terests of eternity. The welfare of the foul yields to the accommodation of the body. The man is abforbed in the cares of the hour. Toiling for daily fubfistence, he labours not for the bread of life. If any man would not work; it is beyond a question that neither fhould be eat. We command and exbort by the Lord Jefus, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. Do your own bufinefs, and work with your own bands (f). Yet labour not primarily for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man fhall give unto you: for Him bath God the Father fealed (g).

The next leading branch of labour is that which, exercifing the faculties of the mind more extensively than the powers of the animal frame, may be denominated mental. To this branch may be referred, among other ramifications of active life, fome of the ornamental arts, many of the researches of fcience, the duties of liberal profeffions, the functions of elevated office. Over perfons dedicated to purfuits of this defeription, nó lefs than over those who are funk in manual toil, impends the danger of becoming the

(ƒ) 2 Theff. iii. 10. 12. 1 Theff. iv. 11.

(g) John, vi. 27.

flaves of a worldly fpirit, of panting for things temporal and forgetting things eternal. Among the temptations by which, if not exclusively affailed, they are more feverely or more confpicuoufly encountered, are the thirst for fplendid diftinctions, and the pride of intellectual attainments. But how crieth the warning voice? All flesh is grafs; and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grafs withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. If any man think that be knoweth any thing; he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. The Lord giveth wifdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up found wif dom for the righteous (h).

In each of the claffes which have been noticed, the general ftimulus to labour is the defire of gain; in the former nearly unmixed, in the latter commonly blended with eagerness for elevation. There is a third clafs in the middle and the higher walks of fociety, whofe labour is oftenfibly more spontaneous; a clafs confifting of those persons, whom wealth or competence relieves from the neceffity of lucrative

(b) 1 Pet. i. 24, 25.

I Cor. viii. 2, Prov. ii. 6, 7.

you

toil. Are you of this defcription, and do you conceive yourfelf privileged to be idle? If the fupreme benefactor has faid to you, as Pharaoh faid to the brethren of Jofeph; The good of all the land is yours: if, as Pharaoh planted them in Gofhen, in the beft of this favoured land God has made to dwell: of you He alfo demands, as Pharaoh demanded of the objects of his bounty; What is your occupation? On you, no lefs than on your brethren, every day urges its title to employment. On you, no less than on your brethren, rest the general obligations of life. On you, in proportion as you are exonerated from inferior tasks, the general obligations of life prefs with augmented claims. The neighbour, the friend, the fon, the brother, the husband, the father, the mafter, is called upon to behold in his comparative leifure new ties to the affiduous performance of his duties. In his comparative leifure the landlord is fummoned to recognise new motives for directing the administration of the property with which Heaven has entrufted him to the good of his dependents, and the diffufive encouragement of knowledge and piety. To you, in a special meafure, are confided the execution of various

various functions of magiftracy; the management of local concerns and inftitutions; and the discharge of many public trufts connected with the fuperintendence of the revenue and the civil and military welfare of the community. In fome of the occupations appertaining to men of your clafs emulation and ambition often feek their gratification; and the enfnaring influence of intereft, immediate or remote, is powerfully felt. The temptation however to which you are peculiarly obnoxious is, partly becaufe your labour feems voluntary, partly because it is not unfrequently gratuitous, to applaud yourselves as nobly and needlessly relinquishing a portion of your time and eafe for the benefit of others; and as laying up merit with God and man by works of fupererogation. Merit! Shall they who have received the moft from God, labour for Him the leaft? Shall they who have the largest opportunities, the ampleft leifure, for looking on the things of others, for advancing the general and individual welfare of their fellow-creatures, labour for them the leaft? Works of fupererogation! To him that knoweth to do good, of whatever kind that good may be, and doeth it not; to bim it is fin (i). Occupy till I come, is the

VOL. II.

(i) James, iv. 17.

P

univerfal

univerfal mandate of your Lord. And what was his example? Chrift pleafed not himfelf (k); lived not to his own indulgence. Was not his life a continued fcene of fpontaneous extreme and moft difinterefted labour? Do you grudge difinterested labour, and profefs to follow his fteps? Are you fo blind to the demerits of your best performances as to demand reward not of grace, but of debt? Even if your beft performances had no demerits, and your whole lives were occupied in fuch performances; what would be your claim? Learn from the word of God. When ye shall have done all, fay; we are unprofitable fervants: we have done that, and that only, which was our duty to do (1).

III. Confider briefly fome of the benefits refulting to the individual, from Occupation; and you will confefs that, if God enjoined labour as a judgement, he enjoined it alfo in mercy.

Labour, in the firft place, not only is the medium of acquifition; but naturally tends to improvement. Whether the body is to be ftrengthened or the mind to be cultivated; whether fubfiftence or knowledge is fought; whether the neceffaries or the accommodations of life are at ftake; (1) Luke, xvii. 10. whether

(k) Rom. xv. 3.