And, on the contrary, by every act of vicious indulgence, we give our passions more uncontrolled power over us, and diminish the power of reason and of conscience. Thus, by every act of sin, we not only incur new guilt, but we strengthen the bias towards sin, during the whole of our subsequent being. Hence, every vicious act renders our return to virtue more difficult and more hopeless. The tendency of such a course is, to give to habit the power which ought to be exerted by our will. And, hence, it is not improbable, that the conditions of our being may be such, as to allow of our arriving at such a state, that reformation may be actually impossible. That the Holy Scriptures allude to such a condition, during the present life, is evident. Such, also, is probably the necessary condition of the wicked in another world.

In stating the change thus produced upon our moral nature, it deserves to be remarked, that this loss of sensibility is, probably, only temporary. There is reason to believe that no impressions, made upon the human soul during its present probationary state, are ever permanently erased. Causes operating merely upon man's physical nature, frequently revive whole trains of thought, and even the knowledge of languages, which had been totally forgotten during the greater portion of a long life. This seems to show, that the liability to lose impressions, once made upon us, depends upon some condition arising from our material nature only, and that this liability will cease as soon as our present mode of existence terminates. That is to say, if the power of retaining knowledge is always the same; but if our consciousness of knowledge is veiled by our material organs, when these have been laid aside, our entire consciousness will return. Now, indications of the same nature are to be found, in abundance, with respect to conscience. Wicked men, after having spent a life in prosperous guilt, and without being in trouble like other men, are, frequently, without any assignable cause, tormented with all the agonies of

remorse; so that the mere consciousness of guilt has become absolutely intolerable, and they have perished by derangement, or by suicide. The horrors of a licentious sinner's death-bed, present a striking illustration of the same solemn fact. A scene of this sort has been, no less vividly than accurately, described by Dr. Young, in the death of Altamont. All these things should be marked by us as solemn warnings. They show us of what the constitution, under which we exist, is capable; and, it is in forms like these that the "coming events" of eternity "cast their shadows before."

Several plain rules of conduct are suggested, by the above remarks, which may more properly be introduced here, than in any other place.

I. Before you resolve upon an action, or a course of action,

1. Cultivate the habit of deciding upon its moral character. Let the first question always be, is this action right? For this purpose, God gave you this faculty. If you do not use it, you are false to yourself, and inexcusable before God. We despise a man who never uses his reason, and scorn him as a fool. Is he not much more to be despised, who neglects to use a faculty of so much higher authority than reason?

And let the question, is this right? be asked first, before imagination has set before us the seductions of pleasure, or any step has been taken which should pledge our consistency of character. If we ask this question first, it can generally be decided with ease. If we wait until the mind is agitated and harassed by contending emotions, it will not be easy to decide.

2. Remember that your conscience has become imperfect, from your frequent abuse of it. Hence, in many cases, its discrimination will be indistinct. Instead of deciding, it will, frequently, only doubt. That doubt should be, generally, as imperative as a decision. When you, therefore, doubt, respecting the virtue of an action, do not perform it, unless you as much doubt whether you are at liberty to refrain from it. Thus says President Edwards, in one of his resolutions: "Resolved, never to do any thing of which I so much question the lawfulness, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; except I as much question the lawfulness of the omission."

3. Cultivate, on all occasions, in private or in public, in small or great, in action or in thought, the habit of obeying the monitions of conscience; all other things to the contrary notwithstanding.

Its slightest touches, instant pause,

Debar aside pretences;

And, resolutely, keep its laws,

Uncaring consequences.

BURNS.

The supremacy of conscience imposes upon you the obligation to act thus. You cannot remember, in the course of your whole life, an instance in which you regret having obeyed it; and you cannot remember a single instance in which you do not regret having disobeyed it. There can

nothing happen to you so bad as to have done wrong; there can nothing be gained so valuable as to have done right. And remember, that it is only by cultivating the practical supremacy of conscience over every other impulse, that you can attain to that bold, simple, manly, elevated character, which is essential to true greatness.

This has been frequently taught us, even by the heathen poets:

Virtus, repulsæ nescia sordidæ,
Intaminatis fulget honoribus:
Nec sumit aut ponit secures
Arbitrio popularis auræ:

Virtus, recludens immeritis mori
Cœlum, negata tentat iter via;

Cœtusque vulgares et udam

Spernit humum fugiente penna.

HOR. Lib. 3. Car. 2.

A greater than a heathen has said, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light;" and has enforced the precept, by the momentous question, "what shall it profit a man, though he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul."

II. After an action has been performed,

1. Cultivate the habit of reflecting upon your actions, and upon the intention with which they have been performed, and of thus deciding upon their moral character. This is called self-examination. It is one of the most important duties in the life of a moral, and specially of a probationary, existence.

'Tis greatly wise, to talk with our past hours,
And ask them what report they bore to Heaven,
And how they might have borne more welcome news.

1. Perform this duty deliberately. It is not the business of hurry or of negligence. Devote time exclusively to it. Go alone. Retire within yourself, and weigh your actions coolly and carefully, forgetting all other things, in the conviction that you are a moral and an accountable being.

2. Do it impartially. Remember, that you are liable to be misled by the seduction of passion, and the allurements of self-interest. Put yourself in the place of those around you, and put others in your own place, and remark how you would then consider your actions. Pay great attention to the opinions of your enemies: there is generally foundation, or, at least, the appearance of it, in what they say of you. But, above all, take the true and perfect standard of moral character, exhibited in the precepts of the Gospel, and exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ; and thus examine your conduct by the light that emanates from the holiness of Heaven.

2. Suppose you have examined yourself, and arrived at a decision respecting the moral character of your actions.

1. If you are conscious of having done right, be thankful to that God who has mercifully enabled you to do so. Observe the peace and serenity which fills your bosom, and remark how greatly it overbalances the self-denials which it has cost. Be humbly thankful that you have made some progress in virtue.

2. If the character of your actions have been mixed, that is, if they have proceeded from motives partly good and partly bad, labor to obtain a clear view of each, and of the circumstances which led you to confound them. Avoid the sources of this confusion; and, when you perform the same actions again, be specially on your guard against the influence of any motive of which you now disapprove.