the event to providence, without being transported at good, or dejected at bad fuccefs. How many in fickness pray for health, and, as they think, out of a motive of ferving God? But it is ten to one felf-love lies at the bottom covered with the appearance of piety; and a defire of ease has a greater fhare in our prayers than God's fervice. For did we regard merely his honour, we fhould receive, with an equal fubmiffion, good and evil, fickness and health. We fhould conform our wills to his, which is the height of perfection.

To difabuse the apostles, who thought their love not only reasonable but difinterested, our Saviour told them, If a man love me, he will keep my word. The teft of that love I require, is not an eager defire of my prefence,. but an entire fubmiffion to my Father's will; an exact obfervance of my commands, and a strict practice of my counfels. By this we prefer God before all creatures; his love to our own fatisfaction; and his favour to our lives. Hence, whofoever chooses poverty before an estate purchased at the price of injuftice; who embraces pain rather than an unlawful pleasure, and rather forfeits his liberty by confinement, than to live abroad a flave to fin, poffeffes that love Chrift exacted of his difciples: If a man love me, be will keep my word. This is the touchstone that diftinguishes true love from counterfeit, That of our felves, from That we owe to God.

Would you therefore know whether you love God fincerely? examine not how often you frequent the church; how many hours you fpend in prayer and recollection; how largely you fupply the neceffities of the poor: these are no infallible marks, and may be vifible in thofe, who doat on the world, as well as in those who love God: you must bring your confcience to our Saviour's rule; If any man love me, he will keep my words. Dive to the

bottom;

bottom; fearch the most secret receffes of your foul, and fee, if no monster of rebellion against God's commandments, no neglect, no contempt of his counfels, ftart up against you: if you ftand clear of any trespass upon God's commands; if you have neither offended his perfon by oaths, nor his fervants by raillery; if you love your neighbour, honour your parents, and pay obedience to your prince; if you abuse not your neighbour's perfon, nor wound his reputation, nor invade his goods; your thoughts are chafte, your words decent, and your body untainted with lewdness; if you neither omit what is commanded, nor do what is prohibited: you then have that love God abfolutely requires.

if

And, in return of this love, our Saviour affures his apoftles: That be, and his Father, will come unto them, and abide with them. The holy fathers explain this vifit of the Father and the Son, this abode, to be the infufion of fanctifying grace into the fouls of thofe that love him. By this God vifits us; by this he lives in us; by this, to ufe St. Paul's expreffion, we become the temple of the Holy Ghost. What a favour this is, we fhall only conceive, when, in the next life, we fuffer eternal torments, for having forfeited it in this by fin; or rejoyce in heaven, for having preserved it by the practice of virtue.

But the gift is not lefs, because ignorant man comprehends not its value and indeed, it is our misfortune, that we seldom efteem thofe things that come not within the reach of fenfe; fo that it is hard to raise any lively idea of those goods that are fupernatural; because they touch not fenfe, and make no impreffion upon its organs. However, we must not only bid adieu to faith, but alfo to reason, not to rate it above all created things, if we confider the ftrangeness of its effects. This

F 3

divine

divine quality raises us to the dignity of children of God; it intitles us to the kingdom of heaven; it adopts us brothers to Chrift, and gives us a right to all the benefits of his paffion; it makes us amiable in the fight of God: whilft we preferve it, he cannot hate us; when we lofe it, he will not love us. Had the damned fanctifying grace in the midst of flames, they could not be miferable; and were the faints without it, even in heaven, they would not be happy. Those unfortu-. nate wretches now understand perfectly the price of this jewel. They will eternally deplore the lofs of it, and wifh eternally, but in vain, once more to find it. They loft it by their crimes in time; and a too late repentance of the lofs, and an unprofitable defire to recover it, will make one part of their torment for all eternity. Seeing therefore the poffeffion of it gives us an undoubted title to the moft tranfcendent good, and the privation of it, to the utmost extreme of evils; we must conclude, its value rifes in proportion. With what care then, with what vigilance, ought we to preferve this treasure, which fo highly concerns us? God has not trusted it with our dearest friend, but with our felves fo that all our enemies are unable to wrest it from us without our confent.

And yet we part with this jewel, not only without trouble, but often without refiftance, and look upon our misfortune without concern. The fcripture tells us, Efau was inconfolable, when he reflected at how low a price he had fold his birthright: he complained of circumvention and treachery, and fhewed his regret by all the marks of complaints and expoftulations. Notwithstanding he only forfeited fome fuperiority in the family, fome temporal bleffings, which might make him more wealthy and powerful, but not better.

But

But the lofs of fanctifying grace divests us of all title to heaven, to the felicity of faints. It expofes us to the anger of God, who cannot but hate us: who threatens to revenge the affront, and has power to execute his refolution. It deadens our virtuous actions, and renders all our paft mortifications, and all our merits, unprofitable. Notwithftanding this, we often pawn it for a trifle, and never think of redeeming it by a fincere repentance. Chriftians may pretend fome excufe for falling into fin; they may throw their miscarriage upon the violence of the temptation, the heat of paffion, or the folicitation of occafions; but what colour of an excufe can we caft upon our neglect to recover, by repentance, that grace we have loft by fin? has fin fuch agreeable charms, when once it is committed, when nothing remains of it but fhame and remorfe? how often do we confefs, that the pain of fin furpaffes the pleafure; and that the fting, it leaves behind, takes off all the impreffions of the delight? fhould not this plain confeffion, founded on experience, awaken our induftry, and fet all the powers of our foul to work, to recover this nuptial garment, without which, we fhall be excluded from that feaft God has prepared for his elect, and be condemned to the eternal torments of weeping and gnashing of teeth?

Our bleffed Saviour has taught us, with what earneftness we should endeavour to find this treasure, by the parable of a poor woman: fhe loft but a drachma, yet immediately removed the lumber of her houfe, fwept it clean, look'd into every corner, and when the found it, called in her neighbours to testify her joy, and to receive their congratulations. And yet, good God! what comparison between the lofs of a piece of money, and that of grace? Chrift bought this at the price of his facred blood; and no body, but God made man,

was able to make the purchase. Shew then you esteem it, by your care and folicitude to preserve it; and, if you lofe it, either by furprise or paffion, fit not down quietly with the lofs, but employ fighs and tears, and all the requifites of a true repentance, to recover it.

Come, Holy Spirit! vifit thy unworthy fervant, and fill with thy holy grace my heart created for thy fervice: pour into my foul a true love of thee, and an averfion for all below thee; ftrengthen the frailty of nature by the force of thy grace; and bring peace to my foul alarmed with fear, certain fhe has offended, and doubtful of pardon: keep my enemies fo at a distance, that, under thy protection and conduct, I may conquer them, and praise thy holy name for ever.

I. EPISTLE of St. John, Chap. iv. Verse

7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God.

8. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.

9. In this was manifefted the love of God towards us, because that God fent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through

bim.

10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and fent his Son to be the propitiation for our fins.

11. Beloved, if God fo loved us, we ought also to love one another.

12. No man bath feen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13. Hereby