UNGOVERNED anger is a fruitful source of mischief to human life. Many of the scenes of public calamity and private distress, which strike us with astonishment and horror, have originated from this direful spring, It is this which hath overspread the earth with blood and slaughter it is this which hath so often filled the poisoned bowl, loaded the "murderous pistol, and pointed the assassinating dagger. It hath through successive ages furnished ample materials for the poet's tragic muse, and the orator's pathetic declamation.

The wrath of princes hath embroiled kingdoms in war and bloodshed. It hath subjected nations to continual frights and losses, and made death and terror continuilly to walk about in their most horrid forms. Then what desolation reigns ! Rest is disturbed, property destroyed, families are broken, friends are suspected, enemies are feared, laws are trampled upon, commerce is ruined, business is neglected, cities are wasted and filled with heaps of slain.

The wrath of priests hath deluged the church in blood, the blood of those of whom the world was not worthy : it hath slain its thousands and its tens of thousands. Detestable bigotry, what hast thou done ! Cruel superstition, unhallowed rage, what havoc have ye made in the fold of Christ ! Nothing can be more remote from the genius of the gospel of peace, from the nature of the religion of love, or from the precepts and example of him whose name is the Prince of Peace, whose nature is love, whose first and great command is charity, and who has left us an example of meekness and lowliness of heart.

The miseries and mischief's occasioned by lawless anger in private societies, and domestic connections, are without end. Where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work. The disunion of nations, the distraction of families, and the disquietude of neighborhoods, arise in general from ungoverned anger, that root of bitterness, that fruitful source of human woes.

Be this then the subject of our present meditation: and may the light of divine revelation guide our researches, and the Spirit of peace and love seal instruction on our hearts Anger, according to Mr. Locke, is uneasiness, or discomposure of mind, on the receipt of any injury, with a present purpose of revenge.

Anger is displeasure : its opposite is complacency. It is that sensation, which w e feel when a person seeks to prevent us from obtaining the good we wish to enjoy, when he strives to deprive us of the good we possess, or when he endeavours to bring upon us the evil we dread.

Anger is defined by Mr. Hutcheson to be a propensity to occasion evil to another, arising from the apprehension of an injury done by him. It is accompanied with sorrow and grief, a desire of repelling the affront, and making the author of it repent his attempt, and repair the damage we sustain by him.

In the sacred writings, anger is often attributed to God. He is angry with the wicked every day. Not that he is liable to those irregular emotions which produce, or are produced by this passion in men ; but because he is resolved to punish the wicked with the severity of a provoked father an incensed master.

Anger is often joined with fury, even when attributed to the Almighty. We read of the heat of his anger, and the fierceness of his wrath : and how much is the power of his anger to be dreaded ! This sets forth the awful, the accursed nature of that which the Long-suffering God so much resents ; i. e. sin. The impenitent, the obstinate sinner, because there is wrath, should beware, lest he be taken away with a stroke; and then a great ransom cannot deliver him. He should flee from the wrath to come!

Neither every kind, nor every degree of anger, is to be condemned : the passion simply, and in its own nature, cannot be sinful. Two reasons, I think, may convince us of the truth of this:....

1. It seems to have been planted in the original frame of human nature. Every power of the human mind is now perverted by sin. Anger, among the rest, is become a depraved passion; but it existed before it was depraved: and, being the appointment of him who is perfect in purity, must in itself be an innocent passion, allowable on just occasions, and to be exercised in a proper and becoming manner. Be angry and sin not. To endeavor to banish it entirely, from our minds, would be an attempt equally foolish and fruitless.

2.. he blessed and holy Jesus himself, that pattern of perfection, who has left us an example that we should walk in his steps, was, when on earth, sometimes angry. Mark iii. 5. And when he had looked roundabout on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith to, the man, stretch forth thine hand. Here is anger without sin ; anger in one who knew none, and in whose spirit there was no guile. Nay, it would be no hard task to prove that this anger was a virtue. The hardness of their hearts called for this holy resentment. Their blindness was obstinate, their opposition to him was unreasonable to the highest degree. Such a temper, such a conduct could not be looked upon with coolness and indifference.

If we ourselves were perfectly free from sin, and were to converse only with creatures entirely innocent, it does not appear that there would be any occasion for the exercise of anger. But we live in a world where iniquity a ands, where oppression and injustice every day is practiced; and as such there are many occasions for a righteous and holy resentment. It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing. God, who, does nothing in vain, has implanted in our natures the irascible passions, that we might rebuke those who trample on his laws, and treat their fellow-creatures with cruelty. But our natures, alas, are so depraved and disordered through our apostasy from God,. that in this as in other things, we pervert that which is right. The anger which is exercised in general, is very sinful and mischievous. It is shewn on improper occasions: it is rash, it is cruel, it is outrageous, or it is revengeful. This kind of anger is ranked with malice, wrath, and bitterness; and we are charged to lay it aside. He that is (thus) angry with his brother without a cause, is in danger of the judgment.

To consider violent anger as a mere infirmity incident to human nature, is to form wrong conceptions of it. We should remember, that wrath and strife are as expressly enumerated among the works of the flesh, as uncleanness, murder, or drunkenness. The former may be as offensive to God, as ruinous to us, and as hurtful to our fellowcreatures, as the latter.

The suppression of rash anger, therefore, every one must own to highly conducive to the comfort of human life, the honor of our holy religion, and the welfare and happiness of all societies, whether natural, civil, or sacred.

By a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price, we are enabled to govern ourselves when any thing occurs that is provoking. As temperance serves to check and moderate our natural appetites in regard to what is pleasing to the flesh, so by meekness we govern and guide our resentment of what is displeasing.

One of the seven sages of Greece left this maxim as a memorial of his knowledge and benevolence; “ Be master of thine anger." He thought, it should seem, that he could not lay on posterity a stronger obligation to revere his, memory, than by leaving them a salutary caution against furious and unguarded anger.

Rage, peevishness, and implacable resentment, can never be vindicated. They are so hateful and diabolical in their nature, and so mischievous in their effects, that they can never admit of any defense: every wise man condemns them. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; and who is able to stand before envy?

Violent anger, it has been observed, makes itself visible by Many outward signs. It renders the countenance sometimes red and fiery, sometimes pale and wan; it flames or scowls in the eyes, it wrinkles the brow, it enlarges the nostrils, and makes them heave; it fills the tongue with short spiteful words, or noisy threatening, and the hands with weapons of violence to assault the offender; and sometimes it causes a tremor through all the limbs.

" There is (says an excellent and judicious author) no passion, properly so called, and considered in itself as belonging to man, which is absolutely sinful in the abstract nature of it: all the works of God are good. But if passion be let loose on an improper object, or in an improper time or degree, or for too long a continuance, then it becomes criminal, and obtains sometimes a distinct name. Esteem, placed upon self as the object, and in an unreasonable degree, becomes pride. Anger, prolonged into a settled temper, often turns into malice; and if it be mingled with vices of the will, it becomes sinful also under that consideration."

The mettle of a young and vigorous steed is not only harmless, but serviceable, when under due regulation. Much the same may be said of anger in the mind of man. When meekness is the bridle that restrains it, and wisdom the hand that guides it, we are safe but if it be not under proper government, it breaks through all decorum, grows headstrong and outrageous, and threatens mischief to ourselves or those about us. So the unmanageable horse tramples on those who stand in his way, and perhaps throws the rider headlong on the ground: it should be restrained, therefore, with bit and bridle. We are not to submit to anger as to our master, but to govern it as our servant. It should never appear but on proper occasions, nor then but under the strictest guard. We should never suffer it to carry us beyond the bounds of decency: our resentment should never be either deep or lasting.

My design in this essay is,

1. To point out the springs and causes of sinful anger....

2. To consider with what we may lawfully be angry....

3. What restrictions should attend our anger, that we offend not God by it....

4. To consider when it is sinful....

5. To give some cautions against that anger which is violent and criminal, and to prescribe some rules for the suppression of it.

CHAPTER. I.

THE SPRINGS AND CAUSES OF SINFUL ANGER.

THE irregularity of all our passions originates in the proneness of our nature to depravity, through the want of a right education. In the moral as well as the natural world we may plainly perceive the indications of some violent convulsion which has shattered and disordered the workmanship of the great Former of all things. The history of the several nations of mankind, through successive ages and generations, is more sparing of an exhibition of moral, good or virtue, but presents us with ample views of the follies and crimes of the descendants of Adam the whole appears to be a continued tragedy. On this habitable globe, as on a spacious theatre, the same repeated scene is exhibited of depredations, wrath, strife, debate, tumult, cruelty, oppression, and bloodshed; the follies of mankind breaking forth in a thousand guilty forms, and their passions hurrying them on to wretchedness and ruin. The virtues appear rarely, and only as episodes.

The nature of man cannot be supposed to come forth from the hands of its glorious and gracious Former in the impure state in which it is at present: far be it from us to admit a thought so dishonorable to him who is glorious in holiness. He formed man after his own image: but that image has been defaced. He made man upright: but we have sought out many inventions. Nothing impure could come out of his hands but we are now all as an unclean thing. It is true, amidst this wreck of human nature, there still remain some traces which bespeak its Author. Man, indeed, has not lost all his original brightness: some faint rays are seen to break through the horrid gloom, in which he is involved, and indicate his ancient splendor. But all the disorder which reigns within us, and the follies which constantly appear in our outward demeanor, arise from an abuse of our faculties through ages, as the streams which issue from a corrupted fountain. To this general source we may trace violent anger. But to be a little more particular.

I. A choleric habit of body seems to dispose some men to be always of a froward humor, and perpetually, hard to please: this is their settled temper. Their anger and resentment are ever ready: to rise on the slightest occasion they are angry with the work, they are performing, or the instrument in their hands, when they cannot succeed to their wish: they are often out of humor they know not why, and angry with they know not what; like Jonah, who was angry with the wind. "The reverse of this character is the man who is slow to anger such a one, says Solomon, is better than the mighty; and he, that ruleth his own spirit, than he that taketh a city...The temperament of the body may, have considerable influence in disposing us to irascibility, or to natural. mildness, since the passions are not merely the operations of the, mind: they are mental exertions, in conjunction with the ferments of the blood, and commotions of animal nature. The passions are those powers in man which are of a mixed nature and belong partly to the soul and partly to the body. When we see an object, for instance, that provokes our resentment, we not only feel some impression of mind, but some kind of commotion in our bodies, which we are not well able to explain: the animal spirits are agitated, the blood is thrown into a fermentation, the effects of which are very apparent to those who observe us, and cannot be concealed. Our, brow, our eyes, our nostrils, our cheeks, our, voice, all betray us on this occasion. Now, since it is evident that our natural constitutions are very different, it must be allowed that some habits of body are more disposed to irascibility than others. Something like this, indeed, is very evident in brutes among those of the same species, some are much more disposed to anger than others. And hence it is that we see among men: a tendency to some prevailing passion. 'The hot and choleric propensity predominates, in nations, and runs in the blood from generation to generation. This may be termed a, natural cause, or spring of excessive anger.

2. Pride. A contentious spirit, inspiration assures us, originates in pride. Only by pride-cometh contention. Proud and haughty. scorner is he who dealeth in proud wrath. It is pride that makes men passionate. They. cannot bear the least slight, or that which hath the appearance of it, because they think, themselves of so much importance.. We have a remarkable instance of this in Haman he is enraged, filled with indignation, and breathes, nothing but revenge. The life of an individual cannot suffice; the blood of a whole nation must be shed to cool his wrath, and lay his vengeance to sleep. What is the cause of this desolating decree ? An individual; fails to pay him that idolatrous, obeisance of which he thought himself so worthy: but this was an act of obeisance to which Mordecai in his conscience could not submit. Who does not see that if it should be asked, What meaueth the heat of this great anger, the answer must be, it originates in pride? Pride keeps men in continual vexation, while the meek and lowly possess their; souls in peace, and patience. The proud man's character is so odious, that he meets with more affronts than other men; and indeed he has so good and so high an opinion of himself, that he considers those things as affronts of which an humble man would take no notice. He finds not that submission in his dependants, or respect from his equals, to which, he thinks himself entitled hence his life made up of disquietude and distraction. Angry, resentful, malevolent passions, torment his soul, haunt him like spectres, and rob him of repose. So just is the remark of the wisest of men: It is better to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

It is pride that fills the world with so much animosity. We forget what we are, in the fullness of self esteem. We claim attentions to which we are by no means entitled, and we are rigorous to offences as if we ourselves , had never offended. If pride were subdued, passion would quickly subside. It is hard for a haughty man ever to forgive one who has caught him in a fault: his resentment will hardly cool till he has regained the advantage he had lost, and provoked the other to do him equal wrong. He hates the man he has once offended.

3. Ignorance is more frequently the cause of sinful anger. A weak mind is easily kindled into resentment. A wise man may be angry when there is a sufficient cause for it, but his anger is restrained by prudence and discretion. It is therefore a necessary qualification in a Christian, that he be not soon angry. A fool's wrath is presently known; it rises and flames on the slightest provocation, it flashes in his countenance like lightning, and breaks out into such indecent expressions mid behavior as betray his weakness and folly. A prudent man covereth shame, by suppressing his resentment, maintaining possession of himself, and keeping his mouth as with a bit and bridle. The man of ungoverned anger saith to every one that he is a fool. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. He is jealous and suspicious, ready to catch at what he calls an of front, sudden in resenting it, and unguarded in expressing his resentment. Solomon therefore gives us this necessary caution: Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry; for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger: it disposes him to be cautious of giving ear to false accusers and slanderers of his neighbors, who, as Satan's instruments, would incense him against others without just grounds. A discreet man defers the admission of anger till, he has thoroughly considered all the circumstances of what, at first sigh, appears to be a provocation, till he has seen it in a just light, and weighed it in an even balance. Nor will such a one be over nice and critical in his resentment of what may be really deemed an offence against him: he knows that it is the glory of a wise man to pass over a transgression.

The bluster and noise of some men seem to indicate a consciousness of the narrowness of their own understandings. They feel their own ignorance and insufficiency, and appear, determined to gain by their clamors, that regard of which they know themselves to be undeserving. How much are the servants and domestics of such men to be pitied They are all, the day long stunned with the bawling, and terrified with the fury of one whom, they cannot but be tempted to despise fully guarded and kept with all keeping, as the. word there signifies. There area many ways of keeping things; as by care by strength, by calling assistance; and all are necessary to be used in keeping the heart from violent and angry passions. The man of moderation is certainly of a more amiable character than he who is rash, unguarded, and inconsiderate

He, who is of a testy humor, who. takes no care to govern his own spirit, is boisterous and gentle by turns; he is either all storm, or all sun shine; and as such, his life is divided, between guilt and repentance; one moment he is, affronting and abusing you, the next he is asking you a thousand pardons. In conversation with his associates, his jealousy suspects some insult to be offered where all is perfectly innocent; he is up in arms in an instant, without any opponent. but his own suspicions. He answers the matter with hasty resentment resentment before he hears it ; and this is folly and a shame to him.

Those who are particularly addicted to this weakness, should, watch and pray that they enter not into temptation. If at any time, when an affront is given, they find themselves unable to govern their spirits, it may be best to leave the ground, to withdraw from the company, and retire into their closets. Let them there bewail their pride and ungovernable passion ask forgiveness of God and implore the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, to subdue their irregular tempers and teach them to imitate their divine, Redeemer in meekness and lowliness of heart.

6, Not considering the evil of sinful anger. A meek and quiet spirit is of such, real value, that God himself beholds, it with delight, and puts a high value, upon it: it is in the sight of God of great price. ( I Pet 3: 4.) Rash anger, as Seneea observes, is the most outrageous, brutal, intractable, .and dangerous of all passions. Homer represents the, wrath of Achilles as the source of unnumbered woes to the Greeks.

We always blame rash anger in others and though we are prone to think too favorably, of our own conduct, we are frequently ashamed of this passion in ourselves. Its is therefore very common to, hear men exculpate themselves, and solemnly declare, they are not angry, when they give undeniable proofs, that they are. Scarcely any thing lessens us more in the eyes of those about us, than violent anger. It exposes us to the derision of those who are not in our power, and to the hatred of our inferiors and dependants. If the angry man gains any influence by his bluster and noise, he pays dear for his power. He forfeits his own tranquility, he loses the friendship of his equals, and incurs the hatred of his dependants. Solomon's counsel is in this, as in other things, highly worthy of attention. Make no friendship with an angry man he is a churl, a Naba1, a man cannot speak to him with safety; and with a furious man thou shalt not go, lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

The torment attending this passion is strongly expressed in scripture. A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment. He not only affronts his neighbor, and disquiets his family, but he teareth himself, his own heart, his own bowels, in his anger. He taketh his flesh in his teeth, and putteth his life in his hand. Now did we consider these, and such like bitter fruits of anger, we should take more care to watch and pray against it.

An all-wise providence has so ordered the succession of causes and effects, that the wrath which was meant to be poured forth upon others, frequently recoils, by its effects, on the wrathful persons themselves. In the net which they had laid for others is their own foot taken; they fall into the pit which they had digged. This is evidently seen in the case of Haman: he is hanged on the gallows which his furious heart had prepared for the destruction of Mordecai.

7. Not duly considering the object which provokes us. The circumstances of that which we apprehend to be a provocation, should always be attentively viewed. No thing can be a stronger proof of a man's weakness, than his suffering his fiery passions to rise and flame before he knows whether there be any occasion. We, should never be angry at a child, a servant, or a friend, till we see from a clear and impartial survey of circumstances, that we have just reason to be so. How much sinful anger, would be prevented by a little deliberation! Were we but, when we suppose, an affront is, given us, swift to hear and, slow to speak, we should be slow to wrath. (Jam. i. 19.) We are often deceived with what at first sight appears to be a provocation. Anger should not be cherished till we are well assured that there is an offence committed. We should take time to deliberate on the merits of the cause, and forbear to be angry till we are well satisfied that it becomes us to resent what is done or said: otherwise we shall disquiet ourselves in vain, sink our own character, and expose our own folly, whilst we are pretending to correct what we often erroneously suppose to be amiss in others.

Human life, misconducted as it is, can.. not supply great evils so often as the angry man thinks proper to fall into his fits of madness and fury and therefore his rage frequently breaks out on trifling occasions. A little reflection afterwards must shew him his own meanness. In vain does he plead, that his passion is soon over, that he cannot help it, that he harbors no malice, and the like. These, says an ingenious writer, are arguments for pardoning a bull or a mastiff; but shall never reconcile me to an intellectual savage. He is ready, perhaps, to do the very next moment, something that he can never repair; and has nothing to plead in his own defense, but that he is apt to do mischief as fast as he can. Such a man, adds he, may be feared, he may be pitied but he can never be loved.

These are some of the causes of sinful anger. A choleric habit of body, pride, ignorance, covetousness, unwatchfulness not considering the evil of sinful anger, not considering the object which provoke us.

Chapter II.

With what we may Lawfully be Angry.

I APPREHEND it is lawful for us to be angry :. ...

1. With our own sin.... To be displeased with ourselves seems necessary to true penitence. The repenting sinner is grieved at his own folly: he is angry with himself that he has acted so unbecomingly, so unworthily, and in a manner so dishonorable to God. Thus Job declared he abhorred him self: he saw his own vileness, and was filled with indignation against his sin. The sons of Israel were grieved and angry with themselves when they were made sensible of the evil they had done in their cruel and unnatural treatment of their brother. Thus we may be angry and not sin. Let us turn our indignation against that evil thing which stirs up the displeasure of the Almighty, and is the source of all our woe. W e have done ourselves more injury by sin than all other persons could ever do us. Let a man (says Seneca) consider his own vices, reflect upon his own follies, and he will see that he has the greatest reason to be angry with himself."

2. We may lawfully be angry with the vices and follies of others.... That quietness of spirit which is in the sight of God of great price, is not a passive tameness of mind, where all steadiness of principle is renounced, and where a sinful conformity to the world vitiates the whole character. It is no part of Christianity to yield an unlimited compliance with the manners of mankind. As we are surrounded with those who work iniquity, and walk in the ways of death, the worst maxim, perhaps, which we can adopt, is that of always assenting to what we hear or see, and complying with what is proposed or done by others. The purity and dignity of the Christian character can never be maintained, without resolution to oppose what evidently appears to be wrong. Nehemiah's anger was just and reasonable when the Jews uttered their impatient complaints: I was very angry when I heard their cry. (Neh. v. 6, 7.) He was not guilty of that rashness which betrays men into the mischief's of ungoverned passion. He consulted within himself before he expressed his displeasure: he took time for sober thought, and then rebuked the nobles.

“ A good man (says Theophrastus) must be displeased with the vices of the wicked."

The meekness recommended in the word of God, is not a sinful easiness and indifference with respect to the abominations which are practiced by those about us. It is not to act the part of Ephraim, who willingly walked after the commandment of idolators. (Hos. vii. 11.) Where is our zeal for God, if we be entirely calm and unmoved when we see his laws trampled on, and hear his name dishonored? In the case of the obstinacy and perverseness of the Jews in shutting their eyes against the clearest evidence, and hardening their hearts against the tenderest love, to have felt no grief, no resentment, would certainly have been a defect. When a friend is ill-treated, or a brother unjustly reproached, it would be criminal to sit by in silence, and without concern: for, as the north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. When an innocent person is injured, the defenseless widow oppressed, or the helpless orphan trampled upon, generosity and compassion call for some degree of resentment but in this generous resentment, the mind, if awed by the majesty of God, and duly cautious, may still retain her own tranquil and peace.

In some circumstances it is necessary to resent the injuries done, or the insults offered to ourselves ; but the greatest caution. is necessary here. If the offence be slight, and the damage we sustain trifling, it, is better to pass it by in silence. The Christian is forbidden, Both by the precept, and example of hiss Lord arid Master, to render, railing for railing, or evil for evil. But when the injury is, great, or the offence often repeated, our silence would have the appearance of stupidity, and. despicable meanness, in the eyes of those who are not to be influenced by any thing but their fears of falling under the scourge, of justice, or the lash of the law., The abominations of hardened transgressors, committed against God, should excite our holy resentment. I beheld transgressors, and was grieved because they kept not thy law. Moses's anger was kindled when he saw the people given to idolatry: Thus Lot's righteous soul was vexed with the flthy conversation of the wicked and he who is glorious in holiness, by a strong figure," is said to have been grieved at his heart, when he saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth.

3. With the disorders found in the, house of God...: In the Corinthian church there was a notorious offender, an incestuous person. Christianity being but in its infancy among them, the members of that church did not see the evil of this conduct, till the apostle laid it, open before them. They immediately, on receiving proper information, took the necessary measures to express, their detestation of the off'ender's conduct: “they put away from among them that wicked person; and the apostle commends their holy indignation and zeal. (2 Cor. 7:11 ) The ancient Jews were censured that they were not grieved for the afflictions of Joseph ; the sins, the disorders, and consequent calamities of the people professing to be the chosen of God. (Amos 6:6 ). Moses was the meekest man of all the earth ; yet when God's honor was concerned, none more Warm and resolute than he Hence; his resentment of the golden calf, when in holy indignation at that abominable instance of apostasy in a people so remarkably favored and distinguished by the Almighty, he deliberately broke the tables at the foot of the mount. And when Korah and his company;presumptuously offended, Moses, in pious displeasure, said unto God, Respect not thou their offering. When the house of prayer was profaned, and made a house of merchandize, a den of thieves, the precious Redeemer of mankind, who was meek and lowly in heart, corrected the abuse with holy resentment made a scourge of small cords, and drove them out of the temple. The apostle Paul was a pattern of meekness: he bore the greatest injuries and indignities with astonishing patience, both among heathens, Jews, and false brethren; yet in the government of the church, whenever there was occasion, he zealously used the rod, of discipline.

4. With the disorders of our own families.... To preserve due authority in our families, so as to prevent or suppress disorder, negligence, and vice, without forfeiting our own peace of mind, is, perhaps, in our present state of imperfection, as difficult a branch of duty as any assigned us by providence. To train zip our children in the way in which they should go, to have them in subjection with all gravity, to teach our households the way of the Lord, and command them to keep it, is enjoined upon us, as heads of families, by the Sovereign of the universe. To put away iniquity from our tabernacles, to stir up the slothful and negligent, to rouse the inattentive, and to restrain and correct the vicious and unruly, is absolutely necessary. This cannot be done without manly resolution, constant circumspection, sobriety and gravity. With out a certain degree of courage in insisting on what is right, and in resenting and opposing what is wrong, a family would soon be ruined with licentiousness and disorder. The censure passed on Eli was very heavy his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. In a family where no just authority is maintained by those whom God has placed at the head of it, every one will walk in the way of his own heart; and confusion, mischief, and ruin, will inevitably follow. The great secret of family government lies in maintaining authority without moroseness, discipline without tyranny, and resentment of disorder without rash anger; in preserving decorum and regularity without wounding our own peace of mind. The wise and virtuous parent or master is armed with sedate resolution, and a proper firmness of soul. He knows that if his children and servants once conclude him to be incapable of resentment, they will deny him that regard which is his due, and indulge themselves in such liberties as good order forbids. The words of the royal Psalmist are so apt to our purpose, that to omit the recital of them could hardly be excused. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way Oh ! when wilt thou come unto me ? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. Psal. ci.

We conclude then, that it is lawful for us to be angry with our own sin ....with the vices and follies of others.... with the disorders found in the house of God.... and with the irregularities of our own families.

Chapter III.

WHAT RESTRICTIONS SHOULD ATTEND OUR ANGER THAT WE

OFFEND NOT AGAINST GOD.

THOUGH we are not absolutely forbidden to be angry, yet happy is he who has the least. occasion for it. When the affairs of life seem to require a just resentment, we should consider it as a dangerous moment, and watch against such an excess of it as would be displeasing to God, hurtful to ourselves, and injurious to our fellow creatures. The word of God spends its curses on those whose wrathful passions lead them on to cruel practices.... That our anger may riot be offensive to God,

1. It should not be partial.... We should hate every false way. To resent some branches of vice, and connive at others equally pernicious, would be to incur the censure passed on the ancient Jews, who were partial in the law. To frown upon one offender, and spare another altogether as deep in guilt, would be to have respect of persons ; and to be a respecter of persons, we are assured is not good. (Prow. xxviii. ) Such a conduct would leave ground of suspicion with regard to our sincerity. It might easily be inferred that our zeal was selfish, that our views were sinister, and that our resentment did not arise from a just sense of the evil of sin in its own nature. Let nothing be done through partiality.

2. It should be attended with pity and sympathy .... It has been observed, that even when a public ruler puts the vengeance of the law in execution, and takes away the life of a malefactor for the good of the rest of the world, it should be done without the passion of private anger. He should rather exercise his own pity to the offender, even when he condemns him to die, and makes him a sacrifice to the public vengeance. If private persons then so far give way to resentful passions, as to divest themselves of pity and sympathy towards an offender, they know not what manner of spirit they are of.

The apostle Paul highly resented the conduct of some who were enemies to the cross of Christ, whose God was their belly, who minded earthly things, and who gloried in their Shame: but at the same time, his resentment was tempered with such a degree of pity and compassion, that the very mentioning of their names drew tears from his eyes. (Phil. iii. 18.)

Our reproofs and admonitions, though plain and faithful, should be tender and affectionate. The nature of the case may sometimes make it necessary to reprove with warmth; yet we should never do it with unfeeling resentment. Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, Lest thou also be tempted. It is needful to be cautious; lest sinful anger shelter itself under the cover of zeal, against iniquity. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. A tongue set on fire of hell is not likely to promote the cause of heaven. To a man overtaken with a fault, we should shew that sympathy, kindness, and tenderness of heart, which we could wish might be shewn to us in a similar case. When we are clearly and fully convinced that there is just cause for our resentment, we should as much as possible let it appear that our anger is directed against the sin of the offender, rather than against his person.

3. It should be attended with proper arguments and endeavors to convince and reform.... When a man grows so violent against his fellow-creature as to seek and contrive to bring evil upon him, without any design or endeavor to reclaim him from his misconduct, it is properly termed revenge this is always criminal. The laws of Christianity entirely forbid such a disposition.

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Be not overcome evil, but overcame evil with good. Before we give way to our angry passions, we should take time to consider, as has been observed, whether there be any real offence committed, or any injury done; and whether it were accidental, or done with deliberate design. Things appear to a ruffled and heated mind very different to what in reality they are. When Julius Cesar was affronted, he repeated the alphabet before he would open his lips to speak on the occasion.. A little deliberation may set things before us in a juster light. If indeed we find on reflex ion, just cause for resentment, let that resentment be tempered with the kindness of friendly admonition. Let the offender see that we have his good at heart, and that all we wish to obtain is his conviction and reformation. 'We should not eagerly contend about matters of little moment, nor be unguarded and intemperate in our zeal .... The heathen moralist observes, that we should endeavor to reclaim an offender, not by the violence of anger, but by forcible, yet friendly admonitions : for surely the physician will not be angry with his patie it whom he wishes to recover. Socrates finding his resentment too keen against his servant for an offence he had been guilty of, first corrected himself for that heat of temper which his philosophy taught him to condemn, and deferred the attempt to reclaim the delinquent to a cooler hour. This precaution was truly commendable, and worthy to be imitated by those who call themselves Christians.

4. It should be attended with no rash or unwarrantable words or actions....When anger rises to a high degree, it swells into wrath, fury, and rage in that state it is termed a short madness. The furious man rages. like a wild bull in a net: reason quits the helm: and some, by an excessive indulgence of this temper, pour out the most horrid language, fling about every thing that comes in their way, and act in other respects for a time the part of madmen. Nay, it is recorded of some, that they have cherished this phrenzy so far, as that they have actually grown distracted. Furious anger, say some philosophers, is the boiling boiling of the blood about the heart, the fumes whereof rise so fast into the brain, that reason, is for a time dislodged.

If we have just cause to be angry, which is far from being so often the case as we are ready to suppose, discretion should teach us to guard our tongues and our hands, till there be no danger of running into indecencies: we should give our anger time to cool. Plato said once to his servant, who had been greatly wanting in his duty, " I would beat thee but that I am angry," The passionate man is provoked on every trivial occasion, and sometimes vents his rage in fierce vociferations, furious threats, and cutting reproaches. It is true his rage often fumes away in outcries of injuries done him, and protestations of vengeance; but if a child, a lackey, or an apprentice, be the object of his resentment, he will not be sparing of his blows, nor merciful in the use of his cane.

While we are in this world of sin and disorder, we must meet with provocations: but the frailty of the weak, the omissions of the negligent, the follies of the imprudent, and the levity of the fickle, should not so far ruffle our spirits as to cause us to use rash words, or to break forth into sudden acts of violence.

What meaneth the heat of this great anger? If fire be not kept in its proper place and degree, it may do great mischief to ourselves and those about us. Anger is fire, and may be serviceable under due regulation : but it requires strong restraints. Behold how great a matter a little degree of immoderate anger kindleth ! When this passion is unguarded, it is the great disturber of human life, the enemy of private tranquility, and of public happiness. The wise man tells us that anger is outrageous; when it rises to a high degree, it is like a breaking out of waters. It breaks through the bounds of reason, of conscience, of the laws of God and man, of friendship, and even of natural affection; as in the case of Cain, who slew his brother. Cease from anger, therefore, and forsake wrath; fret not thy self in any wise to do evil.

What a frightful and odious spectacle is the man who delivers himself up to the tyranny of his violent and wrathful passions ! What ridiculous airs he gives himself; what a storm appears in his disfigured countenance; what fury, what flames and fierceness in his eyes ! He breathes out direful threatenings; he abuses the wife of his bosom he flies upon the children of his own body with the rage of a lion or tiger. He spares not his dearest and most valuable friends; tumult and disorder appear in his whole nature distraction tortures his soul ; his reason is beclouded; neither truth nor virtue, law nor justice, are any longer regarded by him. The man is transformed into a brute, or rather into a fiend and fury. Detestable sight ! Who can behold him without horror? Fly from him ; he is a disgrace to. human, nature, He is now only a fit companion for devils, and ought to be shunned and dreaded by human beings. Leave him to be scourged by the rage of his own diabolical passions: he is not fit for the society of reasonable creatures. He is so far from having any claim to the character of a Christian, and a child of God, that, he is unworthy the name of a man.

Oh ! how necessary is it to suppress; the first motions of immoderate anger; to quench the spark before it becomes a flame, and breaks through all hounds! Give the latent fire no vent, that it may be smothered and stifled, ere it break out to do mischief.... Command your tongues to silence, and your hand to stillness, till your spirits are cooled; till calm and sober reason shall preside at the helm, and direct your operations. Have patience a little while, and the illusion which passion always raises, will vanish: you now behold every thing through a false medium.

It is recorded to the honor of Edward the Third of England, commonly called the Confessor, that one day being laid down upon the bed, one of his domestics, who did not know he was in the room, stole some money out of a chest he found open, which the king let him carry off; without saying a word. Presently after the boy returned to make a second attempt; the king called out to him without any violence of passion, " Sarah, you had best be satisfied with what you have got; for if my chamberlain come and catch you, he will not only take away what you have stolen, but also whip you severely." The chamberlain coming in and missing the money, fell into a great rage; but the king calmly said to him, " Be content; the chest should not have been left open, the temptation was too strong for the poor youth; he wanted money more than we do, and there is still enough left for us."

5. It should not be lasting.... When anger continues so long as to be fixed and rooted in the heart, when we refuse an accommodation, and are determined not to be reconciled, it is rancour, it is hatred, it is fixed malice. This kind of anger is slow, secret and revengeful, like that of Esau to Jacob: The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother. Anger may enter into the bosom of a wise man, but in the heart of fools it rests, it resides, it remains; the fire continues to burn. Such a man gives place to the devil, to irritate and inflame him, and keep: up turbulent and revengeful passions in his mind. He gratifies that, malicious spirit by yielding to his destructive designs. He meditates revenge, and is pushed, on to execute some dreadful purpose of sin and mischief What need have we therefore to beware of lasting anger, and to stand on our guard whenever we find our spirits heated ! Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, to unfit you for your evening devotions, or to disturb your sleep in the night: much less should it remain with you the following day.

Pythagoras, a heathen philosopher, recommended to his disciples, that if any quarrel should arise, or any degree of anger be cherished, they should, before the sun went down, shake hands and become friends again. Dr. Watts, in his excellent discourse on the passions, has given the following description of that slow and inveterate anger which is most of all to be dreaded. “ Some times it spreads paleness over the countenance; it is silent and sullen, and the angry person goes on from day to day with a gloomy aspect, and a sour and uneasy carriage, averse to speak to the offender, unless it be now and then a word or two of a dark and despiteful meaning. The vicious passion dwells upon the soul, and frets and preys upon the spirits: it inclines the tongue to tease the offender with a repetition of his crime in a sly manner, upon certain seasons and occurrences, and that for, weeks and months after the offence, and sometimes for years. This sort of wrath sometimes grows up into settled malice, and is ever contriving revenge and mischief. May divine grace form my heart in a better mould, and deliver me from this vile temper and conduct !" As we should seldom suffer our anger to be awakened, so the continuance of it should always be very short. The sullen and long continued resentment above described, is as much contrary to the grace of meekness as a sudden fit of rage and fury. And as it is a settled and deliberate passion, the guilt of it is more heinous, and marked with deeper aggravations in the sight of God.

That we offend not God by our anger, it should not be partial .... it should be attended with pity and sympathy... .it should be accompanied with proper arguments and endeavors to convince and reform.... it should express itself in no rash or unwarrantable words or actions......... it should not be lasting.

CHAPTER IV.

WHEN OUR ANGER IS SINFUL

ANGER is not absolutely forbidden to a wise and good man; yet the greatest care is constantly necessary, that we give not a wild and unwarrantable liberty to our anger. We must hold the reins of government with a strong and steady hand, lest our wrath should break out into forbidden mischief. In no part of our conduct are we more prone to offend. The divine rule is short, but very comprehensive : Be angry, and sin not. Our present business is, to consider when we transgress this divine law.

1. When we are angry with the providence of God, our anger is sinful and unwarrantable. The events of providence are sometimes grievous and afflictive; they cross our inclinations, and seem to oppose our secular interests. Yet it becomes us not to be angry, sullen, and impatient; to strive with our Maker, and to rage like a wild bull in a net; or to struggle and fret like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Humility and meekness would teach us to kiss the rod, to bear the indignation of the Lord, because we have sinned against him. When Aaron beheld that awfully severe dispensation which cut off his two sons under the manifest displeasure of God, he held his peace; he uttered not a murmuring word. (Lev. x. 3.) On the other hand, the man after God's own heart was displeased on an occasion somewhat similar, because the Lord had made a bread upon Uzza. (2 Sam. vi. 8.) Much happier was he when on a more trying occasion he uttered these words: Behold here I am, let him do to me as seemeth good in his sight. (2 Sam xv. 25, 26.) Amiable temper ! Submission and meekness here reign and triumph over every evil disposition. When Caius Caesar's banquet was interrupted by lightning, and his diversions spoiled by thunder, he was angry with the heavens, and reproached the Deity. Let us not resemble that impious monarch.

We have not, I think, a more striking instance of the power of anger against the conduct of divine providence, than what appears in the character of Jonah. We wonder at the patience of Job; but the impatience of Jonah is not less surprising. That angry prophet was displeased with the forbearance and long-suffering of the Almighty. He was sent to preach to the Ninevites, and to decare to them, that within forty days their city should be destroyed. This declaration implied the idea of their continuing impenitent. Jonah's reluctance to deliver the message prevailed so far that he fled from the presence of the Lord a storm is raised to chastise his disobedience.... Jonah is cast into the sea, and swallowed by a great fish which God had prepared for that purpose. Miraculously preserved in the belly of the fish, he humbled himself, and, offered up strong cries and tears, to him that is able to save. God had respect to his humiliation; and commanded the fish to vomit him up on dry ground. He went, at length, to deliver the awful message. The Ninevites repented, and God' spared them; for great are his mercies. Jonah, instead of rejoicing at the success of his ministry, was displeased, and full of that restless impatience which always accompanies unreconciled ness to the dispensations of providence. While he sat in anxious expectation, waiting to see the issue of his prediction, the Lord provided a gourd and made it come up over Jonah, to protect him from the heat of the sun: but all earthly enjoyments are transient, and of short duration. Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. When we set our hearts on any earthly comfort, we have reason to expect its speedy removal the days, of mourning for its departure are at hand. God prepared a worm, and it smote the gourd, that it withered... No gourd can flourish, no worm can smite, but at his word. The prophet's joy was short indeed: while he rejoiced in the shadow of the gourd, he knew not what was doing at the root of it. Created comforts are withering things; they perish while we admire them: they come forth like flowers and are cut down. That proves least safe which is most dear.

But whether God gives or takes away; whether he sends a gourd or a worm to destroy that which he has sent, still he is carrying on the same design of good to us. His intention is to humble and instruct us, and confirm our hearts in his service. Jonah was to learn, by the loss of his gourd, compassion and tenderness. If we are morose, unkind and resentful towards our neighbors, the infinitely wise disposer of events will find a way to teach us more of that temper and spirit in which he delights. And yet, who would have thought it ? we find the prophet lost in impatience, and hurried away with angry passions, for the loss of his gourd ! Astonishing ! This potsherd of the earth strove with his Maker, and yet was not broken to pieces ! Seasons of trial are allotted us to show us what is in our hearts. If the private history of any of us were written by an inspired pen, and every secret thing laid open, how should we blush and tremble at the thought of its being made public to the world! Jonah wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. The God of patience asked him, Dost thou well to be angry? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death! Strange! to be angry at God, and angry too for a gourd; and still to justify his passion in the face of his Maker! How unaccountably anger blinds the mind, that a man under the influence of it should make light of sin, and bid defiance to death; nay, should even in the presence of the divine Creator, justify his rage, and wish to die under the influence of so bad, so shocking a disposition

It is the unhappy conduct of some, that when the Almighty brings them under any sore affliction, they are fretful and angry with their relatives and friends around them. Patience would teach them to be calm and easy toward their fellow-creatures, while they endure divine chastisement: but instead of this, they scatter abroad their discontents in their own families, and many times make them fall heaviest on those who do all in their power to. comfort and relieve them. Should these discontents be searched to the bottom, perhaps it would be found, that the spring of them is anger and impatience at the chastening hand of God. They are not so daring as to vent their uneasiness at Heaven in a direct manner; the thought of this would shock and terrify them: the stream of their resentment is therefore diverted from the Most High, and directed towards their fellow-creatures. This anger, as it is distressing to the friends and attendants of the afflicted, so it must be displeasing to him who searches the heart, and knows the true spring and cause of it.

2. When we are angry with the laws of God.... His laws are holy, just and good; and every disciple of Jesus delights in them after the inward man. They are esteemed by him above gold and silver, and preferred in sweetness to honey or the honey-comb yea, says the Psalmist, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. But rebellious minds dislike these restraints: instead of quarrelling with themselves, they are displeased with the laws of their Maker. They say unto God, Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him; and what profit shall we have When we pray to him? ? If anger be, as Aristotle describes it, a desire to displease those who are displeasing to us, how hateful is this passion when it has the laws of God for its object ! when its language is, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us !

3. When we are angry with the doctrines of the gospel .... We see this kind of anger in the Jews, when they heard the preaching of Jesus. He spake as never man spake. Words of peace, pardon, and salvation flowed from his lips; yet some of his hearers exclaimed, These are hard sayings; who can hear them,? Sometimes they were filled with indignation, and sought to lay bands on him, and destroy him. (Luke iv. 28) In after days, they were grieved that the disciples taught in the name of Jesus, and some of them contradicted and blasphemed. The wrathful man, says Seneca, is angry with truth itself, when it is opposite to his inclination, or his humor.

4. When we are angry at the good we see in others .... Thus Jonah was angry with the Ninevites for that which was pleasing to God, their repentance and humiliation. The Psalmist speaks of some who requited him evil for good, because, says he, I follow the thing that good is. Joseph was hated for his dreams, and for his words.; and Daniel for his continuance in prayer and supplication to his God. Cain, the wicked one, slew his brother, because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Perhaps there is no species of anger so diabolical as this .... to be angry with others because of their excellencies.

5. When we are angry with those who differ from us in religious sentiments.... The church of God, since the days of its infancy, has been always more or less exposed to the wrath of the world. This wrath has frequently broke forth into all the rage of persecution: the godly have been pursued with fire and faggot, racks and tortures. They have had trial of cruel mockings, and scourgings; yea, moreover, of' bonds and imprisonment. They have been stoned, they have been sawn asunder, they have been tempted and slain with the sword: the very persons of whom the world was not worthy, have wandered about in sheepskins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they have wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, through the fury of the oppressor. But the anger of persecutors, through the over-ruling power of the church's Head and Governor, has ever been made to turn against itself, to the destruction of its own purpose. The rage and policy of men have in vain united their efforts to extinguish the light of divine truth: the constancy and fortitude of those who have suffered in defense of it, have always had a much greater effect in promoting the good cause of virtue, than all the rage and cruelty of persecutors in diminishing it.

The heat of persecution on a religious account, is, in these our happy days, very much abated: if the fire be not quenched, at least it is smothered. The natural rights of mankind, of searching the scriptures for their own direction in matters of religion, of thinking and judging for themselves, and acting according to the light they have, in what relates to conscience, the worship of their Maker, and the salvation of their souls, were never better understood than they are at present. Even in Pagan countries, some are beginning to emerge from the abyss of darkness, to assert their native rights; and lay little and little, to shake off the fetters of superstitious tyranny. May their exertions be animated with increasing vigor, and their efforts crowned with success!

Why should I be displeased with any man for his differing from me in his religious opinions? He has the same reason to be angry with me for the liberty I have thought proper to assume. The right of private judgment is the very ground of reformation. Without maintaining that right in the fullest sense, we condemn all that was done in the glorious revolution of Christianity from idolatry, as nothing more than a faction in the state, and a schism in the church.

This right was asserted by our Lord Jesus Christ in the whole of his ministry. He charged his disciples to call no man master on earth; and exhorted the people to search the scriptures, and so to judge for themselves. Such an exhortation would have been full of impertinence, if the right of private judgment could be supposed to have been denied. The apostle Paul, and his fellow apostles, maintained this right. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. Their hearers assumed this privilege, and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so.

Let us not therefore thunder out anathemas against those who may differ from us in some points of doctrine, or branches of worship ; neither let us pass angry censures upon them. Let us remember, that meekness and love are essential to Christianity. Without these, though we speak with the tongues of men and angels, though we have all knowledge, and understand all mysteries, we are nothing. Love is the fulfilling of the law; love is also the spirit and tendency of the gospel. Its author is the Prince of Peace: and its sum and substance, peace, peace to him that is afar of and to him that is nigh. What pity is it that Christianity should ever have been so explained as to promote all the violent and resentful passions that human nature in its deepest depravity is capable of, and to patronize the bloodiest cruelties that the world ever beheld ! Surely there can be nothing more diametrically opposite than religion and revenge, piety and persecution, prayer and plunder, the service of God, and the slaughter of those who bear his image. Heat and violence, anger and resentment in religious disputes naturally lead on to persecution. The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water; therefore leave of wrathful contention before it be meddled with. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven You.

One of the disciples of Jesus said to his Master, We saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followed not with us. Jesus said, Forbid him not. Afterwards, when the Samaritans did not receive him, John and James being too violent in their resentment, and having but a scanty acquaintance with the genius of the gospel, spoke of commanding fire to come down from heaven to consume them; Jesus turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. (Luke ix. 49---55.) We pretend respect and zeal for the religion of Jesus ; and shall we at the same time suffer ourselves to be carried away with that harshness and severity which are so opposite to its very nature and tendency ? Shall we give all men reason to conclude, that whatever we may profess, real Christianity has no power over our hearts or lives? Let us not presume to retain the Christian name, if we are so entirely destitute of the Christian spirit, lest we draw upon our heads that awful censure, Thou hast a name that thou livest, but thou art dead.

A meek and gentle disposition, amidst the strife of interfering interests, prevents the violence of contention, renews endearments, softens animosities, and keeps alive the seeds of harmony. Banish this temper of mind from a religious society, and suppose a body of men of angry, resentful and contentious spirits; and you have, instead of a Christian church, a house of strife, a den of wolves, ready to bite and devour one another, and in danger of being consumed one of another. The solitude of a desert is prefer. able to such society.

In respect to those who differ from us in religious opinions, we should make allowances for their education, the power of the prejudices they have early imbibed, and the influence of others over them. We should not exclaim against every mistake as heresy, or every error as blasphemy. This is harsh and unchristian like treatment, more likely to irritate and harden, than to convince or inform. Religious disputes are seldom managed with that coolness and calmness of temper which become the gospel of Christ. In those points of doctrine wherein wise and good men are differently minded, meekness and modesty should teach us not to be too confident; nor to censure and condemn those that differ from us, as if we were the people, and wisdom should die with us. It is a humiliating consideration, and cannot be thought of without grief and shame, that there never have been greater, more outrageous or more, inveterate and lasting dissentions in the world., than among those called Christians, and upon the ground of their religious differences. The most inflexible animosities from age to age have been kept up on this score. Nothing I am ready to conclude hath brought greater scandal on the Christian cause, or tended more to prejudice and harden those given to skepticism against our holy profession. Merciful God ! thou author of peace, and lover of concord, forgive the angry contentions of those who call themselves thy children !

What dreadful havoc has the intolerance and cruelty of sects of Christians made, all professing a, belief in the same God and in the same Christ, and in the same charity, love, brotherhood, forgiveness, and forbearance, all preaching the doctrines he gave and all violating them. What deplorable scenes did thirty years exhibit in Germany, a war of religious opinion; what havoc has the inquisition made on the unfortunate Jews and Gentiles, Moors and Saracens, reformers and reformed; in every part of the world has superstition and the lust of power, usurped the name of Christianity to violate its most sacred precepts; the wars of the Cevennes, the burning of Servetus at Geneva, and of the Martyrs in Smithfield.... the massacres of heathens by Charlemagne in Saxony, the Hugenots in France, and of the Catholics in Ireland, where the extirpation of the people of a whole province of every age and sex by Cromwell, was perpetrated in the name of the living God; the persecutions for religion alas! not for religion but in its defiance and abuse, has exceeded all other persecutions for cruelty and horror. The indiscriminate slaughter for which neither former benefits nor alliances, nor authority were any protection; countless are the instances of friends murdering their intimates in the blasphemous belief, that they were serving God; as if God were not a judge, a mighty and a just judge in his own cause with his own creatures, but that weak man should snatch his sceptre to deal out infuriate wrath in the name of the Lamb of Peace and good will to man.

I cannot suppress wholly, though I am unwilling to enlarge upon the persecutions which the non-conformists or dissenters from the established church of England underwent for many years; when ministers and persons of the fairest character lost their all, and took joyfully the spoiling of their goods by heavy fines. When I cast my eyes across the Atlantic and see the wilderness become the refuge, and the savage the milder enemy of those who fled from the wrath of religious intolerance ; and when I see the new nations which have arisen in the new world, cherishing the churches and agreeing in love though differing in tenets; worshipping the same God in peace and concord in various modes of discipline as in one communion of faith; then I turn my eyes homeward with sorrow, and the remembrance of past days is far from being pleasing. It has been computed, that among those who suffered in England for conscience sake, the loss of near twenty millions sterling was sustained by one means and another, Ten, or according to the lowest reckoning, eight thousand persons, imprisoned for nonconformity, lost their lives in prisons and dungeons in those affective times.

6. When we are angry at reproof.... The wrathful man flies in the face of his reprove and says with the Egyptian to Moses, made thee a judge over us? (Exod. ii. 14.) We should not fall upon our admonisher with railing speeches, fretting Oat Ike has found out our sore;. but submit with meekness, and lay our souls under eviction; provided the reproof be just. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; let him reprove me, it shall be ran excellent oil that shall not break my head. It will heal the wounds that sin has given, and make my face to shine. It is most ungrateful to be angry with a kind reprover, who has our welfare at heart, and warns us of that which would be pernicious to us; then, if ever, our anger is to be condemned. When he that reproveth in the gate, is hated for his faithfulness, it may truly be said that iniquity abounds, and love waxeth cold.

A good man, says Seneca, rejoices when he is admonished: a wicked man cannot endure a reprover. If we do that which deserves a rebuke, and our friends ale so just and kind as to deal faithfully with us, we ought not to quarrel with them, and return hatred for their love: we should suffer the word of exhortation, and take it patiently and kindly. Thus David blessed God for Abigail's counsel, and thanked her as his messenger: he hearkened to her voice, and accepted her person. The reprover may magnify the offence; his admonition may be defective in point of prudence; yet in the main, it is a real instance of kindness, and it would be highly criminal to resent it. It was no disparagement to Naaman to hearken to the reproof of his servant, when he turned away from the prophet in a rage: it is recorded to his honor. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear. These two excellencies are rarely to be found, a wise reprover, and an obedient ear ; but when found they are of great value.

7. When our anger provokes us to wish or desire any thing unlawful.... When we are provoked to wish that the object of our ,anger may suffer some, considerable inconvenience, our anger rises to malevolence ; especially when we desire that some lasting mischief may attend the offending party. Perhaps the tender and affectionate parent, who, on some just ground, is angry with the child whom he dearly loves, may lawfully wish his child some present pain, in order to amend and cure his folly. This seems to be implied in the nature of parental correction and the end of it is the child's real advantage : but to wish some lasting mischief to befall the object of our resentment, is base, malicious, and wicked. Nor can those sudden wishes for our own death, which violent anger sometimes produces, be at all excused. It is better for me, said the angry prophet, to die than to live : I do well to be angry, even unto death. Moses is celebrated for his meekness; and yet some expressions he used on certain trying occasions, indicate a defect even in that for which he is most commended. (Num. xi. 15.) If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, and let me not see my wretchedness.

8. When we use unlawful means to avenge ourselves, we sin in our anger .... It is defined to be a desire of revenge for some injury offered. Though this definition perhaps may not be accurate, yet it is certain that men of hot and heady tempers are too often desirous of vengeance, as soon as ever they fancy themselves injured: hence punishments are inflicted disproportioned to the offence. This is criminal; and the error is still more aggravated when the offence is only imaginary. Where a real injury of consequence is sustained, religion forbids us not to seek proper and adequate reparation: but calm and cool deliberation is necessary in order to this. To have a secret fixed resolution to avenge ourselves, is base and diabolical. A celebrated moralist has expressed himself with great energy on this subject : " What shall we think of him who has a soul so infected, that he can never be happy till he have made another miserable ! What wars may we imagine perpetually raging in his breast ; what dark stratagems, unworthy designs, inhuman wishes, dreadful resolutions ! A serpent curled in many intricate mazes, ready to sting a traveller, and to hiss him in the pangs of death, is no unfit emblem of such an artful, unsearchable projector."

Condemned for ever be that false notion of honor which introduced, and still supports the practice of duelling. Who can think without horror of two rational beings, settling with cool and deliberate preparation, the circumstances for murdering each, other ! True courage enables a man rather to suffer than to sin, to pass by an. affront than to, destroy a soul, and plunge a man into eternity with all his loads of folly and fury about him. He that accepts a challenge is therefore a coward, dreading the reproach of fools more than the wrath of heaven he that refuseth a challenge, lest he should sin against God, and injure his neighbor, despising the shame that might be cast upon him by the thoughtless rabble, is the truly valiant man. He who can deny the brutal lust of revenge, rather than violate the laws of love, is truly resolute and courageous.... Mildness and fortitude are not inconsistent they may dwell together in the same breast. Moses confronted Pharaoh in his own court, not fearing the wrath of the king. yet he was the meekest of all the men of the earth ; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

It can never be esteemed, in the judgment of sober reason, an instance of wisdom or true courage for a person to hazard his life, at. the mere caprice of an inconsiderate and barbarous ruffian, who neither fears God nor regards man. On account of some mere punctilio, some trifling affront, he would take a savage pleasure in spilling my blood, cutting me off from all my dear social connections, and plunging me into eternity in a moment. Shall I put my own welfare, and that of my parents, my wife, my children, and other relatives, on a level with that of an impetuous barbarian, who gives me a challenge? Because he is desperate enough to risk his life, shall I put mine in his hands, and give him leave to gratify his brutal humor, by lodging a ball in my breast, and leaving me weltering in my blood? If he has no regard for his family, shall I have none for them, or for my own? What an endless train of calamities might they be involved in, by a compliance with the diabolical challenge ? To give a challenge is murderous, to accept it is to drink into the same spirit ; since the latter implies a willingness either to fall a sacrifice to the challenger's rage, or to imbrue our hands in his blood, and perhaps plunge his soul into everlasting darkness. He that gives the challenge, makes an attempt on the life of his fellow-creature, and thirsts for his blood; as such, he is a greater enemy to society, and commits a more flagrant outrage, than he that stops a passenger on the highway only to take his money from him. For what is a little present cash, that a man may chance to have in his pocket, in comparison of life, precious life, and the continued comfort of our family and friends! Such a one, therefore, ought to be treated as an enemy to society, as a disturber of the peace, or as a felon. In such a light the mischievous practice we are speaking of, was held by Pharamond, king of the Gauls, whose edict against duels I beg leave to recite.

" Whereas it has come to our royal notice and observation, that in contempt of all laws, divine and human, it has of late become a custom among the nobility and gentry of this our kingdom, upon slight and trivial, as well as great and urgent provocations, to invite each other into the field, there, by their own hands, and of their own authority, to decide their controversies by combat; we have thought fit to take the said custom into our royal consideration, and find, upon inquiry into the usual causes whereon such fatal decisions have arisen, that by this wicked custom, maugre all the precepts of our holy religion, and the rules of right reason, the greatest act of the human mind, forgiveness of injuries, is become vile and shameful that the rules of good society and virtuous conversation are hereby inverted; that the loose, the vain, and the impudent, insult the careful, the discreet and the modest; that all virtue is suppressed, and all vice supported, in the one act of being capable to dare to death. We have also further, with great sorrow of mind, observed that this dreadful action, by long impunity, (our royal attention being employed upon matters of more general concern) is become honorable, and the refusal to engage in it ignominious. In these our royal cares and inquiries, we are yet farther made to understand, that the persons of most eminent worth, of most hopeful abilities, accompanied with the strongest passion for true glory, are such as are most liable to be involved in the dangers arising from this license. Now, taking the said premises into our serious consideration, and well weighing, that all such emergencies (wherein the mind is incapable of commanding itself, and where the injury is too sudden, or too exquisite to be borne) are particularly provided for by laws heretofore enacted and that the qualities of less injuries, like those of ingratitude, are too nice and delicate to come under general rules ; we do resolve to blot this fashion, or wantonness of anger, out of the minds of our subjects, by our royal resolutions declared in this edict, as follows No person who either sends or accepts a challenge, or the posterity of either, though no death ensues thereupon, shall be, after the publication of this our edict, capable of .bearing office in these our dominions:.... The person who shall prove the sending or receiving a challenge, shall receive to his own use and property, the whole personal estate of both parties ; and their real estate shall be immediately vested in the next heir of the offenders, in as ample a manner as if the said offenders were actually deceased:....In cases where the laws (which we have already granted to our subjects) admit of an appeal for blood:. the criminal is condemned by the said appeal, he shall not only suffer death, but his whole estate, real, mixed, and personal,. shall,, from the hour of his death, be vested in the next heir of the person whose blood he spilt :....That it shall not hereafter be in our royal power, or that- of our successors, to pardon, the said offences, or restore the offenders to their estates, honor, or blood, for ever.... Given at our court, at Blois, the eighth of February, 420, in the second year of our reign."

Our anger is certainly criminal when it excites us to render evil for evil to him who has injured or offended us: this is constantly condemned by the rules of our holy religion. Let the man be a friend or a foe who has acted an unrighteous and injurious part towards us, we should beware of giving way to revengeful or passionate resentments, which may lead us to seek the hurt of the offender by way of retaliation. This would be to imitate his evil example, and to become sharers in his guilt. N o provocation should ever irritate us so far as to abate our concern for peace: we should keep so strict a watch over our angry passions, as never to meditate and contrive, much less to attempt any thing by way of private and personal revenge. If we be under the necessity of seeking satisfaction from those who have injured us in a due course of law, we should never do it from a litigious spirit; but from a desire to preserve peace and good order in society, and to obtain justice to ourselves from the affronts and injuries we have received from unreasonable and wicked men.

Vengeance belongs to the Supreme Ruler and Judge of the Universe: it is his right and prerogative to inflict deserved punishment. Let us never, therefore, presume so far as to attempt to wrest the sceptre out of his hands: but, leaving our cause with him, let us be ready to do every office of kindness and compassion, even to the worst of our enemies. Let us bless them that curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us. Let no ill treatment we meet with from others, so far inflame our angry passions, as to make us desirous of rendering evil for evil, or even to cause us to grow weary of shewing love and kindness to them. Let us evidence the power of divine grace on our hearts, by exercising meekness, kindness, and forbearance, under the highest provocations : this is the way, not to be, overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good. (Rom. xii. 21.)

9. When our anger unfits us for the dis. charge of duty to one another.... Violent anger ruffles our temper and disturbs our reason, and as such unfits us for the duties of life. It darkens the mind, burdens the conscience, and puts the whole soul out of frame. Giving and receiving reproof are duties of great utility. If a brother be overtaken with a fault, we should restore such a one; but this can only be done in the spirit of meekness. Reproof should never be given with a wrathful heart and angry tongue: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. In like manner, it should be received with humility and gratitude: we should be thankful to our kind reprover for his kind care, and offer up our prayers to God for him. We are commanded to be pitiful and tender-hearted; to bear one another's burdens; to weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice; to love as brethren; to follow after the things which make for peace, and things whereby one may edify another: and whatever temper of mind unfits us for these duties, it is wrong, it is offensive to God, it is mischievous and hurtful.

Some men confess themselves negligent on slight occasions, and in the ordinary course of life, of the government of their temper; but they are attentive, as they pretend, to the great duties of charity and beneficence, whenever any remarkable opportunity presents itself of performing important services to society. But let such persons remember, that virtue must be formed and supported, not by unfrequented acts, but by continual and daily exertions. It should not, like the blaze of a comet, break forth only occasionally with a transient lustre: it ought to be regular in its course, like the light of day. In the common transactions of life, and the intercourse of domestic society, the government of our temper is absolutely necessary for promoting the happiness of those with whom we daily converse. In the conjugal relation, the care of the husband is to please his wife, and the care of the wife is to please her husband : this mutual endeavor to oblige is of great importance, and highly conducive to domestic happiness. No man who is hurried away by ungovernable passion, can perform the duties of his station with regularity.

Our anger is sinful when we are displeased with the providence of God.... when we are angry with his laws, or with the doctrines of the gospel... .when we are angry with the good we see in others....when we are angry with those who differ from us in religious sentiments.... when we are angry at reproof ...when our anger provokes us to wish or desire any thing unlawful .... when we use forbidden means to avenge ourselves ....and when our anger unfits us for the discharge of duty to one another.

CHAPTER. V.

CAUTIONS AGAINST VIOLENT' AND SINFUL ANGER.

I. IT destroys our own peace of mind.... How serene and peaceful a region would every man's soul be to himself, if heavenly meekness did but reign in his breast, to the suppression of anger, wrath, malice, and bitterness! The heathen moralist represents this to us by a comparison drawn from the celestial regions: " The upper and better ordered part of the world next the stars is driven together. into no cloud, hurried into no tempest, never tossed about in any whirlwind, but is ever free from any thing of tumult. Only the inferior regions throw about thunder and lightning's. So is the sublime mind always quiet, in a. state of undisturbed tranquility, sober, venerable, and composed."

It is true, there may be a quiet behavior witwardly, either through. constraint, or with some base and disguised, design, while in the mean time the soul is rough and turbulent; the words may, be softer than oil, while war is in the heart. But if our carriage be stormy and morose, we cannot have peace within.

By the frequent indulgence of this furious passion, it gains strength, and becomes habitual; and then a man's internal tranquility is nearly at an end. He will kindle into a flame at the first touch of provocation: he will not be able to retain his resentment, even till he have full proof of the offence; neither will he proportion his anger to the cause which excites it, or regulate it by any decency or discretion. A man thus enslaved is to be ranked among the unhappiest of mortals. He grows still more miserable as he sinks in years: disease and infirmity increase the distemper of his mind. His friends desert him, being weary of his peevishness; and he is left, as one of the ancients strikingly expresses himself, to devour his own heart in solitude and contempt. He may disguise his sufferings before the world: but to be inwardly torn with wrathful and revengeful passions, is to be truly miserable. Thus the punishment is connected with the crime Thy own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shad reprove thee. It is an evil thing and bitter that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord.

When humility and meekness reign within, we are least in hazard of being ruffled by outward occurrences: but if the clouds of disgust and ill humor gather on the mind, every object is blackened to our view, and the slighest accident heightens our disquietude. That inward serenity, which is the first requisite of every pleasurable feeling, is destroyed, and we behold every thing in the most unfavorable light. The meek and patient man is happily superior to all those slight provocations and trifling offences which wound the tranquility of others. He is exempted from numberless disquietudes which agitate those of a contrary disposition.

As fire kindleth fire, so that which provokes anger is the anger of others: but meekness enables us to turn away the wrath of our neighbor, and to keep possession of our own souls. It teaches us either not to speak at all, to curb the tongue, and to keep the mouth as with a bridle; or to give a soft answer. It is said of Naphtali that he gave goodly words, and as such he had the happiness to be satisfied with favor. For every man will kiss his lips that giveth a right answer. The meek man's thoughts are calm, his purposes composed, his prospects rational, and his affections regular. He is free from many of the pains and tortures of those angry souls who vex themselves with trifles; whose reason is bewildered, and whose affections are hurried on with an impetus as uneasy as it is hazardous. He has that peace which the world can neither given or destroy, while the fretful and passionate man eats the bread of sorrow, in pursuit of revengeful projects. He delights himself with abundance of peace: he has ten thousand times more satisfaction in forgiving injuries than others can have in revenge.

The character which is given of that cruel and furious monarch, king Henry viii, towards the latter part of his life, is very striking. " When bodily diseases prevailed upon him, and particularly a pain in his leg, he was more furious than a chained lion. He had been ever stern and severe, but he was then outrageous. In this state he continued for nearly four years before his death, the terror of all, and the tormentor of himself. As his end approached, his anguish and remorse were such as cannot be described."

2. It hurts the unity of spirit among brethren Were but the minds of Christians more eminently clothed with humility, and habited with the meekness and gentleness of Christ, what a blessed calm would it introduce into religious societies! It might then be truly said of the Christian church, This is the house of God, this is the gate of heaven. A learned, pious, and candid writer on the absurdity and injustice of religious bigotry and persecution, has these Words; “ Could we seethe members of Christ's mystical body divested of bigotry and prejudice, no longer divided by parties and factions, nor stained and sullied by viciousness of life; joined together by a union of friendly dispositions and kind affections, and vying with each other in the promotion of mutual benevolence and good will, this would give us the strongest idea we can at present have of the happiness of the future world, and of those sublime social pleasures which the righteous shall enoy when they come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to God the judge of all, to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

Some men seem to be of such a disposition, that they are not only careless of pleasing, but studious to offend. They imagine that they aggrandize themselves by mortifying those about them, and teasing them with affronts ; they delight in wanton provocations, and contemptuous insolence. This tyranny arises from that excess of pride which can never be quietly endured by mankind. It provokes the resentment of those about us; and thus the peace of society is disturbed Some are so morose and ill natured, so sudden and so noisy in their resentment, that there is no peace or rest to be enjoyed near them: they interrupt the quiet of all who are so unhappy as to be within the reach of heir clamours. Among the disciples of the lowly Jesus, nothing should be done through strife, or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind, each should esteem others better than himself. Some good men are so unhappily addicted to warmth of temper, that the poet's enquiry concerning his angry deities, seems applicable to them: Can so much wrath be Found in heavenly minds? When we meet with provocations from men of this cast, it is most eligible and honorable so far to suppress the heat of our own temper, as to endeavor to turn away their wrath with a soft answer. (Prov. xv. 1.) A soft answer turneth away wrath ; but grievous words stir up anger. If we intemperately and unseasonably set ourselves to oppose them, we shall but irritate them more and more. If mildness will not overcome them, by leaving them room and time to cool, in keeping out of their way, escape to a calmer shore.

Without a degree of candor, forbearance and mutual love, the peace of Christian societies cannot be maintained. There must be reciprocal endeavors to maintain the unity of the spirit, in the bond of peace. When the members of a religious community are meek and lowly, full of kindness and benevolence one towards another, then and then only, they adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, and exemplify the true, spirit of Christianity. They are then cautious of inflicting the least wound on a brother's mind they are affable in their address,, and mild in their behavior; ever ready to oblige, and as willing to be obliged by others. Reproofs are administered with the greatest tenderness; and good offices performed with ease and modesty. No one is assuming in his, opinions, or intemperate in his zeal about lesser matters: no one is self-willed, forward to contradict, or eager to blame. Every one thinks it his duty and his honor to be clothed with humility, and to put on in his whole behavior that charity which is the bond of perfectness. Every one seeks to please his neighbor, for his good unto edification; to conceal that superiority of rank or talents which might be oppressive to the weak of the flock to be kind and tender-hearted, to be pitiful and courteous; and in a word, to evidence himself to be under the influence of the wisdom from above, "which is pure and peaceable, gentle to be in treated, full of mercy, and good fruits, without partiality, and with out hypocrisy. Of such a society, it may be said, the beauty of the Lord our God is. upon them.

With some persons, to speak and to offend' are but one and the same thing: their words are fraught with gall and wormwood, from a proud and malevolent disposition. The dull, the stupid and the mute are to be preferred to these. They are not satisfied with giving sharp answers; they insolently attack the present, and wound the character of the absent Some domestic connections are dreadfully disturbed by feuds, jealousies, and antipathies, at the same time that they outwardly seem easy, affectionate, and cheerful; and we suppose they enjoy a quiet to which they are strangers. Your visit which you make them, only suspends a domestic quarrel, which waits but for your absence to be renewed. Or if you are so unhappy as to reside with such persons as are engaged in perpetual quarrels, they will teasel you to hear their mutual complaints; and you will live, as it were, in a court of justice, and be pestered from morning tonight with pleadings.

3. It blocks up our way to the divine throne .... If we attempt to draw near to God with rancor and wrath in our hearts, he will not hear our, prayers. First go and be reconciled to thy brother: then come, and offer thy gift. No wrathful temper must be indulged, if we would lift up holy hands to God. (1. Tim. ii. 8.) Bitterness, wrath, and evil-speaking must therefore be laid aside, if we desire to hold converse with God, and to have fellowship with the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. We are not to expect forgiveness with our Maker, unless we from our hearts forgive others. So far does a wrathful temper unfit us for devotion. Can we come boldly to the throne of grace so long as we cherish wrath in our bosom ? It indisposes us for thy duty; and renders it, if performed, unacceptable , to God. The tumult of our passions makes us both unable and unwilling to pray ; and should we attempt it in such a spirit, God will not hear.

4. It frequently exposes a man to danger.... When an angry man meets with a fury like himself, they frequently fall into mischief. A rude hectoring fellow lately passing through the streets of a certain town, jostled another who stood in his way: the offended party, equal to him in brutality, drew his sword and spilt his blood. It is an honor to a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling to his hurt. Wise men turn away wrath, but a fool's lips enter into contention his mouth calleth for strokes ; and he some times receives them, as the just reward of his insolence. No one draws his sword, or cocks his pistol at the meek and inoffensive lamb; but the noisy barking cur frequently feels the lamb. The dispassionate escape many troubles which the angry and revengeful pull down on their own heads. A soft answer turns away wrath; a soft tongue breaks the bone. The kindness of David overcame Saul; and the meekness of Jacob melted the heart of Esau.

5. It makes work for bitter repentance.... We frequently hear of parents who undertaking to correct their children in a fit of passion, have been so unhappy as to occasion irreparable mischief to their helpless offspring. What must they feel on every sight of their afflicted children, thus disabled by their fury ! What stings of remorse must attend them through every succeeding day of their lives ! Who, can think of the condition to which Cain had reduced himself by his rage and murder, without horror? Stung with the keenest anguish and remorse, he was a terror to himself wherever he came, and dreaded by all who knew him. He cried out in the bitterness of his soul, My punishment is greater than I can bear! No sorrow can repair the mischief: an age can not recompense what has been done in an instant in wrath and fury. “There are a thousand evils, (says Seneca) included in this one of anger, and diversified into a thousand different branches."

The greatest part of the disasters which men suffer in this life, are brought upon them by their own ungoverned passions. Should they escape the external mischief's which these passions naturally occasion, they cannot shun the internal misery which they certainly produce. The government of the world is maintained with such depth of wisdom, that the divine laws execute themselves against the sinner, and carry their sanction along with them: there is no need for the prison of hell to be unlocked, or the thunders of heaven to 'be poured forth, in order to punish the wrathful and the cruel man. It is enough that those furious passions which render such persons the disturbers of others, be suffered to burn and rage within them, and that they be delivered up to the horrors of their own guilty minds. The spirit of a man may sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?

6. It prevents us from doing or receiving good .... A drunken man in the height of his intoxication is looked upon as so far from being fit to receive or impart instruction, that he is considered as no longer master of his own conduct. He seems to act without consciousness, and to rush into mischief without apprehension of danger. As such, he is either pitied or despised by those about him; and for the time, is hardly entitled to the rank of rational beings. It is much the same with him who is intoxicated with passion. Such a man cannot gain much influence over any but those who are necessarily his dependents. He may frighten his children or his servants ; but if his eyes were open, he might easily see, that while he tramples on those who cannot resist him, he is not revered for his virtue, but dreaded or despised for his brutality ; and that he lives only to excite the contempt or hatred of society. He that has his hand against every man, need not wonder if every man's hand is against him. He lives in a state of war with mankind, as he is destitute of that meekness which is the cement of society, that love which is the bond of perfectness, that charity which covers a multitude of sins. In the present state of imperfection, mutual allowances are necessary to mutual usefulness. Without such allowances, variance, strife, and contention will keep us perpetually at a distance from each other; and prevent us both from doing good to our fellow-creatures, and receiving good from them.

7. It fires the minds of those about us.... The associates and domestics of an angry man live with suspicion and solitude, as in the presence of a tame lion or tiger, watching the capricious savage, and expecting the moment when he will begin his tremendous roar: and when he breaks forth in unreasonable reproaches, it is no wonder that the breasts of those about him are kindled into resentment. Hence mutual animosities prevail; and who can tell where the mischief may end; it is better to dwell in the corner of a house top, than with such a one in the most splendid and spacious palace. Grievous words stir up anger.

Meekness prepossesses and gains the hearts of our opponents. It persuades when every other argument proves ineffectual: it disarms the violent, and softens the stubborn mind. On the other hand, the heat of anger confirms the opposition it intends to subdue, raises the resentment of those who were indifferent, and even turns our very friends into enemies. A judicious writer on this subject has justly observed, that in the ruffled and angry hour, we view every, appearance through a false medium. The most inconsiderable point of interests, or honor, swells into a momentous object; and the slightest attack seems to threaten immediate ruin. But after passion or pride is subdued, we look round in vain for the mighty mischief we dreaded: the fabric which our disturbed imagination had reared, totally disappears. But though the cause of contention has dwindled away, its consequences remain. We have irritated the passions of others: we have alienated a friend; we have embittered an enemy; we have sown the seeds of future suspicion, malevolence or disgust. He that is hasty in his spirit, exalteth folly.

8. 'It makes us unlike the meek and lowly Jesus .... That mind which was in him should be in us. He was patient under the rudest injuries and most barbarous treatment: the vilest affronts were offered to him, and yet he was meek as a lamb. When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he sufered, he threatened not. He gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked of the hair; he hid not his face from shame, and spitting. For the greatest evil he returned the greatest good: he shed his blood, and gave his life to redeem those from hell who treated him with disdain. And while they mocked his dying agonies, shot out the lip, and wagged the head, Father forgive them, they know not what they do. While we admire this amiable and lovely .part of the dear Redeemer's conduct, let us remember that he has left us an example- that we should walk in his, steps. But ah! How unlike him are we, when we suffer angry passions to rise on the most trifling occasions !

No harshness, no pride, no stately distance of behavior appeared in our divine Master, during his intercourse with men upon earth. He was easy of access, mild in his answers, condescending, lowly, and obliging in his whole demeanour. This distinguishing part of his character was so generally known, that the apostle Paul, in order to gain the hearts of his followers, and engage them to a compliance with what he proposes, uses this form of address: I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Let us cultivate a humble, kind, gentle temper. This was the temper of our divine leader : this is the temper of the inhabitants of heaven. Let this temper also be in us: then shall we escape the miseries which always accompany an arrogant and resentful mind.

The religion which Jes