and render it the means of making you wise unto salvation! May you love and reverence, as it deserves, this blessed and invaluable book, which contains the best rule of life, the clearest declaration of the will and laws of the Deity, the reviving assurance of favour to true penitents, and the unspeakably joyful tidings of eternal life, and happi. ness to all the truly virtuous; through Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Deliverer of the world!

Adieu.

LETTER IV.

ON THE REGULATION OF THE HEART AND AFFECTIONS.

You will have read the New Testament to very little purpose, my dearest Niece, if you do not perceive the great end and intention of all its precepts to be the improvement and regulation of the heart-not the outward actions alone, but the inward affections which give birth to them, are the subjects of those precepts; as appears in our Saviour's explanation of the commandments delivered to Moses; and in a thousand other passages of the Gospels, which it is needless to recite.

There are no virtues more insisted on, as necessary to our future happiness, than humility, and sincerity, or uprightness of heart; yet none more. difficult and rare. Pride and vanity, the vices opposite to humility, are the sources of almost all the worst faults, both of men and women. The latter are particularly accused,-and not without reason, -of vanity, the vice of little minds, chiefly conversant with trifling subjects. Pride and vanity

* Matt, v.

have been supposed to differ so essentially, as hardly ever to be found in the same person. "Too "proud to be vain," is no uncommon expression; by which, I suppose, is meant, too proud to be overanxious for the admiration of others: but this seems. to be founded on misaake. Pride is, I think, an high opinion of oneself, and an affected contempt of others: I say affected; for, that it is not a real contempt, is evident from this, that the lowest object of it is important enough to torture the proud man's heart, only by refusing him the homage and admiration he requires. Thus Haman could relish none of the advantages in which he valued himself, whilst that Mordecai, whom he pretended to despise, sat still in the king's gate, and would not bow to him as he passed. But, as the proud man's contempt of others is only assumed with a view to awe them into reverence by his pretended superiority, so it does not preclude an extreme inward anxiety about their opinions, and a slavish dependence on them for all his gratifications. Pride, though a distinct passion, is seldom unaccompanied by vanity, which is an extravagant desire of admiration. Indeed, I never saw an insolent person, in whom a discerning eye might not discover a very large share of vanity and of envy, its usual companion. One may, nevertheless, see many vain persons who are not proud; though they desire to be admired, they do not always admire themselves: but, as timid minds are apt to despair of those things they earnestly wish for, so you will often see the woman who is most anxious to be thought handsome, most inclined to be dissatisfied with her looks, and to think all the assistance of art too little to attain the end desired. To this cause, I believe, we may generally attribute affectation; which seems to imply a mean opinion of one's own real form, or character, while we strive against nature to alter ourselves by ridiculous contortions of body, or by feigned sentiments and unnatural manners. There is no art so mean, which this mean passion will not descend to for its gratifica

tion ;-no creature so insignificant, whose incense it will not gladly receive. Far from despising others, the vain man will court them with the most assiduFous adulation; in hopes, by feeding their vanity, to induce them to supply the craving wants of his own. He will put on the guise of benevolence, tenderness, and friendship, where he feels not the least degree of kindness, in order to prevail on good-nature and gratitude to like and to commend him: but if, in any particular case, he fancies the airs of insolence and contempt may succeed better, he makes no scruple to assume them; though so awkwardly, that he still appears to depend on the breath of the person he would be thought to despise. Weak and timid natures seldom venture to try this last method; and, when they do, it is without the assurance necessary to -carry it on with success: but a bold and confident mind will oftener endeavour to command and extort admiration than to court it. As women arè more fearful than men, perhaps this may be one reason why they are more vain than proud; whilst the other sex are oftener proud than vain. It is, I suppose, from some opinion of a certain greatness of mind accompanying the one 'vice rather than the other, that many will readily confess their pride, nay, and even be proud of their pride, whilst every creature is ashamed of being convicted of vanity. You see, however, that the end of both is the same, though pursued by different means: or, if it differs, it is in the importance of the subject.Whilst men are proud of power, of wealth, dignity, learning, or abilities, young women are usually ambitious of nothing more than to be admired for their persons, their dress, or their most trivial accomplishments. The homage of men is their grand object; but they only desire them to be in love with their persons, careless how despicable their minds appear, even to these their pretended

adorers. 1 have known a woman so vain as to boast of the most disgraceful addresses; being conlented to be thought meanly of, in points the most

interesting to her honour, for the sake of having it known, that her person was attractive enough to make a man transgress the bounds of respect due to her character, whieh was not a vicious one, if you except this intemperate vanity. But this passion too often leads to the most ruinous actions, always corrupts the heart, and, when indulged, renders it, perhaps, as displeasing in the sight of the Almighty,. as those faults which find least mercy from the world: yet, alas! it is a passion so prevailing, I had almost said universal, in our sex, that it requires all the efforts of reason, and all the assist. ance of grace, totally to subdue it. Religion is indeed the only effectual remedy for this evil. If our hearts are not dedicated to God, they will, in some way or other, be dedicated to the world, both in youth and age. If our actions are not constantly referred to Him,-if his approbation and favour be not our principal object, we shall certainly take up with the applause of men, and make that the rul ing motive of our conduct. How melancholy is it to see this phantom so eagerly followed through life; whilst all that is truly valuable to us, is looked upon with indifference, or, at best, made subordinate to this darling pursuit!

Equally vain and absurd is every scheme of life that is not subservient to, and does not terminate in, that great end of our being, the attainment of real excellence, and of the favour of God. Whenever this becomes sincerely our object, then will pride and vanity, envy, ambition, covetousness, and every evil passiou, lose their power over us; and we shall, in the language of Scripture, "walk humbly "with our God." We shall then cease to repine under our natural or accidental disadvantages, and feel dissatisfied only with our moral defects;-we shall love and respect all our fellow-creatures, as the children of the same dear parent, and particu larly those who seek to do his will: All our delight will be in the saints that are in the earth, and in "such as excel in virtue." We shall wish to cultivate good-will, and to promote innocent enjoyment,

wherever we are:-we shall strive to please, not from vanity, but from benevolence. Instead of contemplating our own fancied perfections, or even our real superiority, with self-complacence, religion will teach us to "look into ourselves, and fear:" -the best of us, God knows, have enough to fear, if we honestly search into all the dark recesses of the heart, and bring out every thought and intention fairly to the light, to be tried by the precepts of our pure and holy religion.

It is with the rules of the Gospel we must compare ourselves, and not with the world around us; for we know," that the many are wicked; and that "we must not be conformed to the world."

How necessary it is, frequently thus to enter into ourselves, and search out our spirit, will appear, if we consider, how much the human heart is prone to insincerity, and how often, from being first led by vanity into attempts to impose upon others, we come at last to impose on ourselves.

There is nothing more common than to see people fall into the most ridiculous mistakes, with regard to their own characters: but I can by no means allow such mistakes to be unavoidable, and therefore innocent: they arose from voluntary insincerity, and are continued for want of that strict honesty towards ourselves and others, which the Scripture calls singleness of heart; and which, in modern language, is termed simplicity:-the most enchanting of all qualities, esteemed and be loved in proportion to its rareness.

He who requires truth in the inward parts," will not excuse our self-deception; for he has commanded us to examine ourselves diligently, and has given us such rules as can never mislead us, if we desire the truth, and are willing to see our faults, in order to correct them. But this is the point in which we are defective; we are desirous to gain our own approbation, as well as that of others, at a cheaper rate than that of being really what we ought to be; and we take pains to persuade ourselves that we are that which we indolently admire and approve.