RELIGIOUS, MORAL, AND DIDACTIC.

THE VOICE OF THE PREACHER.

J. Q. ADAMS.

WHO is it that, with the voice of a Joshua, shall control the course of nature herself in the perverted heart, and arrest the luminaries of wisdom and virtue in their rapid revolutions round this little world of man? It is the genuine orator of heaven, with a heart sincere, upright, and fervent; a mind stored with universal knowledge required as the foundation of the art; with a genius for the invention, a skill for the disposition, and a voice for the elocution of every argument to convince, and of every sentiment to persuade. If, then, we admit that the art of oratory qualifies the minister of the gospel to perform, in higher perfection, the duties of his station, we can no longer question whether it be proper for his cultivation. It is more than proper; it is one of his most solemn and indispensable duties.

From "Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory."

THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND AT HER ACCESSION.

SYDNEY SMITH.

A YOUNG queen, at that period of life which is commonly given up to frivolous amusement, sees at once the great principles by which she should be guided, and steps at once into the great duties of her station. The importance of educating the lower orders of the people is never absent from her mind; she takes up this principle at the beginning of her life, and in all the change of servants, and in all the struggle of parties, looks to it as a source of permanent improvement. A great object of her affections is the preservation of peace; she regards a state of war as the greatest of all human evils, thinks that the lust of conquest is not a glory but à bad crime; despises the folly and miscaleulations of war, and is willing to sacrifice everything to peace, but the clear honor of her land.

The patriot queen, whom I am painting, reverences the national church-frequents its worship, and regulates her faith by its precepts; but she withstands the encroachments, and keeps down the ambition natural to establishments, and, by rendering the privileges of the

church compatible with the civil freedom of all sects, confers strength upon, and adds duration to, that wise and magnificent institution. And then this youthful monarch, profoundly but wisely religious, disdaining hypocrisy, and far above the childish follies of false piety, casts herself upon God, and seeks from the gospel of his blessed Son a path for her steps and a comfort for her soul. Here is a picture which warms every English heart, and would bring all this congregation upon their bended knees before Almighty God to pray it may be realized. What limits to the glory and happiness of our native land, if the Creator should, in his mercy, have placed in the heart of this royal woman the rudiments of wisdom and mercy; and if, giving them time to expand, and to bless our children's children with her goodness, He should grant to her a long sojourning upon earth, and leave her to reign over us till she is well stricken in years? What glory! what happiness! what joy! what bounty of God! I of course can only expect to see the beginning of such a splendid period; but when I do see it, I shall exclaim with the Psalmist: " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”

From "Sermon on the Duties of the Queen."

THE OFFICE OF A JUDGE.

SYDNEY SMITH.

HE who takes the office of a judge, as it now exists in this country, takes in his hands a splendid gem, good and glorious, perfect and pure. Shall he give it up mutilated, shall he mar it, shall he darken it, shall it emit no light, shall it be valued at no price, shall it excite no wonder? Shall he find it a diamond, shall he leave it a stone? What shall we say to the man who would wilfully destroy with fire the magnificent temple of God, in which I am now preaching? Far worse is he who ruins the moral edifices of the world, which time and toil, and many prayers to God, and many sufferings of men, have reared; who puts out the light of the times in which he lives, and leaves us to wander amid the darkness of corruption and the desolation of sin. There may be, there probably is, in this church, some young man who may hereafter fill the office of an English judge, when the greater part of those who hear me are dead, and mingled with the dust of the grave. Let him remember my words, and let them form and fashion his spirit; he cannot tell in what dangerous and awful times he may be placed; but as a mariner looks to his compass in the calm, and looks to his compass in the storm, and never keeps his eyes off his compass, so, in every vicissitude of a judicial life, deciding for the people, deciding against the people, protecting the just rights of kings, or restraining their unlawful ambition, let him ever cling to

that pure, exalted, and Christian independence which towers over the little motives of life; which no hope of favor can influence, which no effort of power can control.

From "Sermon at the Assizes.”

THE ABUSE OF CONSCIENCE.

LAURENCE STERNE,

A MAN shall be vicious in his principles; exceptionable in his conduct to the world: shall live shameless,-in the open commission of a sin which no reason nor pretence can justify;-a sin, by which, contrary to all the workings of humanity within, he shall ruin for ever the deluded partner of his guilt;-rob her of her best dowry ;-and not only cover her own head with dishonor, but involve a whole virtuous family in shame and sorrow for her sake.-Surely, you'll think, conscience must lead such a man a troublesome life:-he can have no rest night nor day from its reproaches.

Alas! Conscience had something else to do all this time than break in upon him as Elijah reproached the god Baal, this domestic god was either talking, or pursuing, or was in a journey, or, peradventure, he slept, and could not be awoke. Perhaps he was gone out in company with HONOR, to fight a duel;-to pay off some debt at play ;-or dirty annuity, the bargain of his lust.-Perhaps Conscience all this time was engaged at home, talking aloud against petty larceny, and executing vengeance upon some such puny crimes as his fortune and rank in life secured him against all temptation of committing:-so that he lives as merrily,-sleeps as soundly in his bed ;-and, at the last, meets death with as much unconcern,-perhaps much more so, than a much better man.

A third is crafty and designing in his nature.-View his whole life,— 'tis nothing else but a cunning contexture of dark arts and inequitable subterfuges, basely to defeat the true intent of all laws, plain dealing, and the safe enjoyment of our several properties.-You will see such a one working out a frame of little designs upon the ignorance and perplexities of the poor and needy man:-shall raise a fortune upon the inexperience of a youth,-or the unsuspecting temper of his friend, who would have trusted him with his life. When old age comes on, and repentance calls him to look back upon this black account, and state it over again with his conscience-Conscience looks into the Statutes at Large,-finds perhaps no express law broken by what he has done;-perceives no penalty or forfeiture incurred :waving over his head,―or prison opening its gate upon him.-What is there to affright his conscience?--Conscience has got safely entrenched behind the letter of the law, sits there invulnerable, fortified with cases

:-sees no scourge

and reports so strongly on all sides-that 'tis not preaching can dispossess it of its hold.

REFLECTION.

From "Sermons."

COLERIDGE.

READER! You have been bred in a land abounding with men, able in arts, learning, and knowledges manifold, this man in one, this in another, few in many, none in all. But there is one art, of which every man should be master, the art of REFLECTION. If you are not a thinking man, to what purpose are you a man at all? In like manner, there is one knowledge, which it is every man's interest and duty to acquire, namely, SELF-KNOWLEDGE: or to what end was man alone, of all animals, indued by the Creator with the faculty of self-consciousness? Truly said the Pagan moralist, E cœlo descendi, Two: Esautov. But you are likewise born in a CHRISTIAN land: and Revelation has provided for you new subjects for reflection, and new treasures of knowledge, never to be unlocked by him who remains self-ignorant. Self-knowledge is the key to this casket; and by reflection alone can it be obtained. Reflect on your own thoughts, actions, circumstances, and-which will be of especial aid to you in forming a habit of reflection-accustom yourself to reflect on the words you use, hear, or read, their birth, derivation, and history. For if words are not THINGS, they are LIVING POWERS, by which the things of most importance to mankind are actuated, combined, and humanized. Finally, by reflection you may draw from the fleeting facts of your worldly trade, art, or profession, a science permanent as your immortal soul; and make even these subsidiary and preparative to the reception of spiritual truth, "doing as the dyers do, who, having first dipt their silks in colors of less value, then give them the last tincture of crimson in grain."

From Preface of " Aids to Reflection."

LIFE.

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON.

"WE are always resolving to live, and yet never set about life in good earnest." Archimedes was not singular in his fate; but a great part of mankind die unexpectedly, while they are poring upon the figures they have described in the sand. O wretched mortals! who, having condemned themselves, as it were, to the mines, seem to make it their chief study to prevent their ever regaining their liberty. Hence, new employments are assumed in the place of old ones; and, as the Roman philosopher truly expresses it, "one hope succeeds

another, one instance of ambition makes way for another; and we never desire an end of our misery, but only that it may change its outward form." When we cease to be candidates, and to fatigue ourselves in soliciting interest, we begin to give our votes and interest to those who solicit us in their turn. When we are wearied of the trouble of prosecuting crimes at the bar, we commence judges ourselves; and he who is grown old in the management of other men's affairs for money, is at last employed in improving his own wealth. At the age of fifty, says one, I will retire, and take my ease; or, the sixtieth year of my life shall entirely disengage me from public offices and business. Fool! art thou not ashamed to reserve to thyself the last remains and dregs of life? Who will stand surety that thou shalt live so long? And what immense folly is it, so far to forget mortality, as to think of beginning to live at that period of years, to which a few only attain!

SUFFERING ENHANCES VIRTUE.

BARROW.

WE might allege the suffrages of eminent philosophers, persons esteemed most wise by improvement of natural light, who have declared that perfection of virtue can hardly be produced or expressed otherwise than by undergoing most Sharp afflictions and tortures; and that God therefore, as a wise Father, is wont with them to exercise those whom He best loveth: we might also produce instances of divers persons, even among Pagans, most famous and honorable in the judgment of all posterity for their singular virtue and wisdom, who were tried in this furnace, and thereby shone most brightly; their suffering, by the iniquity and ingratitude, by the envy and malignity of their times, in their reputation, liberty, and life; their undergoing foul slanders, infamous punishments, and ignominious deaths, more than any other practices of their life, recommending them to the regard and admiration of future ages; although none of them, as our Lord, did suffer of choice, or upon design to advance the interests of goodness, but upon constraint, and irresistible force put on them; none of them did suffer in a manner so signal, with circumstances so rare, and with events so wonderful; yet suffering as they did was their chief glory; whence it seemeth that even according to the sincerest dictates of common wisdom this dispensation was not so unaccountable; nor ought the Greeks, in consistency with themselves, and in respect to their own admired philosophy, to have deemed our doctrine of the cross foolish, or unreasonable.