. And it is a prayer, which, 
 although it is general in its form, may be 
 regarded as realizing and including in itself 
 all particular and specific prayer. He, who 
 is the subject of it, sympathizing as he does 
 with the divine mind, prays for everything 
 which God requires him to pray for. He 
 can as really pray for all the objects of 
 prayer without specifically knowing them, as 
 he can adore all the purposes of God with- 
 out knowing them. There is no sinner in 
 all lands, and no sorrow in the wid© world, 
 which he does not virtually and at the same 
 time really present before God. It should 
 be remembered, however, that this sublime 
 state of mind, which exists much less fre- 
 (|uently than it should do, is entirely consist- 
 ent with specific prayer, and that it really 
 lays the best foundation for it. 
 
 CLXI. 
 
 Nothing can be properly called small, 
 which really offends God; because the of- 
 
MAXIMS. 97 
 
 fence is to be estimated not only by the 
 occasion, however small it may be, on which 
 it takes place, but especially and chiefly by 
 its relation to a Being of infinite wisdom, 
 goodness, and holiness. 
 
 CLXII. 
 
 He who hates crime, or any kind of 
 wrong-doing because wrong-doing is hateful 
 in itself, does well; but he who, on analyzing 
 his feelings, finds that he hates it through 
 fear of its punishment, rather than from 
 aversion to its nature, cannot with any good 
 reason be said to hate it at all. 
 
 CLXIII. 
 
 It is an easy thing for the holy soul, how- 
 ever high the state of its advancement, to 
 separate itself from the condition of present 
 acceptance and communion. Nothing more 
 is wanted to bring about this deplorable re- 
 sult, than the least intentional neglect, the 
 least known and deliberate infidelity. 
 
 CLXIV. 
 
 Nature bleeds, when our reputation suffers 
 from the evil opinions of our fellow-men; 
 but the true and only infallible balm for this 
 9* 
 
98 RELIGIOUS 
 
 wound is the consciousness that we have 
 done those things, for which our fellow-men 
 blame and distrust us, with a single eye to 
 the divine glory. 
 
 CLXV. 
 
 If we wish for practical religious wisdom, 
 we must find it where we are, that is to say, 
 at the present time, and in the present 
 place; because it is the present time and 
 the present place which furnish us with the 
 facts of God's providence, independently of 
 which it is impossible for us to form a cor- 
 rect estimate of truth and duty. 
 
 CLXVI. 
 
 The soul is not happy, which is not at 
 rest. But the soul can never have true rest, 
 which places its confidence in anything short 
 of God. Mutability and uncertainty are 
 characteristics of everything which has not 
 God in it. 
 
 CLXVII. 
 
 When God has fully prepared the heart 
 for religious action, we need not fear that 
 he will fail to find for us our appropriate 
 work. He knows the work which is to be 
 
MAXIMS. 99 
 
 done, and the time of its being done, as well 
 as the dispositions which are fitted for doing 
 it. Be watchful, therefore, but wait also. 
 A good soldier, in the spirit of watchfulness, 
 is always ready for action ; but he never an- 
 ticipates, by a restless and unwise hurry of 
 spirits, the orders of his commander. 
 
 CLXVIII. 
 
 It is the part of a Christian, especially of 
 a soul truly devoted and holy, to do good to 
 others. But we should always remember, 
 that we shall lose the grace which God has 
 imparted, and shall bring barrenness and 
 darkness into our own hearts, when we seek 
 to do good to others, without a suitable sense 
 of our personal dependence, and without a 
 humble and watchful regard to the order of 
 the divine providences. 
 
 CLXIX. 
 
 "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
 those that trespass against us." If we 
 rightly understand these and other passages 
 of similar import, no person can regard him- 
 self as accepted of God, who has not the 
 spirit of forgiveness towards his neighbour. 
 
100 RELIGIOUS 
 
 CLXX. 
 
 Holiness is but another name for love. 
 But that love which constitutes the essence 
 of holiness, is a love, which by its very na- 
 ture conforms itself to the truth. It loves 
 only that which ought to be loved; and it 
 loves, not in defect or excess, not periodical- 
 ly and violently, but precisely according to 
 the truth. 
 
 CLXX I. 
 
 That love, which is not according to the 
 truth, when the truth is capable of being 
 known, in other words, that love which is 
 not precisely conformed to its object, will 
 always be found to be vitiated by some 
 human imperfection; by unwarrantable in- 
 dolence, or by interested fear, or by selfish 
 complaisance. 
 
 CLXXII. 
 
 The providence of God includes not only 
 events but dispositions. In other words, 
 there are moral providences as well as natu- 
 ral providences. God knows the tempers of 
 men; the feelings, whether good or evil, 
 which predominate in their hearts. And 
 
MAXIMS. 101 
 
 whether they shall exhibit those tempers at 
 one time rather than another, on one occa- 
 sion rather than- another, is a matter which 
 is left hidden in the divine providences 
 alone. 
 
 CLXXIII. 
 
 If our neighbour injures us by improper 
 words or in any other way, it is as much an 
 event in divine providence, considered in its 
 relation to ourselves, as any event could be, 
 by which we might be afflicted. God's hand 
 is really in it, although it may require a 
 higher faith to see it. Happy is the man 
 who has the requisite faith, and who has 
 those patient and acquiescent dispositions, 
 which such a faith is calculated to produce. 
 
 CLXXIV. 
 
 Afflictions are from the same benevolent 
 source from which mercies originate. They 
 equally indicate God's goodness, and in 
 their result will show that they are equally 
 beneficial, and perhaps more so, to those 
 who, in being the subjects of them, receive 
 them in a proper temper of mind. 
 
102 RELIGIOUS 
 
 CLXXV. 
 
 Seasons of retirement and of private com- 
 munion with God, are of great value; but 
 they ought never to be sought and indulged 
 in, at the expense of those more social and 
 public duties to which the providence of 
 God clearly calls us. Such a course, which 
 could originate only in the reality of selfish- 
 ness under the appearance of sincere devo- 
 tion, would be a violation of God's will, and 
 would be exceedingly injurious. 
 clxxvi. 
 
 There are few situations more trying than 
 those in which we find our labours for the 
 spiritual good of others fruitless. It requires 
 strong faith, especially in ministers of the 
 gospel, not to find the yoke of God's provi- 
 dence, which binds us to such a situation, a 
 heavy one. Nevertheless it is possible, that 
 the duty which we owe to our Heavenly 
 Father requires us to stay there with the 
 same submission and the same grateful con- 
 fidence, which reconcile us to other trying 
 circumstances. 
 
MAXIMS. 103 
 
 CLXXVII. 
 
 It is sometimes a serious and important 
 question with the Christian, whether he is in 
 his right position, standing precisely where 
 he should stand, in the order of God's provi- 
 dence. In order to understand what we 
 ought to do under such circumstances, we 
 should be faithful, in the first place, to every 
 obligation which our present situation im- 
 poses; so that there shall be found within 
 us no condemnations and rebukes of con- 
 science for neglect of duty. And discharg- 
 ing our duties in this manner, we should re- 
 main calmly and quietly where we are, till 
 the providences of God shall so clearly open 
 another situation, that conscience, enlight- 
 ened by the Holy Ghost, (as the conscience 
 of a truly consecrated man always is,) shall 
 condemn us for not leaving the present one. 
 
 CLXXVIII. 
 
 Human friendships, resting on the change- 
 able foundation of humanity, cannot be more 
 stable, more enduring, than the frail founda- 
 tion which supports them. They exist to- 
 day, and too often are dissolved and scat- 
 
104 RELIGIOUS 
 
 tered to-morrow. But he, who on Christian 
 principles possesses God's friendship, will 
 never find him changing and different in 
 future from what he is at present. He is a 
 friend to-day, to-morrow, and for ever. 
 clxxtx. 
 Indifference to religion is a great evil. 
 Indifference to self, (that is to say, indiffer- 
 ence to our own interests considered as sepa- 
 from those of God,) is a great good. 
 Such is the nature of the human mind, that 
 we cannot be indifferent to everything. To 
 therefore, that we are indifferent to our- 
 selves, if we properly recognize and feel the 
 relations we sustain, and if we say it in a 
 Christian spirit, is essentially the same thing 
 as to say, that we possess a heart truly given 
 to God. Self is forgotten, in order that 
 God may be remembered; self is crucified 
 in order that God may live in the soul. 
 
 CLXXX. 
 
 To the holy mind the faults and backslid- 
 ings of the followers of Christ furnish occa- 
 sions of humiliation and prayer; but never of 
 secret complacency and of ungenerous tri- 
 
MAXIMS. 105 
 
 umph. While, therefore, the errors of Chris- 
 tians are deeply to be lamented, they are 
 never, except when truth and holiness clearly 
 require it, to be published abroad. " What- 
 soever ye would that men should do unto you, 
 do ye even so to them; for this is the law 
 and the prophets." 
 
 CLXXXI. 
 
 There are different kinds of sorrow. There 
 is a godly sorrow, and a worldly sorrow; a 
 sorrow which works life, and a sorrow which 
 works death. The one is the product of 
 man's unsanctified nature; the other is in- 
 spired by the Holy Ghost. The one is the 
 companion of self-seeking, envy, and avarice; 
 the other is the associate of humility, of love 
 of the truth, and of desires after holiness. 
 The one is sorrow, because we have offended 
 God; the other is sorrow, because we have 
 not gained the world. 
 
 CLXXXII. 
 
 Nothing exists, which does not have its 
 
 principle of existence. And accordingly, 
 
 that can never be manifested outwardly, 
 
 which does not exist inwardly in its principle 
 
 10 
 
106 RELIGIOUS MAXIMS. 
 
 of existence. And hence, it is not unreason- 
 able to say, that God must dwell in the soul, 
 before God can be manifested in the life. 
 Ami hence it is said of the Christian, who 
 kc.ps the divine commandments, "My Father 
 will love him, and we will come unto him, 
 an i make out abode with him." And again 
 it is Baidj " ) - are the temple of the living 
 q \iv. 23; 2 Cor. vi. 16. 
 
107 
 
 CHRISTIAN HUMILITY. 
 
 SOME OF THE MARKS OF TRUE HUMILITY. 
 
 One of the surest evidences of sanctification 
 of heart is true humility. It is this state of 
 mind, when viewed in its true aspect, to 
 which the Saviour seems to have especial re- 
 ference, when he represents to his followers 
 the importance of becoming like little child- 
 ren. Without proposing, at this time, to 
 enter very fully into this subject, we shall 
 proceed to mention some of the marks or 
 characteristics by which true humility is 
 known. 
 
 I. — The truly humble man does not desire 
 great things for himself; nor does he desire 
 great things in any worldly sense whatever. 
 If God has given him distinguished talents, 
 he is thankful for it. If God has placed him 
 in a position of great influence in the world, 
 he is thankful for it. But he can be happy 
 
108 CHRISTIAN 
 
 in his talents, in his influence, and any other 
 — mn which the world deems valuable, 
 only as they are the gifts of God, and as 
 they are employed for the promotion of his 
 glory. If God sees fit to deprive him of 
 knowledge, property, influence, or any other 
 mere earthly good, he is equally thankful, 
 equally happy; so that he does not desire 
 worldly prosperity in itself considered; and 
 not desiring it, the possession of it does not 
 puff him op with Bentiments of pride. 
 
 II. — Deeply sensible of his entire weak- 
 and unworthincss, it is 
 entirely natural to him to seek and to take 
 the lowest place. It does not occur to him, 
 tainly not as a matter of cherished and 
 pleasing reflection,) that a more conspicuous 
 position would be appropriate to him. But 
 if the indications of the providence of God 
 should call him to a higher place, and impose 
 upon him duties of a more elevated and con- 
 spicuous character, he does not refuse them. 
 True lowliness of spirit leads him to feel that 
 it would be very unsuitable for him to distrust 
 the wisdom of God, and to take the direction 
 
HUMILITY. 109 
 
 of himself into his own hands; so that the 
 same humility which, in ordinary cases, leads 
 him to decline places of responsibility and 
 notoriety, leads him also to submit himself 
 without hesitation to the guidance of provi- 
 dence, and of the divine will. It should 
 always be remembered, therefore, that the 
 truly humble man, who has a profound sense 
 of his own nothingness, and always feels at 
 home in the lowest place, nevertheless rea- 
 lizes that he can do all things through the 
 wisdom of God guiding him, and the grace 
 of God strengthening him. It does not fol- 
 low, because true humility is distrustful of 
 itself, that it is distrustful of God. 
 
 III. — The truly humble man is not troubled 
 and afflicted, because in some respects he 
 fails in securing to himself the good opinion 
 of his fellow men. It is true, he attaches a 
 degree of value to the favourable sentiments 
 of others; but as he attaches unspeakably 
 greater value to the favour of God, he can 
 meet their opposition, their rebukes and mis- 
 representations, with entire calmness and 
 peace of spirit. And hence it is that, in 
 10* 
 
110 CHRISTIAN 
 
 ordirmry cases, when he is the subject of 
 such misrepresentation and abuse, he is not 
 particularly solicitous to defend himself, and 
 to make replies. I mean to say, that he 
 docs not discover anxiety and trouble of 
 mind in relation to it. JIc knows, if he acts 
 in simplicity of heart, and with a sincere de- 
 sire for the divine glory, God will so order 
 events that in due time the honour of his 
 reputation will be sustained. So that he is 
 willing, for the present at least, to stand 
 silent in the presence of his accusers, that 
 both he and they may see the salvation of 
 the Lord. 
 
 IV. — The man who is truly humble, is not 
 troubled and " disquieted at those unavoid- 
 able imperfections which exist in his own 
 person and mind. It is very true that he 
 sometimes mourns over them, as the indica- 
 tions and sad results of our fallen condition; 
 but so far as they cannot be corrected, so far 
 as they are really unavoidable, he submits to 
 them, however painful they may be, as facts 
 and incidents in his condition and being, 
 which originate in the wise dispensations of 
 
HUMILITY. Ill 
 
 an unsearchable Providence. It is true, he 
 is thus cut off from many ways or forms of 
 usefulness ; but, though afflicted, he does not 
 allow himself to be disquieted. He is aided 
 in thus maintaining himself in interior rest, 
 by the important consideration that God, 
 when he sends intellectual or bodily imper- 
 fections and weaknesses, and thus renders a 
 person apparently useless, can avail himself 
 of other instrumentalities, and operate in 
 other ways."* 
 
 Y. — The truly humble man, although he 
 is not destitute of that observation and judg- 
 ment which are necessary to discriminate be- 
 tween right and wrong, is disposed to look 
 with a forbearing and pitying eye on the 
 faults of others. If a brother falls into 
 transgression, while he himself is preserved, 
 he knows who it is, and who alone it is, that 
 makes him to differ. He feels deeply that 
 he himself would be no better than others 
 that fall into errors and sin, if he should 
 cease to be sustained by the special grace of 
 God. And he cannot fail, therefore, to re- 
 
 * See the Life of Faith, Part II. Chap. 12. 
 
112 CHRISTIAN 
 
 member that blessed passage of Scripture, 
 which has a close connection with the highest 
 experiences in religion, " Judge not, that ye 
 he not judged." 
 
 YI. — The truly humble man receives with 
 great meekness of spirit all adverse occur- 
 rencea — all sudden injuries of body and 
 estate — all disruption of social ties by death 
 or in Other ways, and whatever other forms 
 of human affliction exist. Whatever comes 
 upon him, he feels that he deserves it. lie 
 opens not his month; he Btands dumb, as the 
 p before its shearer. Satan, it is true, 
 tempt< him to evil thoughts; but he resists 
 them easily and triumphantly. It seen. 
 him a light thing to suffer anything which 
 God sees fit to impose. He bears the ci 
 like one that loves it. 
 
 In connection with those traits of feeling, 
 which obviously characterize the humble man, 
 we may perceive more clearly and definitely 
 in what true humility consists. It is obvious 
 that it does not consist, as some might per- 
 haps suppose, in mere sorrow. It is well 
 known that sorrow sometimes exists in com- 
 
HUMILITY. 113 
 
 bination with impatience or with pride ; but 
 true humility excludes both of these. Nor 
 does it consist in mere depression of spirits ; 
 a state of feeling which, it must be admitted, 
 sometimes imparts an outward appearance of 
 humility. But, in reality, the two states of 
 mind are far from being identical. Humility 
 consists in those feelings, whatever they may 
 be, which are appropriate to a realizing sense 
 of our entire dependence upon God. In 
 other words, it consists in a deep sense of 
 our own nothingness, attended with an equal- 
 ly deep and thorough conviction, that God is, 
 and ought to be, to every holy being, the 
 All m All. 
 
1U 
 
 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 nr THE LAWS OF LOVE A.6 IT EXISTS i\ THE 
 SOUL WHICH [8 WHOLLY GIVEN TO GOD. 
 
 Christianity, when fully developed in the 
 
 heart, is a life; — that is to say, it is a living 
 principle which operates of itself. And this 
 principle is pure or holy love. Now, if love 
 in holy men has life in itself, just as holy 
 love has in the divine mind, then it must 
 have a mode, form, or law of life. For life, 
 or a true living principle, without some mode 
 or form of life, in accordance with which it 
 developed itself, would he an impossibility. 
 
 Hence a question arises of no small inter- 
 est, viz., What are those forms or laws, in 
 accordance with which the development of 
 holy love takes place? 
 
 (1.) Love, in its hasis or elementary form, 
 is the desire of the happiness of others. Its 
 first law, therefore, (a law which is involved 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 115 
 
 in its own nature,) is, that it desires the 
 happiness of all beings, in every degree of 
 existence, which are capable of happiness. 
 Love (we mean, of course, pure or holy love,) 
 may exist latent in the mind; but it can 
 never be brought to development, and exist 
 in exercise, except in connection with the 
 presence of some object, which is capable of 
 being loved. And when such object is pre- 
 sent, it cannot help loving it in the sense of 
 desiring its happiness. Such is the funda- 
 mental law of love — a law which is so essen- 
 tial to it, that it may be described as a part 
 of its own nature. 
 
 (2.) A second law of love is, that it will 
 flow out to beings who are capable of being 
 loved, other things being equal, in a degree 
 'proportioned to that capability; — in other 
 words, in a degree proportioned to the 
 amount or extent of their physical existence. 
 We naturally feel, for instance, more bene- 
 volent sympathy with a man or angel, than 
 we do with a worm or an insect, because the 
 former have greater expansion or extent of 
 being; and therefore being susceptible of 
 
11G CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 higher degrees of suffering or enjoyment, 
 they are the natural and appropriate objects 
 of higher degrees of love. This law is as 
 strict and invariable as the first; and is a 
 part of love's nature. 
 
 (3.) A third law of love is, that, other 
 things being equal, it will flow out to beings 
 who are capable of being loved, in a degree 
 proportioned to the degree of their moral 
 excellence ; in other words, in a degree pro- 
 portioned to the developments of love, of 
 which they themselves are the subjects. If 
 by our nature we desire the good or happi- 
 ness of a being, we naturally and necessarily 
 Love Buch a being the more, if we perceive it 
 to be a source of good and happiness to 
 others, which is the case with all morally 
 good or holy beings. 
 
 (4. ) From the combined action of the two 
 last mentioned laws, it will follow, that God 
 is the object of the supreme or highest love. 
 God is at the same time the infinity of natu- 
 ral existence, and the infinity of moral per- 
 fection; so that realizing in himself those 
 attributes of existence and character, which 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 117 
 
 attract the highest degrees of love, he of 
 right ought to be loved, and in point of fact 
 will be loved, by all holy beings, "with all 
 their soul, and mind, and strength." 
 
 (5.) Love, when existing in perfect purity, 
 will by its own living power dispense itself 
 to beings inferior to God, in accordance with 
 the preceding complex law — namely, flowing 
 out to each one in its appropriate place, in a 
 degree corresponding with the extent or 
 greatness of its being, combined with its 
 moral excellence. So that the holy soul, 
 under the influence of this law, naturally 
 loves God in God's degree; loves angels in 
 the angelic degree; and loves men in the 
 human degree. 
 
 (6.) And these more general laws of love 
 are modified by another. That is to say, 
 we are to take into view, not only being and 
 character, but relative situation. Holy love, 
 other thiogs being equal, will, by its own 
 law of action, love most those beings who 
 are brought into the nearest relations with 
 it. The same being is a more appropriate 
 object of some degrees and forms of love, 
 11 
 
118 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 in some situations, than he would be in 
 others. And therefore it is natural to sup- 
 ihat In.- will be loved more in such situ- 
 ations. Accordingly a man, whose heart 
 18 the subject of holy love, will love a pa- 
 rent or child, ;i In-other or sister, and other 
 of bis Family, more than others; 
 in consequence of their situation, 
 the relations they sustain, they are the 
 tpriate objeots of such higher love. It 
 i~ i iii { ossible, in the nature of things, that 
 amount of love should be practically 
 upon others, who sustain less inti- 
 relations. The fact of less intimacy 
 Dfl implies, that the channels of 
 are not so fully open in those direc- 
 : and therefore it is impossible that an 
 equal degree of love should flow out. 
 
 And 1 would add a remark further in con- 
 nection with what has been said. Holy 
 love, being a living and permanent princi- 
 ple, is not brought into exercise as a matter 
 of mere prudential calculation, or as the 
 result of a mere effort of the will. If it 
 were will work, it would be man's work; but 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 119 
 
 being God's work, it has a permanent na- 
 ture. Requiring only its appropriate object, 
 it acts naturally; and of course without la- 
 bour or effort of any kind ; turning instinc- 
 tively from what is evil; harmonizing with 
 what is good; moving always in its appro- 
 priate sphere, under the regulation of its 
 divine relationships, correspondences, and 
 impulses ; and as steadily and easily as the 
 planets move in their courses, and as de- 
 scending rivers flow to the ocean. Blessed 
 are those who know what this is from expe- 
 rience. 
 
 But we pass now to another view of the 
 subject. Holy love, considered as a perma- 
 nent life in the soul, is twofold, emanative 
 and attractive. And both forms or me- 
 thods of operation are regulated by fixed 
 laws. Love, in its emanative nature, goes 
 forth, as it were instinctively, and without 
 thinking of its own happiness, to seek the 
 happiness of others. And it flows out to 
 them, not accidentally, not independently of 
 all regulation ; but in accordance with fixed 
 principles — principles which have relation to 
 
120 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 time and place, to extent and characteristics 
 of being. It is this form of the life of love, 
 which I have just explained. 
 
 Bat holy love presents another aspect, 
 
 and may indeed be Baid to possess another 
 
 e — b nature which the world has known 
 
 / imperfectly, b< cause its eye 
 
 has not b ad to behold and admire 
 
 it. J refer to Its attribute of attraction — 
 
 an attribute, which, though scarcely known, 
 
 is a real and inherent part of true love, and 
 
 h is destined, under favourable circum- 
 
 ■ a mighty influence. 
 
 Love, in its att ractive nature, has the 
 
 ;• of drawing the thoughts and affections 
 
 \y beings to itself. This power it does 
 
 not seek; but it possesses it without see' 
 
 licence of its emanative nature, the 
 it were, of its outgoing, lays 
 the foundation of that remarkable power 
 h it has of drawing the eyes of a!! 
 to the contemplation of its own light. 
 And of this I propose to give a little fur- 
 ther explanation. Of all things or objects 
 of contemplation, either in the natural or 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 121 
 
 moral world, holy love is the most beautiful. 
 So that it should ever be remembered, that 
 love is not more love than it is beauty; and 
 it can cease to be the one, as soon as it 
 can cease to be the other. Beauty, by the 
 order and the necessary nature of things, is 
 the grace, the radiance, the light of love. 
 And love possesses the remarkable trait of 
 its attractive power through the medium of 
 its beauty; — it being the characteristic of 
 beauty to give pleasure. Love could not be 
 known as beauty, even if it could exist as 
 such, if it failed to give pleasure. And it 
 is the characteristic or attribute of that 
 which gives pleasure, to exert a propitiative 
 and attractive poiver towards itself. 
 
 To give pleasure, and to attract through 
 the medium of that pleasure, is an attribute 
 even of natural beauty. The flower by the 
 way side arrests the notice of the traveller; 
 we gaze with delight upon the extended and 
 variegated forest; the eyes turn, instinctive- 
 ly as it were, upon the stars in their bright 
 and quiet motion, because there is something 
 even in natural beauty, which appeals to, 
 11* 
 
122 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 and which controls the heart. But moral 
 
 beauty — that beauty which attaches itself to 
 
 virtue — is of a much higher kind, anil has 
 
 much more of attractive power than mere 
 
 natural beauty. But virtue, when not con- 
 
 ctly, but as a prfaetpU in liv~ 
 
 the Bame thing m holy love. 
 
 Lopting, therefore, this conclusion, that 
 
 love. m nature, has an attractive as 
 
 well vitiw power — that it not only 
 
 forth to - good, but attr 
 
 others to itself by its own goodness, we pro- 
 
 y, that the attractive, as well 
 
 roing power of love, 
 
 has And some of these laws I 
 
 shall proceed now to enumerate. 
 
 1 ■":. The first law of love, in its at- 
 
 tractive form, is this: the attractive jjower 
 '/ },.■ in proportion to its emanative 
 \ In other words, he whose heart goes 
 forth most fully and fervently for the good 
 of others, will most fully attract hearts to 
 himself. Love, in its pure state, b- j 
 love; and begets it in a proportion or de- 
 gree corresponding to its own strength. lie 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 123 
 
 who blesses others most, will be most blessed 
 in return. 
 
 Second. Another law of love, in its at- 
 tractive form, is this. Of loving or holy 
 beings, those have the most attractive power, 
 who have the greatest capacity of loving. It 
 is reasonable to suppose, (and the supposi- 
 tion seems to be sustained by the Scrip- 
 tures,) that there are circles, orders, or 
 spheres of holy beings, rising one above 
 another, and occupying their appropriate 
 positions from man to the Deity, and the 
 sphere that stands in advance of the others, 
 has, in consequence of the greater capaci- 
 ties of love which are there enjoyed, a wider 
 and more powerful attractive influence. As 
 angels and seraphs can love more than man, 
 in consequence of their greater capacity of 
 loving, so will they shine out and become 
 radiant with a greater degree of moral beau- 
 ty, and will therefore have the greater at- 
 tractive power over others. 
 
 Third. A third law, which modifies the 
 action of the two preceding, is this : the 
 degree of attracting influence will depend, 
 
124 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 fa part, on the nature of the being who is 
 ibjeei of attraction* It is holy brings 
 
 who are attracted by the beauty of holii 
 and DOt those who arc in their .sins. And 
 
 the reason is, that holy beings can see and 
 appreciate the radiance ami excellence of 
 
 holiness ; while unholy beings, whose inward 
 
 life, in being selfishness, is just the opposite 
 of holy lo?e, are blind* Having no eye to 
 
 see the beauty of holiness, they have no 
 heart to feel its. power. 
 
 1' < ik in. It follows from what has been 
 said, that God, the central principle or life 
 of m\ /iice is love, and whose ca- 
 
 pacity of t is, by the law of 
 
 his nature, the infinite centre of attraction. 
 It is by the law of love, ami not by the 
 f commands and penalties — by the 
 I and noble inlluences of attraction, and 
 not by th of compulsion — that he 
 
 turns and unites the universe of holy beings 
 to himself. 
 
 Fifth. Men feel the influence of divine 
 attraction — the influence of the ineffable 
 beauty of divine love in sweetly drawing 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 125 
 
 them to what is true, and right, and good — 
 just in proportion as they themselves are 
 sanctified. In the beginning of the divine 
 life, when the soul just begins to open its 
 eye upon the beauty of moral excellence, it 
 feels this attractive influence only in a small 
 degree. At that period, the soul, though 
 not exclusively, is kept, in a considerable 
 degree, in a right position, by means of 
 commands, penalties, threats. As it gradu- 
 ally throws off its own selfishness, and comes 
 more and more into the truth and light, it 
 is governed less by fear and more by love. 
 It is drawn, not driven. It follows the path 
 of the holy, because it loves to. All that is 
 necessary, in order to follow the divine 
 voice, is to hear it. "My sheep," says the 
 Saviour, "hear my voice; and I know them; 
 and they follow me." John x. 27, 
 
 Sixth. When the repulsion of sin ceases 
 in the heart, and it experiences assurance of 
 faith and perfection of love, it enters into 
 full harmony with God, and becomes one 
 with him, because, becoming in all things 
 the subject of that divine attraction which 
 
120 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 
 
 draWB it to the central source of life, it ne- 
 9 to be the subject of any and 
 of nil separating influences. And as the 
 .-Mill in Capacity, it Incomes the 
 
 more capable of receiving the divine attrac- 
 tion, and does in fact e a higher 
 
 degT< i attraction, and thus passes 
 
 onward and upward e of hea- 
 
 venly mother, from one laming 
 
 hierarchy of intelligence and love to another; 
 always advancing, bnt never reaching $ al- 
 
 - full, hut always expanding; always in 
 unity with God, hut never identical with 
 
 him. 
 
 SbTBHTH. When the laws of love, in the 
 two forma of emanation and attraction, are 
 in full force, everything in the moral world 
 trill he found to be in i Ijustment. 
 
 Every want will he supplied; every duty will 
 be fulfilled; every will he met; 
 
 .- fear will be quieted; every hope will 
 ilizcd. Truth will correspond to truth; 
 love will harmonize with love; hearts, with- 
 out losing their true position, will be bound 
 
CHRISTIAN LOVE. 127 
 
 together by the golden tie of divine relation- 
 ships, and all will be harmony and peace. 
 
 I could say much more upon this interest- 
 ing and important subject, but must leave it 
 for the present. It is believed that the ex- 
 perience of Christians, whose hearts are 
 closely united with God, will be found to 
 correspond to what has now been said. 
 
PERSONAL FEELINGS. 
 
 mi 41 im'K'h m:tti:H8 irum PAURHIi 
 
 I. 
 
 and therefore 
 : but 1 think they 
 
 :ik with the heart : an I 
 - they utter oi 
 and enter into little affectionate conv 
 
 quite interesting. Some of 
 • boura whi 
 
 3i ..li, were rel 
 Allow me to I 
 
 Willi pleasure I 
 
 And i i v-t llowret, 
 
 What's the worth of thy beauty, 
 Thus planing unknown: 
 
LETTERS FROM PALESTINE. 129 
 
 But the flower gave me answer, 
 
 With a smile quite divine, 
 'Tis the nature, stranger! 
 
 Of beauty to shine. 
 Take all I can give thee, 
 
 And when thou art gone, 
 The light that is in me, 
 
 Will keep shining on. 
 
 And, oh gentle stranger, 
 
 Permit me to say, 
 To keep up thy spirits 
 
 Along this lone way, 
 While thy heart shall flow outward 
 
 To gladden and bless, 
 The fount at its centre 
 
 Will never grow less. 
 
 I was struck with its answer, 
 
 And left it to glow 
 To the clear sky above it 
 
 And the pale sands below; 
 Above and around it 
 
 Its light to impart, 
 But never exhausting 
 
 The fount at its heart. 
 
 12 
 
130 EXTRACTS FROM 
 
 II. 
 
 At a little distance from me I noticed the 
 traditionary place where the Saviour is said 
 to have wept over Jerusalem. Reaching the 
 foot of the mountain, I stopped at the gar- 
 den of Gethsemane. At a little distance on 
 my right was the beautiful chapel and the 
 
 Bepolohre Of the Virgin Mary. The tradi- 
 tionary belief is that the dust of the mother 
 garden which witnessed the 
 
 heavy trials of her divine Bon. The garden 
 of Gethsemane 18 now enclosed by a high 
 
 wall, which overlooks the channel of the Ke- 
 
 dron. I entered it, and walked among the 
 flowers, which the hand of Christian venera- 
 tion loves to cultivate on its sacred soil, and 
 shade of the aged olive trees, 
 the growth of many hundred — perhaps of a 
 thousand y 
 
 And this, I said to myself, was the garden 
 of preparatory suffering; — the sad and me- 
 morable scene of one of the most trying 
 periods of the Saviour's life. This was the 
 place of his agony. It was here he kneeled 
 
LETTERS FROM PALESTINE. 131 
 
 and prayed. "If it be possible, let this cup 
 pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, 
 but as Thou wilt." 
 
 The world of spirits took an interest in 
 this great struggle. An angel appeared — 
 strengthening him. His prayer was an- 
 swered. The will of his Father was accom- 
 plished. The Son of God was betrayed 
 into the hands of wicked men. His blood 
 flowed upon Calvary. Jerusalem was de- 
 stroyed. But a world was redeemed. 
 
 WRITTEN ON VISITING THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, 
 MAT, 1853. 
 
 Oh let me not forget! 'Twas here, 
 Earth of the Saviour's grief and toil ! 
 
 He knelt; — and oft the falling tear 
 Mingled his sorrows with thy soil; — 
 
 When, in the garden's fearful hour, 
 
 He felt the great temptation's power. 
 
 Here was the proffered bitter cup. 
 
 " Thy will be done," the Saviour said. 
 His faith received, and drank it up; 
 
 Amazed, the baffled tempter fled — 
 Repulsed, with all his hate and skill, 
 Before an acquiescent will. 
 
lo2 EXTRACTS FROM 
 
 Oh man! in memory of that hour, 
 Let rising murmurs be repress'd; 
 
 Anil learn the Beorei of thy power 
 Within a oalm and patient breast. 
 
 "Thy H'li.i. BI - that, which rolls 
 
 Their agony from Buffering souls. 
 
 Such is the lesson that I find, 
 
 Sere, in tti place of tea 
 
 The lesson, that the trosting mind 
 
 11 it itrengtfa to eonqner gaefii and fears; 
 And doomed apos the orosi bo die, 
 rinds death itself a victory, 
 
 ill. 
 
 It was here, when there was a great tem- 
 . and the Bhip was covered with the 
 
 wave?, that "he arose and rebuked the wind- 
 and the sea, and there was a great calm." 
 And it was probably upon one of the heights 
 rising above these waters, fan old tradition 
 upon Tell Hattin,) that he uttered those 
 remarkable sayings — without precedent in 
 the annals of mere human thought and wis- 
 
LETTERS FROM PALESTINE. 133 
 
 dom — ■which constitute the Sermon on the 
 Mount. 
 
 At evening I stood at the door of our tent. 
 The stars began to show themselves again. 
 The lake was at a little distance. I heard 
 its gentle voice. Excepting the sound of 
 the waters, there was silence on the plain 
 and on the mountains. One feeling occupied 
 my heart. One thought subordinated all 
 others. 
 
 Strange is the deep, mysterious tie 
 Which makes departed ages nigh ; 
 But God has formed it; and its power 
 Has marked with me this sacred hour. 
 ; Twas thus, I thought, as thy bright sea, 
 Blue-tinted wave of Galilee ! 
 With gentle sound and motion sank 
 Upon the bold and rocky bank. 
 
 Oh, Lake and Land — where memories last — 
 Which link the present to the past; 
 Whose waves and rocky heights restore 
 Departed scenes and forms once more! 
 ; Twas here He pressed the conscious earth; — 
 'Twas here his heavenly thoughts had birth. 
 Oh give me back, if yet ye can, 
 This " Son of God," this " Son of man." 
 
 12* 
 
134: EXTRACTS FROM 
 
 He comes: — he walks upon the sea; — 
 "Have faith," he says, "and walk with me." 
 I go — I sink — he takes my hand; 
 I, t"", upon the waten stand; — 
 
 But Boon from cliff and mountain side 
 'I'd-' tempest Bweepi the foaming tide; 
 The lightning! flash; — the billows rise; — 
 
 Storms lift and dash them to the skies. 
 
 is to tli^ weal his hand ho gare; 
 An 1 has hs power the weak t<» save? 
 • and more Seres tfas billows roll, 
 
 Hut run lias anchored in the soul. 
 
 Amid the Qlonds 1 BOS his form; 
 
 amid the stone ; 
 
 tempest listens to hi- will ; 
 
 boshed;— the waves arc still. 
 
 IV. 
 
 I wanted repose; and I found it in the 
 desert. I wanted communion with God; and 
 I found it there. I found it in the day, in 
 the va?tnes.s of its objects, and its silence. I 
 found it still more in the night, when magni- 
 tude enlarges itself, and silence becomes 
 more silent. I found it in the earth beneath, 
 
LETTERS FROM PALESTINE. 135 
 
 and in the heavens above. Often I watched 
 the stars. Beautiful as the heavenly man- 
 sions, they looked out from their blue abodes 
 — clear and lovely — as if they were the eyes 
 of that great Being who fills their urns with 
 light. There was one with its large angelic 
 eye that came with peculiar sweetness. It 
 danced upon the mountain tops. It had no 
 audible utterance; but there was a divine 
 language in its smile, which spake of heaven- 
 ly peace. It was in the desert of Sinai that 
 I gave it a place in my memory. It was in 
 the vast wilderness, which had inspired the 
 prophetic impulses and the songs of Moses, 
 that I watched the mild splendour of its 
 beams, and endeavoured to record the emo- 
 tions excited by its mysterious but lovely 
 presence. 
 
 WRITTEN IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI. 
 
 I marked the bright, the silver star, 
 That nightly decked our desert way, 
 
 As shining from its depths afar, 
 
 Its heavenly radiance seemed to say: — 
 
 Oh look ! from mists and shadows clear, 
 
 My cheering light is always here. 
 
136 LETTERS FROM PALESTINE. 
 
 I saw thee. And at once I knew, 
 Star of the desert, in my heart; — 
 
 That thou didst shine, the emblem true 
 Of that bright star, whose beams impart, 
 
 . night tO Bight, from day to day, 
 ■ of theil inward ray. 
 
 There ie n beam 1 1 light the mind; 
 There is a star the soul to cheer; 
 And they, that heavenly light who find, 
 
 Shall always >•••• it burning clear; 
 
 mi'- it> bright, celestial face, 
 
 In every change of time and place, 
 
 if my heart! that long hast shone, 
 
 beer the inward spirit's sky, 
 Ulutnin'd from tin.' heavenly throne, 
 Th'.u hast a ray that cannot die. 
 
 ■t lights the*:. And with Ilim 
 N Bky IS dark: dim. 
 
RELIGIOUS STANZAS. 
 
 PENITENCE. 
 
 Oh, say when errors oft and black 
 Have deeply stained the inmost soul, 
 
 Who then shall call the wanderer back, 
 Who make the broken spirit whole? 
 
 Who give the tortured and depressed 
 
 The grateful balm, that soothes to rest? 
 
 When storms are driven across the sky, 
 The rainbow decks the troubled clouds, 
 
 And there is One whose love is nigh, 
 
 Where grief annoys and darkness shrouds ; 
 
 He'll stretch abroad his bow of peace, 
 
 And bid the storm and tempest cease. 
 
 Then go, vain world, 'tis time to part, 
 Too long and darkly hast thou twined 
 
 Around this frail, corrupted heart, 
 And poisoned the immortal mind; 
 
 Oh, I have known the pangs that spring 
 
 From pleasure's beak and folly's sting. 
 
138 RELIGIOUS 
 
 Hail, Prinoe of Heaven] Hail, Bow of rest! 
 
 Oh, '1 >wnward Boatter mercy's raj, 
 And all the darkness of my breast 
 
 Shall quickly turn t'l golden day. 
 With The- i> peace : do griefs am 
 An joy. 
 
 jf tiiekf. is BtnrsHiiri nn tue face. 
 
 It there is sunshine in tho face, 
 
 And joy upon the bi 
 Do noi a trace 
 
 uf answering joy belowi 
 
 An<l what a- light, 
 
 the -mile; 
 If all within i- dark as night, 
 If all is dead the while. 
 
 Deep in the heart the evil lies, 
 
 Which nought on earth can cure, 
 A- rsi :. I i the only Wise, 
 
 I 1, the only Pure. 
 
STANZAS. 139 
 
 Oh Thou, who giv'st the heart renewed, 
 
 "Withhold it not from me, 
 That, all my enmity subdued, 
 
 I may rejoice in Thee. 
 
 THOU GIVER OF THE RISING LIGHT. 
 
 Thou Giver of the rising light, 
 
 Thou Author of the morning ray; 
 At whose command the shades of night 
 
 Are changed to bright and sudden day 
 Thou too canst rend the clouded heart, 
 
 Enveloped in the shades of sin; 
 And let the light that dwelt apart, 
 
 The glory and the gladness in. 
 
 Oh God, our Father and our Friend, 
 
 Dark is the cloud that wraps us now; 
 But not in vain our prayers ascend, 
 
 Nor hopeless at thy feet we bow. 
 ; Tis in the dark, distressing hour, 
 
 That thou dost hear thy people's cry; 
 And come and clothe them in thy power, 
 
 And hide them in thy majesty. 
 
140 RELIGIOUS 
 
 LONG DID TIIE CLOUDS AND DARKNESS ROLL. 
 
 Long did the clouds and darkness roll 
 A- Mind my troubled breast ; 
 
 • urlight shone upon my soul, 
 My fo itsteps found oo reel 
 
 To human help I looked around, 
 
 Bui vainly sought relief; 
 No balm of Gilead 1 found] 
 
 N healing for my grief. 
 
 i 
 II.' listening heard my prayer; 
 
 I side, 
 And felt that hope was there. 
 
 ■ way; 
 Be makes my : 
 
 lay, 
 An ■ I to sung. 
 
 TIRST DAY Or TIIE VtW LIFE. 
 
 "Ah, b til I delight 
 
 In the menu.:!" of that day, M 
 
 . night 
 Sudd ^vay! 
 
STANZAS. 141 
 
 Long around my darkened view 
 Had those lingering shadows twined; 
 
 Till the Gospel, breaking through, 
 Chased them from my mind. 
 
 There was light in everything, 
 Everything was bathed in bliss ; 
 
 Trees did wave, and birds did sing, 
 Full of happiness. 
 
 Beauty in the woods shone forth, 
 
 Beauty did the flowers display ; 
 And my glorious Maker's worth 
 
 Beamed with matchless ray. 
 
 " Ah, how long shall I delight 
 
 In the memory of that day/' 
 When the shades of mental night 
 
 Sudden passed away. 
 
 JEHOVAH, SOVEREIGN OF MY HEART. 
 
 Jehovah, Sovereign of my heart ! 
 
 My joy by night and day! 
 From Thee, oh may I never part, 
 
 From thee, ne'er go astray. 
 Whene'er allurements round me stand, 
 
 And tempt me from my choice ; 
 Oh, let me find thy gracious hand, 
 
 Oh, let me hear thy voice. 
 13 
 
142 RELIGIOUS 
 
 This vain and feeble heart, I know, 
 
 T'> worldly ways is prone; 
 But penitential tears shall show, 
 
 There's joy in Thee alone. 
 With God all darkness turns to day; 
 
 With Him all Borrows 
 Thou art the true and living way, 
 
 And 1 will walk in Thee. 
 
 HAM B SPIRIT HATH AV UPWARD LOOK. 
 
 Man'- spirit hath an upward look, 
 
 An 1 robes itself with heavenly wings j 
 
 when 'tis here compelled to brook 
 
 aement to terrestrial things. 
 
 1 1 "ii the skies; 
 
 !•- wii _•- for flight are opened wide; 
 . ith it hesitate to 
 
 And -till npon the earth abide; 
 
 - th<>u seek the cause to know, 
 And ! press; 
 
 their burden throw, 
 And set them free frum worldliness. 
 
 Shake off the earthly cares that stay 
 
 d I upward flight; 
 Aud tl them make their way 
 
 To joy, and liberty, and light. 
 
STANZAS. 143 
 
 ALTHOUGH AFFLICTION SMITES MY HEART. 
 
 Although affliction smites my heart, 
 
 And earthly pleasures flee, 
 There is one bliss that ne'er shall part, 
 
 My joy, oh God, in Thee. 
 
 That joy is like the orb of day, 
 When clouds its track pursue ; 
 
 The shades and darkness throng its way, 
 But sunlight struggles through. 
 
 Oh Thou, my everlasting light, 
 
 On whom my hopes rely; 
 With thee the darkest path is bright, 
 
 And fears and sorrows die. 
 
 IF CLOUDS ARISE AND STORMS APPEAR. 
 
 If clouds arise and storms appear, 
 
 If fortune, friends, and all forsake me, 
 
 There's One to shed with mine the tear, 
 And to his bleeding bosom take me. 
 
 Blest Saviour ! Let it be my lot, 
 
 To tread with Thee this round of being ; 
 
 Thy love and mercy alter not, 
 When every sunbeam friend i3 fleeing. 
 
144 RELIGIOUS STANZAS. 
 
 Oh, be it thine to guide my soul 
 
 Along the wave of Life's dark ocean; 
 
 An 1 nought I'll fear, when billows roll, 
 Noi dread the whirlwind's rude commotion. 
 
 Thy Iqjre shall be my polar light, 
 
 . whether weal or woe betide me, 
 Through raging Btorm and shadowy night, 
 It- blaie shall shine to cheer and guide me. 
 
 THE DIVINE LIFE. 
 
 On, sacred union with the Perfect Mind! 
 
 lendenl bliss, which Thou alone canst give! 
 How blest are they, this pearl of price who find, 
 
 And dead to earth, havo learnt in Thee to live. 
 
 Thus, in thine umt of love, oh God, I lie, 
 1. it, an I : r i i er lost, to all hut Thee. 
 
 My happy soul, since it hath learnt to die, 
 Hath found new life in thine Infinity. 
 
 and learn this lesson of the cross; 
 And tread the way which saints ami prophets trod, 
 Who, counting life, and self, and all thing! 
 Have found in inward death the life of God. 
 
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