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or suppose that any one government, whatever its outward form, were to act on these noble and glorious principles of regard to, and honour for all;—of especial love to the brotherhood, the Christian Church of holy reverence for God's Name and obedience to His will:-and submission in all things lawful, to that governing body, which is supposed to be, in its turn, actuated by like feelings; and then say whether the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ would not be proved a full and sufficient remedy, as well for the disorders of the social body, as for the sins of the soul.

But to look, in our time at least, for the arrival of that bright day, when men shall seek to govern and be governed on sound Christian principles; and shall become, as they assuredly would become, truly happy because so governed, were indeed a vain thing. We can but seek, as individuals, to do what in us lies to promote the advancement of those great principles of justice and truth.And small as is our influence; slight the power which we can exercise when regarded as a seemingly insignificant fraction of a great whole; yet not one is there now present who has not his own duty to do in this matter, and who may probably exercise a far more widely beneficial effect than he is aware of by the performance of it. No one can tell how much evil arises in the world :-how great an amount of harm is done, and of good left undone ;-from want of a due sense of our own personal responsibility and personal influence. Sin or indifference to religion never end in their effects with the solitary individual, as he may think himself, who is guilty of them. As, when a stone is thrown into a quiet pool, the disturbance of the whole body of water is marked by circle following circle, ever widen

ing in extent, and finally ceasing only at the shore; so does every man's sin form as it were the centre of a circle, of which the circumference is ever increasing, and of which the final extent is unknown. None of us can tell where the effect of our sin may end, nor ever shall, to the day of doom. And as it is with evil, so also with good. The bread cast upon the waters may not be found till after many days; and then far away from the place where it was originally committed to the waves. The minister of Christ but rarely knows where the seed he has tried to sow for God may have fallen. It may be long ere it spring up: but still perhaps, some few grains may have taken root where he little expected, and may be a blessing and a comfort to him in that day, when he shall give an account of his ministry before the judgement seat of his heavenly Master. The father of a family who struggles earnestly to educate his children in the faith and fear of God, may be the instrument of extending to many a household after him the blessed influences which he had thought confined to his own. The officer, whose principles lead him to honour and obey his Maker,-who thinks it no discredit to his profession, no imputation on his manliness and courage, to be humble in heart and lowly before his Saviour, may be assured that his good deeds end not with himself. And so, brethren, if we would wish to see more Christianity in the world; more real, vital Christianity, I mean,-though we may not expect that we alone can change the face of the moral world, we must still try earnestly to exercise that personal influence, which

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every man, to a greater or less extent possesses, for the benefit of our fellows. No good thing would ever be done were men to shrink

from such work because it appeared hopeless. We ourselves often

times make our own difficulties: and there are few things indeed impossible, if attempted with a good motive; in a strong, energetic spirit; and with a full trust in the aid and blessing of God.

"Honour all men. Love the brotherhood.

Fear God. Hon

our the King." The final clause of this sentence is that to which I would, on the present occasion, first direct your attention; because it appears to me that the principle it enforces on us is one to which just now our thoughts should be particularly turned: and also because subsequent reflection on the three first portions of the verse, may shew us how we may best fulfil, and cause to be fulfilled, the duty enjoined in the last.

Submission, then, to lawful authority is a duty most clearly demanded from us by the Scriptures. In the verses immediately preceding the text, St. Peter thus speaks: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." And St. Paul, (Romans xiii. 1, 2). "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." In what precise sense these words are to be understood, where the line may be truly drawn between the obedi

ence thus demanded from us, and that submission under unlawful or un-christian circumstances which cannot be supposed to be here meant, are matters with regard to which widely varying opinions have ever been maintained: and upon which it would not now be expedient, and still less is it necessary, to dwell. For no one here, I feel fully assured, denies the duty incumbent upon us to honour our Sovereign. The monarch whom St. Peter in the text bade the early Christians honour as king was none other than the Roman Emperor Nero, whose very name has become a byword upon earth. If he, then, were to be honoured for his office sake, how much more should we not honour, love, and reverence our gracious Sovereign Lady the Queen. Possessing little more than the mere name of the great prerogatives accorded in old time to those who have gone before her; the Monarch is still to us the symbol of peace, order, and law. She is the representative of the dignity and power of the mightiest Empire the world has ever seen. Moreover she unites to her high office many noble personal qualities which endear her to a faithful and loving people. She is one whom her subjects delight to acknowledge, and whom they feel it not only a duty but a privilege to honour, succour and defend. And the constitution of which she is the head and sworn protector is one which, whatever may be the varying opinions entertained concerning particular details, few in this country would wish to overthrow; seeing that, as a whole, it cannot but be regarded as a great blessing given to us from Almighty God, and the pledge of freedom, peace, and security to the land.

Such, brethren, I an assured, are our feelings as Churchmen and as Englishmen, and so we would have others feel. But we must

It is assuredly a lawful

bear in mind that loyalty, due honour and respect to human authority, as we are taught by St. Peter, ought to proceed from, and be united to, other and higher principles and motives. If we would promote peace and order in this country, it must be by the spread of sound Christian truth throughout the land. and a good thing to band together for the defence of our homes against the assaults of violence or oppression. But we should, after all, look upon the necessity for our so doing as virtually an evil :—and we should aim at the promotion of a state of things in which men should do their duty as citizens from a principle of duty, and from a conviction that obedience to the laws and submission to constituted authority is not only the safest, but also the wisest and most salutary course. But this feeling cannot be expected to become general, till each in his own station acts according to the intention and import of the Holy Gospel, and endeavours to honour all men; to love the brotherhood; and to fear God.

There is much matter for thought in the words, "honour all men." They enunciate a principle which few, I think, fully understand, and fewer still are prepared to maintain and act upon. "The dignity of human nature" when the phrase is used in a strictly religious sense, is a mockery and a snare. When compared with its pristine glory our nature is degraded, defiled, and wretched, and but for the grace of the Great Sacrifice would be lost. But still there is a sense in which human nature may truly be called dignified. It is yet capable of great things :-the powers of intellect; the efforts of the master-minds of the world; the undying works of divine, historian, philosopher, and poet all prove this. Marred and spoiled by sin

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