the lucid order in which they should be arranged; and the proper words, which should give them color and expression. To surmount this difficulty, I advise you to devote all the time, which you pass alone, and which is not employed in reading and devotion, to intense meditation. Whenever you walk, or ride, or work, let your mind be engaged in the composition of sermons. Waste none of your solitary moments in idle musing, or in framing schemes of impossible happiness. Think, as much as is possible, in words. Gather in your imagination an auditory about you, and conceive yourself as addressing them in a serious and animated exhortation. By this means, when you enter your study, and sit down to write, you will have little else to do, than to transfer to paper the words, which have been previously inscribed on your mind.

I conclude my address with this solemn charge: Whenever you meditate the subject of a discourse, consider yourself in the presence of a holy Being, to whom you are accountable for all your words. A belief, that his eye beholds you, will guard your mind against the intrusion of vain thoughts; and it will lead you to reject the subjects, from which a profitable moral cannot be extracted, and which do not tend to promote the glory of God, and the interests of religion. In a word, be a devout Christian, and you will then be a zealous and edifying preacher. Whilst your meditations are accompanied with humble prayer to the Father of spirits, you will have reason to hope, that he will be graciously pleased to assist you in your sincere endeavors to write his law upon the tablet of your heart, and in your diligent search to find out acceptable words, by which you can impress it deeply on the hearts of your fellow men.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

A HOMILY OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.

DEUT. IV. 23.

TAKE HEED UNTO YOURSELVES.

THE sentence, which I have read, is often repeated in the writings of Moses. It is short, but full of meaning, and suggests a number of important ideas. My design is to attend to a few of them in the following discourse.

1. A great part of the sins which we commit, proceed from the indulgence of evil thoughts: to preserve us therefore against this danger, the Being who created us commands to take heed unto ourselves, to be constantly on our guard, and to maintain the purity of our minds. Where we are more prone to sin, there he bids us use the greater diligence and caution. The motions of the body require time, and are not performed without exertion: on the contrary, the motions of the mind are as rapid as light; impediments do not stop them, they are incapable of fatigue, and for them no time is out of season. With what carefulness then should we attend to our hearts, and restrain the velocity of our thoughts! A man may be outwardly virtuous, whilst inwardly his desires are hastening with swift motion to the abyss of sin. He who delights his imagination with impure images, or who allows a free course to the suggestions of envy, hatred, and revenge, has already vice busy within him. There may be no witness of his guilt, and he may even pass in the world for a man of virtue;

but the time will come, when the secret works of darkness will be revealed, and the counsels of the heart made manifest. Moses then in these words, teaches us, in the first place, not to indulge evil thoughts. We should not cherish in our hearts any hidden crime. Here the downward path to sin is steep: we have need therefore of all our caution.

2. Take heed unto yourselves. Every animal has received from its Maker that assistance, which is necessary for its preservation. The beasts, instructed by nature, shun what is noxious, and pursue what is salutary. To them God has imparted instinct as a guide; but on you he has conferred the more noble gift of reason. What they do without deliberation, you effect with mature consideration: you avoid sin, as they shun poisonous plants; you pursue virtue, as they seek after herbs which are edible. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, that you may distinguish between what is salutary and what is pernicious.

3. Take heed unto yourselves: that is, examine yourselves on every side: let the eye of your mind be watchful. You walk amidst perils; secret snares are laid for you in every place. Step therefore with caution; and look about you, as you proceed. Surely in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird. Let not the birds excel you in sagacity; and suffer not yourselves to be snared in the net of the devil.

4. Take heed unto yourselves: that is, not to the objects, which are without you, but attend to yourselves, and to yourselves only; for the latter, and not the former, are of chief im-portance. What are properly ourselves are our minds, our bodies, and our senses. The objects without are wealth, arts, and the other appendages, and embellishments of life. This admonition therefore teaches you to take heed, that you do not immoderately pursue pleasure, riches, or popular applause. Do not so highly esteem the delights of this transitory existence, that through anxious thoughts about them you neglect the principal part of yourselves; but attend rather to your mind. Cleanse it from every spot of iniquity, which it may - have contracted: ornament it with every virtue, polish it with every grace, which can render it lovely. Examine yourselves, what you are; endeavor to become acquainted with your own