virtue, or any transient enthusiasm of philosophic minds? They were the natural effects of that principle in the soul of man which aims at something higher and nobler than the vulgar pursuits or pleasures of the world, which feels the native dignity of the human mind, and which, even amid the clouds of heathen darkness, could find the link that binds earth to heaven. In this view, there cannot be a finer or more improving subject of meditation than the lives of the really good men in the heathen world: there cannot be a finer exemplification of sound and steady principle struggling with difficulty and darkness, or of that firm assurance and faith which, in spite of the most opposite appearances, leads the virtuous to repose in the appointments of Providence, while they are pursuing their high but arduous career.

That the virtue of these illustrious men received its firmness and stability from religious principle, may appear among other things from the reverence and regard which the best and wisest among them paid to the religious institutions of their country. Those institutions were bad, and gave support to the most lament. able superstitions; yet they were the best with which men were then acquainted; and it is pleasing to consider how much religious wisdom was still acquired, under all these disadvantages, by the virtuous and contem plative.

There cannot, then, be a more grievous mistake, than to suppose that the great characters of ancient times are in any respect exemplifications of the separation of vir. tue from religion: they are perhaps, on the contrary, more striking instances than even the history of Christianity can supply, of the close and intimate union be

tween these principles: they are instances of the mighty effects which were produced by concentrating and cherishing the weak and scattered rays of religion then spread over the earth: they are instances of men acting with firmness and resolution on the imperfect principles which they at that time possessed; holding on in their course with unconquerable spirits; or, in the language of one of their own poets*, maintaining the integrity and stability of an upright mind, even amidst the ruins of a falling world.

Having thus, my brethren, endeavoured to show, that a principle nearly allied to religious faith has really at all times been the foundation of true virtue, it surely will not be necessary to prove that our religion opens up the noblest prospects which can possibly be presented to the soul of man. It opens up the boundless prospect of eternity; it holds out to the eye of virtue never-fading rewards; and calls upon man to be strenuous in every worthy pursuit, if he would contend for the crown of everlasting life. It points to those heavenly mansions where the good of every age shall meet after this world has passed away. It points to that gracious Saviour who has gone before us, and, who will, on that day, wipe away all tears from all faces. It points to the eternal Father of existence, into whose presence we shall be advanced, and who will smile with unclouded beneficence on his assembled children!

Such are the lofty prospects which Christianity places before us as the final consummation of a virtuous life;

* Si fractus illabatur orbis

Impavidum ferient ruina,-HOR.

prospects which remove the veil from the face of Providence, and place the whole plan of God in a clear and obvious light.

How beautifully such prospects encourage and establish the virtue of man, will appear chiefly, if we consider with what facility they accommodate themselves to all the varying circumstances and conditions of human life. The greatest and most prosperous man cannot pretend that he is above them; the poorest feels that he is ennobled by them, and that they lift him from the dust. They check the presumption of the one, and elevate the soul of the other. They at once sweep away all the petty distinctions of human life, and open the view of that path which all men equally are concerned to tread. Religious instruction alone is equally applicable to all descriptions of men. It is heard by the king upon the throne. It visits the obscurity of the cottage. It encourages the poor man to cultivate every good principle of action, as well as the man of exalted rank; to aim at the possession of true nobility of mind; and assures him that he too shall reap his reward, if he faint

not.

What then, my brethren, can be so sure or universal a foundation for any scheme of regular and consistent virtue, as that "faith by which the just shall live?" and how greatly does it become us, to "hold fast the form of sound words which we have heard, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus?"

SERMON XVI.

THE SAME SUBJECT ILLUSTRATED BY THE CHA RACTER OF THE GOOD CENTURION.

MATTHEW, viii. 8.

"The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed."

THERE are few circumstances, in the writings of the sacred historians, more useful or important, than those occasional incidents which they have related concerning the conduct and characters of men, who had no immediate connection with the mission of our Saviour. In such instances, we can trace most easily the natural operation of virtue or vice upon the human heart. In the character of our Lord himself, however beautifully it is softened down to the weakness of man, and how. ever natural it appears in the midst of its perfection, there is yet a height and a purity of principle which we can but faintly comprehend, and much more faintly imitate. In the characters of the apostles we discover, indeed, very distinctly, the usual tendencies both of virtue and of vice, by which the heart of man is influenced; yet the sphere of action in which they were engaged was so singular and lofty, that we are apt to class

them in our imaginations with a higher order of be. ings, and, in the splendour of their supernatural endow. ments, to lose sight of that common nature by which we are connected with them.

It is with such characters as the centurion in the text that we can most readily compare ourselves; men engaged in the common professions, and exercising the common duties of life, whose religious impressions were derived from no miraculous call, and who were rather spectators of the great scheme of divine Providence, at that time transacting in the world, than them. selves actively engaged in carrying it on. The inci. dent recorded in the gospel for this day* naturally leads me to make some reflections on the character of that excellent person to whom I have now alluded; a character simple and unpretending, but in the highest degree estimable, and which drew from him, to whom the human heart was known, that noble and sublime encomium, that he had "not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."

The leading feature in the mind of this worthy man seems to have been fairness or honesty, which equally influenced him in the conduct of his understanding, and in the regulation of his life. The faith which our Saviour commends in him so highly was plainly the result of this disposition. As a Roman citizen, he must have been disposed to look with indifference, if not with contempt, on the religious sects and opinions of a conquered people; and nothing but that honest love of truth, which seems to have been the guiding principle

*Third Sunday after the Epiphany..