to offer not only sanctify those sober and watchful views by prayer to God—but cherish in your hearts charity, which is the spirit of the Gospel in action. It is the Gospel quick and lively, and fruitful in every good work. And such a temper as this contemplates the end of all things being at hand, and prepares for it in two ways. For first of all, it is the spirit of one who remembers that he must do good, whilst there is time:"-that the Gospel he professes is not merely meant to give hope in death, but to give animation to life; and in proportion indeed as it does that, does it give the other. He who cherishes in himself this spirit of charity, this activity in well-doing, seems to say to himself and to all men—are there not twelve hours in the day, and then the dark? Must I not walk whilst I have the light, and work whilst I have the light, seeing that the night is near? What I do must I not do quickly; for if not, when shall I have the opportunity to show what Christ's Gospel is, and what His example requires of me? Must I be a believer in the Gospel, and let it lie dead in me-leaven that has no working virtue in it—when I know its true spirit is quick and stirring, the very salt both of myself and of all men? and must I thus neglect this quickening principle, as if I had to live a million of years, and might set about putting it in action by and by?

But the cultivation of charity further contemplates the "end of all things being at hand," and is a preparation for it, by showing that we believe a future life to be following the end of all things, and that for that life we must qualify ourselves beforehand. The great qualification for heaven is ever represented in Scripture as the possession of a charitable spirit. St. Paul puts charity above either faith or hope, for this reason: because in another world will be its field of action, just as much as in this world. After death,

faith will have no further room for exercise, being swallowed up in the actual presence and possession of the objects on which we had believed; and so in like manner, after death, hope will have no further room for exercise, being exchanged for the positive enjoyment of the things we had hoped for; but charity, that blessed disposition of mind which abounds in peace and good-will, will be so far from being at an end, that it will be in a condition more favourable for its development than ever. for it is the very temper of the angels, and in that day we are to be, we are told, as the angels. And though charity does comprise in itself a whole host of virtues, even as we read in St. Paul's eloquent catalogue of them, there is one which the Apostle Peter in the text singles out as characteristic of it above all; and which indeed can scarcely exist without all the rest attending in it—and that one is, a disposition "to cover" rather than expose the sins of others, even though they be a multitude. I think this is the meaning of the phrase; for St. Peter seems to be applying a verse in the tenth chapter of the Book of Proverbs, which says, "Hatred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all sins." And St. Peter may be presenting to our minds the virtue of charity under this one special aspect the rather, because it not only bespeaks the manner of spirit we must be of if we would enter into life after the end is come, and be meet company for the host of heaven; but because it reminds us too of the ordeal, the sharp trial we shall have to go through first, and the need we shall have of a charitable construction of our actions then. With what measure we mete it shall be measured unto us again at that day; and if we have taken delight in exposing other men's faults now, must not we expect, under this dispensation, our own faults to be exposed with the like severity then? As on the other hand, does not the promise guarantee us, that if we cover other men's

sins now -i. e. have charity in our hearts-our sins will be covered then, and we shall be the less strictly scanned? God knows we shall all have need, in that trying hour, of whatever allowance we can get made for us: our own hearts, and the recollection they supply us with of our past misdeeds, will satisfy us of that. But if so, let us treasure up for ourselves some claim to the mercy of our Judge, by being merciful in our judgment of other men; and above all things have fervent charity among ourselves.

Thus living, my friends, in all soberness of mind, in the midst of much to dazzle and mislead us-in watchfulness, in the midst of much to tempt us to sleep-in prayer, in the midst of much to put God out of our thoughts—and in charity, in the midst of a censorious and hard-hearted world; thus living, I say, we shall view the end of all things approach with a steady eye-and instead of being taken unawares when it comes, shall have hearts full of hope and humble confidence through Christ, that the great day, for which we shall have been all our life long preparing ourselves, will greet us with that blessed sentence, "Well done, good and faithful servants; ye have been faithful over a few things, I will make you rulers over many things; enter ye into the joy of your Lord."

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SERMON XXVIII.

THE PEACE OF JESUS CHRIST.

ST. JOHN, xiv. 27.

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you."

I SHALL offer you a few words, before we partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper* together, expressive of the blessings a belief in the Gospel of Christ brings along with it,the fund of happiness a religious man has in himself, as compared with any other man. Our Lord, being about to be taken from His Disciples, bequeaths to them before He goes, not anything which a worldling could bequeath, but something which He intimates was better worth, even peace-His peace. It was with tidings of peace that He was ushered into the world, and it is with the inheritance of peace that He blesses it at His departure. The bequest was not to the Disciples only, but to all who should ever after tread in His steps and be called by His Name; for the agent of this peace which He would impart was the Comforter, and the Comforter was to be with His followers even to the end of the world. And indeed if He could shed peace upon the hearts of the first Disciples of the Lord, upon whom could

* Preached before the Holy Communion.

he not shed it?—for assuredly there have been none since with whom the world has been more at war-none whose tranquillity has been more assailed -none of whom it could be so truly said, "in the world ye shall have tribulation:" for they were persecuted unto strange cities, cast into prison, some of them delivered to death for Christ's sake. And that all this would come to pass, Jesus knew, and actually communicated beforehand to His Disciples that such should be their lives and deaths. Nevertheless, with this dark and stormy prospect before them, He does not scruple to use the language of the text, and say unto them : "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." I repeat then, if the principle which He imparted was of such efficacy as to take out the sting of such griefs as were in store for them-tried so severely-what will it not do for us (for the same principle is within our reach too); what will it not not do for us, less straitly compassed, if we will cleave to it! To every one of us, therefore, is left by Jesus Christ as an inheritance-none other like it— peace. That is what a hearty and lively faith in the Gospel of Christ will secure to us. The religious man-not the professor of religion but the religious man-who strives to embody his faith in his life, shall be at peace, come what may. For the evils which disturb us may perhaps all be reduced to three heads: the cares and troubles of life; the fear of death; and, above all, the sense of our sins-the pains of a conscience ill at ease. Now religion, if it be of the right kind, is a remedy, the only real remedy, for every one of these evils.

I. It is a remedy against the cares and troubles of life. For it is ever reminding a man that life is short, and its concerns passing that it is but a poor term for his heart to narrow itself to ; that the best things it has to offer do not