Page images
PDF
EPUB

N° XVIII.

Means offered by Religion for subduing the irregular Inclinations.

How happy is he born and taught,
That serveth not another's will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!

Whose passions not his masters are-

This man is freed from servile hands
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall:
Lord of himself, tho' not of lands;
And having nothing, yet hath all.

SIR HENRY WOTTON,

THE Consciousness of self-command is that point of human conduct after which the man of virtue willingly aspires. The advantages which accrue to him who is lord of himself, both with respect to this life and the next, render this conquest an object of the utmost importance. The difference be

tween

tween two men of opposite principles in society, originates in this distinction; the one endeavours to subdue every tumultuous passion as it rises, the other gives the rein to its unbounded gratification. The latter of these characters therefore approaches to the lawless irregularities of savage life, the former to the perfection of moral and religious conduct. Self-enjoyment is the expectation of both, but they pursue different methods, and arrive at different conclusions. A proper coercion of our natural inclinations, then, however inimical it may seen. to the happiness of man, appears to be the first step towards accomplishing this desirable end.

An unprejudiced exertion of the rational faculties may assist us in arriving at this truth, but nothing short of religion can assure us that our labour will not be in vain. As reason could not explain to us the degeneracy of human nature, so reason of itself could not reinstate us in the possession of all those privileges with which man was originally invested. It is this difference between man in a paradisaical state, as it

may

may be called, and man in a state of probation, which makes coercion necessary in the government of the passions. "It has "been said," says a philosopher*, in the proper sense of the word," that a life of "virtue is a life of mortification and war"fare. And nothing is more true; not"withstanding that, upon the whole, such "a life must be most happy. The nature "of man is miserably corrupted. Criminal passions crave indulgence; and it re"quires great efforts to resist them: crimi"nal habits must be overcome; and this "is a work of long and difficult labour.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Things, that by their agreeable qualities "attract our notice, and engage our liking, "often prove a snare; and it requires in

cessant watchfulness to keep aloof from "them, or, when they fall in our way, to

[ocr errors]

prevent them gaining on our affections. "The best men fall into transgression, "which in a good man is always followed

by repentance; and repentance, though "most salutary in its effects, is attended

* Beattie's Elements of Moral Science, Vol. II. p. 25.

"with great anguish of mind. How many dangers and disappointments must they

66

encounter who engage in active life! "Yet such a life is incomparably happier "than security with idleness. Even so, "virtue may be a warfare, but it is, upen "the whole, happy as well as honourable, "and never fails to be crowned with victory "and eternal peace.

[ocr errors]

the

It is impossible to peruse the New Testament without being satisfied how far religion is concerned in governing the irregular inclinations. Adopting this principle, human mind, ever prone to extremes, has sometimes been hurried into an opposite conduct; and, under the pretence of religious mortification, has endured the pressure of superstitious and dangerous austerities. But nothing less than this is expected by true religion. Are these the benevolent doctrines of the gospel? Are these the mild restraints of christianity? Are these the kind corrections of a parent? We should remember that it is not the will of the Author of nature to eradicate, but to regulate the passions of men. For the best

of

But

of purposes they were implanted in our breasts; for the best of purposes they remain there still. Expel them from the sphere of humanity, and you remove a powerful motive to fulfil the ends of creation. arrange them according to the will of God, produce them under the restrictions of the gospel, and you open a scene of happiness which divine benevolence intended us to enjoy.

It is not mere abstract pain which can ever be pleasing to a God of goodness. He desires not the sackcloth of the Anchorite, nor the crook of the Gentoo, If we would truly please him, we must work conviction in our heart, as well as mortification in our actions: if we abstain from pleasure, it must be for the sake of some superior good; if we submit to suffering, it must be for the sake of duty. "If ye, through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

[ocr errors]

When we consider christianity in this light, it will stand fully acquitted of all severity of doctrine, or austerity in principle. True it is, that by a due application of the

passions

« PreviousContinue »