derness and sympathy as with a father of whom we are the children; by emotions of acquiescence and joy for the possession of communion with him; and, in fine, by emotions of zeal in his service and for his glory, since God is our last end, to whom all that we are, and all that we can do, ought to refer.

You may remark, again, that this love makes God reign over us in a manner the most noble, and the most worthy of himself. He reigns over all creatures, by his Influence, or by his Providence, or by his Justice. By his influence he reigns over the heavens, the elements, and all inanimate creatures, moving and directing them as he pleases. He reigns in his providence over the wicked, turning and bowing their wills as he chooses. He reigns in hell by his justice. None of these ways of exercising authority are comparable to that dominion which our love gives him; for as he fills our whole heart, he pervades all its principles; he is, in all its emotions, as cause, object, and end; so that there is a perfect harmony between him and our hearts. When he reigns by his power over inanimate things, properly speaking, he is neither their end nor their object; he is only the power which moves them. When he reigns over the wicked by his providence, the wicked have another end, and another object. When he reigns in hell by his justice, the miserable sufferers, far from acquiescing in his avenging strokes, murmur, rebel, and blaspheme against him. But when he reigns in the hearts of his saints by love, he not only displays his power, but he is himself the object on which the saints act, the end to which they move; and there reigns a perfect harmony between God and his creatures.

You may observe farther, that when we give our love to the creatures, withdrawing it from God, it is an act of injustice to ourselves, and an insult on God. It insults God; for we rob him of what belongs to him. It is injurious to ourselves; for we deprive ourselves of a glory for which we were created, and after which we might lawfully have aspired: thus we are doubly unjust, and doubly outrageous.

And, besides all this, as these sorts of unions are heterogeneous, without fitness and proportion, they are accompanied with an almost infinite number of inconvenien

cies: for if we love inanimate things, as the miser doth, who loves his silver and gold; or as the worldling doth, who loves diversions, hunting, gaming, assemblies; or as some love arts and sciences; we love those things which have no love for us; and we give our hearts to that which has no heart to return the present which we make. What pleasure is there in loving that which cannot love again? Does not the happiness of friendship arise from mutual possession? But what mutual possession can there be between a heart and a heartless object? between us and a thing which not only cannot impart itself to us, but which is even incapable of any, the least degree of consolation in possessing us? If we love the world, I mean the men of it, I own they have hearts as well as we, they are capable of loving us as well as we are of loving them; but besides that, they have frequently hearts ungrateful and incapable of friendly affection, or hearts already disposed of, or divided hearts, which cannot love enough, because they love too much, or hearts light and unfaithful, which cannot be depended on: besides all this, it must be confessed, the hearts of creatures were never made for each other; they are all void, imperfect, poor, miserable, blind, and naked; and what alliance can you make between void and void, imperfect and imperfect, poor and poor, blind and blind? Emptiness naturally demands union with abundance, imperfection with perfection, poverty with riches, and error with truth. Our hearts then are made only for God; for in him only can they find what they desire; he only can supply what they

want.

Having thus discussed love as it regards God, pass on to its second object, which is our neighbour. Remark first, that notwithstanding our saying the hearts of men are not made for each other, we mean to explain this by distinguishing two different times. The first is, while our hearts are empty and poor, miserable and blind, and, consequently, incapable of imparting any good to others, capable only of being a burden to them, at such a time we must not dream of loving the creature, because, being like ourselves, we can neither give nor receive any benefit; then we must only love God. The second time is, when, being united to God, we have already felt the ef

fects of a happy communion, and are made partakers of his abundance, perfection, and knowledge. Then we may love the creature; for then we may be able to benefit him by imparting what we have received. Then it will not be misery joined to misery, and blindness to blindness : but if they, whom we love, be good people, it will be light forming an union with light, and abundance with abundance; and if they be wicked men, our reason may dissipate their errors, our perfection correct their imperfection, and our riches supply their poverty.

You must, moreover, remark the difference between these two emotions of love, one towards God, the other towards man. One is a first, original, and independent love; the other is only subordinate and dependent, a reflexion of the first. One ought to reign in our hearts, not only to hold the first rank and to be elevated above all other love, but also to reign over the heart itself, so that the heart should not be the master of this love, but love on the contrary should be master, sole and absolute lord of the heart: the other ought to obey, to occupy the second place, and to occupy it so that the heart should always remain master. One ought to be infinite, boundless, and beyond all measure, proportioned to its infinite object; but the other ought to be finite, ruled and measured in proportion to the finite creature, who is its object.

Proceed now to the second part, which is to shew how this love is the end of the commandment; and repeat the three senses which you have given of the term.

1. It is the end of the moral law, the summary of which is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and thy neighbour as thyself. In effect, all our offences, as well against the first as the second table of the law, proceed either from the want or imperfection of this virtue; for did we love God and our neighbours as we ought, we should neither offend the divine Majesty, nor our brethren. On this account St. Paul calls love the bond of perfectness; for it is a perfect bond, which unites us to God and to our neighbours, without allowing any thing to separate us, or suffering any thing contrary to such an holy communion.

All the virtues which the particular articles of the moral law require of us, are only so many branches of this

love; this is the general virtue, the parent and protector of all the rest, a virtue diffused through all, giving them their motion, their action, and their value. I say motion and action; for it is love only which makes us truly religious towards God, and really just towards man; this makes the interests of both dear to us. A heart devoid of love is incapable of serving either God or man. I say also their value; for could we exactly observe all that the law commands, if we had not love, if we performed these things from a principle of fear, or a mere consideration of duty, it is certain, ail our obedience would be disagreeable to God.

Besides, love is the end which the moral law proposes; for it tends to render God an amiable object, by shewing him to be our God, and by removing from our eyes every divinity but his. In like manner, it tends to inspire us with love for all mankind, by teaching us to consider them as creatures of the God who made us, creatures on whom he has bestowed the same blessing, having made us all of one blood, formed us all of the same matter, and aggrandized us all with the same image.

In regard to the second sense of the term commandment, which is preaching, it is plain, the end which ought to be proposed in it is love. If a preacher would produce this in his hearers, he must neither propose his own glory, nor any other hidden thing of dishonesty (to use the language of Scripture,) nor even barely to acquit himself of the duty of his charge; he should aim at winning the hearts of men to God, and uniting them together. It is for this that the word is to be preached in common to all, that all may have but one heart and one soul towards God.

The Holy Scripture doubtless has regard to this, when it treats of our communion with Jesus Christ under the image of a body, of which Jesus Christ is the head, and we the members; not only members of this head, but members also of each other, as St. Paul speaks. For this we are told, that we are animated with the same spirit, which is the spirit of the Lord, partaking all of the same ife, as with Jesus Christ, so also with all other believers; For as the union, which nature has established between Le parts of our bodies, is such that there can be no dif ferent interests among them, no conflicts together, no an

tipathies against each other; so the union, which grace makes between us under one same head, Jesus Christ, forms such an harmony, that what ever difference there may be in us separately, yet, altogether we are but one and the same, as well with the Lord as with each other. Now the end of the ministry is to make this admirable union. On this account St. Paul says, He gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love.

In fine, if by the term commandment you understand religion in general, it is no less evident that its end is love; for, whatever it proposes to us of mysteries, precepts; doctrines, objects of faith, or objects of hope, all are fruits of God's paternal love towards us, and, consequently, motives to us to love him with all our souls. The church, which religion forms and composes, is only one great family, where all are brethren, all participating the same inheritance, nourished with the same food, and living under the same discipline.

Civil society distinguishes persons, families, cities, provinces, and assigns to each peculiar rights; for it is founded on that love which each individual has for himself, and regulated by laws of equity, protecting each member in his own property. The end of civil society is to satisfy each individual's self-love, by enabling each to enjoy the advantages which commerce and public peace produce; and, in order that self-love may long enjoy these advantages, society requires us to do to each, as we would that each should do unto us.

Religion establishes another society, the bond of which is love; but not self-love: and therefore it makes of the church one single city, one single house, one single province, one single good, one sole interest; individuals en