their errors, and with painful resolution tread back the wrong fteps, which they have taken! But happiest of men is he, who by an even courfe of right conduct from the first, as far as human frailty permits, hath at once avoided the miferies of fin, the forrows of repentance, and the difficulties of virtue; who not only can think of his prefent ftate with compofure, but reflects on his paft behaviour with thankful approbation; and looks forward with unmixed joy to that important future hour, when he fhall appear before God, and humbly offer to him a whole life fpent in his fervice"."

Let me then continue most seriously to exhort you, my young Readers, to liften with all earneftnefs to the facred commands of the great Founder of Chriftianity. Continue to embrace with the moft unfhaken firmnefs, and to maintain with temperate yet unabating zeal, the Religion which he defcended from heaven to eftablifh in the world. Recollect that the characteristic tenets of that Religion are Faith, Hope and Charity. Faith does not merely consist in the affent of your judgment to the Evidences of Chriftianity, which have been laid before you, but is a pure and lively fource of obedience to the divine commands. It is a principle which fubdues the pride of human reason, gives to God the glory of our falvation, and to Chrift the merit of it. Like a good tree it may be known by its abundant and excellent fruits, it

Archbishop Secker's Sermons.

fanctifies

fanctifies all the moral virtues, and renders them acceptable in the fight of God.-Charity, the bright, the lovely ornament of the Chriftian character, extends its benign influence to all men without diftinction of country, fect or opinion, and in its various relations and comprehenfive exercife for the good of all, whom it is in our power to benefit, raifes us to a refemblance, as far as human nature will allow, of our Father in heaven. To keep the fpirit of religion warm and operative in your hearts, maintain a hallowed intercourfe with the Almighty by public and private devotion: to the fame end, the perufal of the holy Scriptures will materially contribute. In them you will find that the Saviour of the world has illuftrated his precepts by the moft pleafing and ftriking parables, enforced them by the moft awful fanctions, and recommended them by his own greatest and best of all examples. There he unfolds the great myftery of redemption, and communicates the means, by which degenerate and fallen man may recover the favour of his offended Maker. He gives a clear view of the divine fuperintendance of all human affairs: and he represents this mortal life, which forms only a part of our existence, as a fhort period of warfare and trial. He points to the folemn fcenes, which open beyond the grave; the refurrection of the dead, the last judgment, and the impartial diftribution of rewards and punishments. He difplays the completion of the divine mercy and goodness in the final establishment of perfection and happinefs. By making fuch won

VOL. I.

derful

derful and interefting discoveries, let him excite your zeal, and fix your determination to adorn the acquirements of learning and science with the graces of his holy Religion, and to dedicate the days of health and of youth to his honour and fervice. Amid the retirement of study or the business of active life, let it be your firft care, as it is your duty, and your intereft, to recollect, that the great Author and Finisher of your faith has placed the rewards of virtue beyond the reach of time and death; and promised that eternal happiness to the faith and obedience of man, which can aloné fill his capacity for enjoyment, and alone fatisfy the ardent defires of his foul.

CLASS

CLASS THE SECOND.

`LANGUAGE.

CHAPTER I.

Language in General.

THE principles and distinguishing features of Language render it a fubject of pleafing and ufeful inquiry. It is the general vehicle of our ideas, and represents by words all the conceptions of the mind. Books and conversation are the offspring of this prolific parent. The former introduce us to the treasures of learning and science, and make us acquainted with the opinions, difcoveries, and tranfactions of paft ages; by the latter, the general intercourse of society is carried on, and our ideas are conveyed to each other with nearly the fame rapidity, with which they arise in the mind. Language, in conjunction with reafon, to which it gives its proper activity, use, and ornament, raises man above the lower orders of animals; and, in proportion as it is polished and refined, contributes greatly with other caufes to exalt one nation above another in the scale of civilization and intellectual dignity.

Inquiries into the nature of any particular Language, if not too abftrufe and metaphyfical, will be found to deferve our attention. So clofe is the connexion between words and ideas, that no learning whatever can be obtained without their affiftance. In proportion as the former are ftudied and examined, the latter become clear and complete; and according as words convey our meaning in a full and adequate manner, we avoid the inconvenience of being misunderstood, and are fecure from the errors of mifconception, and the cavils of difpute. It muft always be remembered, that words are merely the arbitrary figns of ideas, connected with them by custom, not allied to them by nature; and that each idea, like a ray of light, is liable to be tinged by the medium of the word through which it paffes. The volumes of controverfy which fill the libraries of the learned would have been comparatively very small, if the difputants who wrote them had given a clear definition of their principal terms. Definition is one of the moft ufeful parts of logic; and we shall find, when we come to the examination of that fubject, that it is the only folid ground upon which reason can build her arguments, and proceed to just conclufions.

In order that the true fenfe of words may be afcertained, and that they may ftrike with their whole force, derivation lends its aid to definition. It is this which points out the fource from whence a word fprings, and the various ftreams of figni