duty to God. If, therefore, you are res. trained from active efforts by the discretion of those to whose government you owe im. plicit submission, remember that the devotion and piety of your heart is entirely under your own regulation, so far as it relates to your endeavours to keep your thoughts and inclinations in order. The best intentions must have the concurrence' of God's grace, to render them effectual; and therefore you should at all times pray to him, that he will not only put into your heart good desires, but enable you to bring the same to good effect, to his honour and glory, and your happiness and salvation. SUNDAY XXXI. ON THE DANGERS OF EVIL COMPANY. THE desire of rendering ourselves agreeable to our fellow-creatures, is a natural inclination implanted in the human heart, by him who made it, and if properly directed and judiciously restrained, is conducive to general advantage, and productive of ge neral happiness. There is no age at which we can be entirely indifferent to praise, or unaffected by censure: but in the season of youth, when every passion is peculiarly ardent, the desire of approbation, if not of fame, cannot fail to operate on the mind. But as the noblest virtues, extended beyond their proper limits, degenerate into the opposite vices; so the desire of obliging others, and the wish to obtain their good opinion, may, by a too eager pursuit, sink the character into meanness, or ensnare it into guilt. There is one steady principle of conduct, which can alone guide you in safety, through the dangers and temptations of life. The fear of God will secure you, my young friend, amidst the difficulties and calamities that await you. Let the dread of his displeasure warn you from evil, and the hope of his favour encourage you to persevere in well-doing. This admonition cannot be too deeply impressed on your heart. Other motives of conduct may change with your situation, and policy require, in one state, what may afterwards become censurable from an alteration of circumstances. But those who act at all times, "as seeing him who is invisible," who seek to please their God, independent of all other considerations, will in every condition be us form, consistent, upright, and pious. "The fear of the Lord" is called in scripture "the beginning of wisdom," because it is the groundwork, or foundation of virtue. It supposes such a sense of the Divine presence as shall be a preservative from sin, and an incitement to the practice of every moral obligation, or religious duty. Such a fear as is here implied, cannot subsist where any vice is indulged, or any known transgression tolerated. Its salutary apprehensions are a safeguard against the prevalence of ill example, and a restraint from evil, when solitude would hide the meanness of guilt. Be this sacred fear of your Maker a shield to guard you in your intercourse with the world; and, while I endeavour to represent the perils to which you are exposed in society, remember that if you make God your friend by seeking him early, you may with confidence rely on his direction and support. A solicitude to gain the esteem of all with whom you are connected, is the mark of a susceptible and ingenuous mind. No worthy or generous action is to be expected from those who set the world at defiance, and are careless of the judgment which their actions incur. To be actuated by emulation to excel, merely to gain the praise of man, is an improper and blameable motive; but, "if you seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, all other things shall be added unto you." So if your actions, performed in obedience to your Maker, should engage the regard and applause of your fellow-creatures, you may then en. joy their good opinion, and feel a laudable satisfaction from it. Only be careful that you be not vain of this distinction, and that it is not suffered to become your ruling principle. Remember, my young friend, that Christians are not to be men-pleasers, that is, though they are commanded to love one another and to be gentle unto all men, yet they are to perform every action in singleness of heart as unto Christ, as ever having in view that final judgment, when they shall be judged of the Lord. The more gentle and amiable the disposition of young persons, the more they will be exposed to the solicitations and persecution of those associates, who would raislead them from their duty. Let me therefore point out to you, my dear reader, those dangers you will have to encounter from the ill example of others. At whatever time you leave the company of your parents, whether for the purpose of education, or at a more advanced period of life, you will find yourself beset with numberless temptations from the inconsiderate, the malicious, or the licentious. You will see many whose manners are pleasing, and whose goodhumour will engage you in their favour, practise, without reflection, such vices as you have been taught to reprobate. You will shudder at the idea of their guilt, while you love and cherish the offenders. You will be yourself on the brink of a precipice without the least apprehension of danger. is a most alarming situation, and has proved the destruction of thousands on their entrance into their society. They are unalarmed by temptation when it wears a form so unsuspicious. You will, perhaps, endeavour to reclaim your companions from the errors you disapprove. You will suggest the arguments of conscience, duty, and religion. They will This plead the sanction of custom, example, and pleasure. By degrees your reasoning, continued without effect, will become tedious, and at last occasion disgust. They will be tired |