passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus;" to whom be glory for ever, Amen.

III.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TEMPER.

Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And, above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.Col. 3. 12-14.

THE word Temper is usually employed to denote the prevailing spirit and disposition of the mind; so that the Government of the Temper comprehends that habitual regulation of all the feelings, whether transient or

permanent, which is most favourable to the discharge of duty, and to the enjoyment and diffusion of happiness. The attainment of that control will be the happy result of the cultivation of those attractive and engaging qualities, which are delineated, with equal force and feeling, in the words we have now read. Keeping then in view this admirable sketch of the christian temper, drawn by the hand of a master, under the guidance of direct inspiration, it shall be my object to set before you

FIRST, The Motives which should effectually urge us to the cultivation of this Temper; and

SECONDLY, The best Methods of aiming at its attainment.

G

FIRST, Let us very briefly advert to the Motives which urge its cultivation.

I would remind you, then,

First, That the duty of controlling and governing the Temper in social intercourse, arises out of the grand and primary principles of the law of God.

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" is the condensed and comprehensive precept, which embodies all the subordinate requirements essential to human happiness. Is it possible to love our neighbour without endeavouring to promote his peace and comfort? And shall we not strike at the very root of his peace and comfort, if, in the hours of social

intercourse, we exercise no control over our temper and spirit? "There is a power in every individual, over the tranquillity of almost every individual. There are emotions, latent in the minds of those whom we meet, which a few words of ours may at any time call forth; and the moral influence, which keeps this power over the uneasy feelings of others under due restraint, is not the least important of the moral influences, in its relation to general happiness.—There are minds which can delight in exercising this cruel sway, which rejoice in suggesting thoughts that may poison the confidence of friends, and render the very virtues that were loved, objects of suspicion to him who loved them.