LETTER III.

ON THE SAME SUBJECT.

My dearest Niece,

WE come now to that part of Scripture, which

is the most important of all; and which you must make your constant study, not only till you are thoroughly acquainted with it, but all your life long; because, how often soever repeated, it is impossible to read the life and death of our blessed Saviour, without renewing and increasing in our hearts that love, and reverence, and gratitude towards him, which is so justly due for all he did, and suffered, for us! Every word that fell from his lips is more precious than all the treasures of the earth; for his " are the words of eternal life!" They must, therefore, be laid up in your heart, and constantly referred to on all occasions, as the rule and direction of all your actions; particularly those very comprehensive moral precepts he has gra ciously left with us, which can never fail to direct us aright, if fairly and honestly applied: such as, Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them.-There is no occasion, great or small, on which you may not safely apply this rule, for the direction of your conduct: and, whilst your heart honestly adheres to it, you can never be guilty of any sort of injustice or unkindness. The two great commandments, which contain the summary of our duty to God and man, are no less casily retained, and made a standard by which to judge our own hearts;-To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strength; and our neighbour (or fel. low creature) as ourselves. "Love worketh no ill "to his neighbour;" therefore, if you have true

benevolence, you will never do any thing injurious to individuals, or to society. Now, all crimes whatever are (in their remoter consequences at least, if not immediately, and apparently) injurious to the society in which we live. It is impossible to love God, without desiring to please him, and, as far as we are able, to resemble him; therefore, the love of God must lead to every virtue in the highest de⚫gree and, we may be sure, we do not truly love him, if we content ourselves with avoiding flagrant sins, and do not strive, in good earnest, to reach the greatest degree of perfection we are capable of. Thus do those few words direct us to the highest Christian virtue. Indeed, the whole tenour of the Gospel is to offer us every help, direction, and motive, that can enable us to attain that degree of perfection, on which depends our eternal good,

What an example is set before us in our blessed Master! How is his whole life, from earliest youth, dedicated to the pursuit of true wisdom, and to the practice of the most exalted virtue! When you see him, at twelve years of age, in the temple amongst the doctors, hearing thein, and asking them questions on the subject of religion, and astonishing them all with his understanding and answers, you will say, perhaps, "Well might the "Son of God, even at those years, be far wiser "than the aged: but can a mortal child emulate "such heavenly wisdom? Can such a pattern be "proposed to my imitation?"-Yes, my dear;remember, that he has bequeathed to you his hea venly wisdom, as far as concerns your own good. He has left you such declarations of his will, and of the consequences of your actions, as you are, even now, fully able to understand, if you will but attend to them. If, then, you will initate his zeal for knowledge; if you will delight in gaining information and improvement; you may, even now, become wise unto salvation. Unmoved by the praise he acquired amongst these learned meu, you see him meckly return to the subjection of a child, under those who appeared to be his parents, though he

was in reality their Lord: you see him return to live with them, to work for them, and to be the joy and solace of their lives; till the time came, when he was to enter on that scene of public action, for which his heavenly Father had sent him from his own right hand, to take upon him the form of a poor carpeuter's son. What a lesson of humility is this, and of obedience to parents!-Wheu; having received the glorious testimony from heaven, of his being the beloved Son of the Most High, he enters on his public ministry, what an example does he give us, of the most extensive and constant benevolence!-how are all his hours spent in doing good to the souls and bodies of men! not the meanest sinner is below his notice :-to reclaim and save them, he condescends to converse familiarly with the most corrupt, as well as the most abject. All his miracles are wrought to benefit mankind; not one to punish and afflict them. Instead of using the almighty power, which accompanied him, to the purpose of exalting himself and treading down his enemies, he makes no other use of it than to heal and to save.

When you come to read of his sufferings and death, the ignominy and reproach, the sorrow of mind, and torment of body, which he submitted to; -when you consider, that it was for all our sakes; "that by his stripes we are healed,"-and by his death we are raised from destruction to everlasting life; what can I say, that can add any thing to the sensations you must then feel?-No power of language can make the scene more touching than it appears in the plain and simple narrations of the Evangelists. The heart that is unmoved by it, can be scarcely human :-but, my dear, the emohuman-but, tions of tenderness and compunction, which almost every one feels in reading this account, will be of no avail, unless applied to the true end;-unless it inspires you with a sincere and warm affection towards your blessed Lord;-with a firm resolution to obey his commands;-to be his faithful disciple; and ever to renounce and abhor those sins,, which

brought mankind under Divine condemnation, and from which we have been redeemed at so dear. a. rate. Remember, that the title of Christian, or follower of Christ, implies a more than ordinary degree of holiness and goodness. As our motives to virtue are stronger than those which are afforded to. the rest of mankind, our guilt will be proportionably greater, if we depart from it..

Our Saviour appears to have had three great purposes, in descending from his glory, and dwelling amongst men. The first, to teach them true virtue,. both by his example and precepts:-the second, to give them the most forcible motives to the practice of it, "by bringing life and immortality to light," by shewing them the certainty of a resurrection and judgment, and the absolute necessity of obedience to God's laws:-the third, to sacrifice himself for us, to obtain by his death the remission of our sins, upon our repentance and reformation, and the power of bestowing on his sincere followers the inestimable gift of immortal happiness.

What a tremendous scene of the last day does the Gospel place before our eyes!-of that day when you, and every one of us, shall awake from the grave, and behold the Son of God, on his glo. rious tribunal, attended by millions of celestial beings, of whose superior excellence we can now form no adequate idea;-when, in presence of all mankind, of those holy angels, and of the great Judge himself, you must give an account of your. past life, and hear your final doon, from which there can be no appeal, and which must determine your fate to all eternity! Then think,-if for a moment you can bear the thought,-what will be the desolation, shame, and anguish of those wretched souls, who shall hear these dreadful words: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."-0, my beloved child! I cannot support even the idea of your becoming one of those undone, lost creatures: I trust in God's mercy, that you will make a better use of that knowledge of his will, which he has

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vouchsafed you, and of those amiable dispositions he has given you.

Let us, therefore, turn from this horrid, this insupportable view,-and rather endeavour to imagine, as far as is possible, what will be the sensation of your soul, if you shall hear our heavenly Judge address you in these transporting words: "Come, thou blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."-Think, what it must be, to become an object of the esteem and applause, not only of all mankind assembled together, but of all the host of heaven; of our blessed Lord himself, nay, of his and our Almighty Father! to find your frail flesh changed in a moment into a glorious celestial body, endowed with perfect beauty, health and agility;-to find your soul cleansed from all its faults and infirmities, exalted to the purest and noblest affections, overflowing with Divine love and raptur ous gratitude; to have your understanding enlightened and refined, your heart enlarged and purified; and every power and disposition of mind. and body, adapted to the highest relish of virtue and happiness!-Thus accomplished, to be admitted into the society of amiable and happy beings, all united in the most perfect peace and friendship, all breathing nothing but love to God, and to each other; with them to dwell in scenes more delightful than the richest imagination can paint,-free from every pain and care, and from all possibility of change or satiety:-but, above all, to enjoy the more immediate presence of God himself;-to be able to comprehend and admire his adorable perfections in a high degree, though still far short of their infinity;-to be conscious of his love and favour, and to rejoice in the light of his countenance!

But here all imagination fails: we can form no idea of that bliss which may be communicated to us by such a near approach to the Source of all beauty and all good:-we must content ourselves with believing, that it is what mortal eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the