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SERMON XVII.

ON STABILITY OF CHARACTER.

LUKE xix. 16, 17.

» Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. "And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant, because thou “hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten "cities."

THE words of the text describe a Character of a very important and a very noble kind. They represent the character of firmness and stability, the character of one who, having formed to himself a decided plan of religious obedience, pursues it with steady and intrepid steps; and who, in silent magnanimity, brings all the powers of his mind to bear upon the lofty end he has in view. They represent still farther, and in a manner the most striking, the consequences of this steadiness of mind, in the success and the honours which it attains.

The parable itself is a strict and solemn representation of the important scene of human life. It places it in that familiar point of view, so peculiar to the instructions of our Lord, which every rank and condition of men may understand. The servants in the parable are all the various race of men ;-the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the prince and the peasant, the labourer and the philosopher,

the fathers of families and the rulers of nations. To all these, and to every condition of life, some great and prominent duty is attached, some peculiar trust committed to their care, and which is the confided "talent" they are to employ. The lesson of the parable is, that this great duty can never be fulfilled in any condition of life, but by firmness and steadiness of obedience; and that all the success, and honour, and happiness which man can acquire, are to be acquired only by this strenuous and unyielding energy of mind.

Of this truth, so important to Christian character, I shall presume to offer at present to the young around me a few illustrations.

It

1. The character of stability is, in the first place, in all pursuits the surest foundation of success. is a common errour of the indolent and the imprudent, to attribute the success of others to some peculiar talents, or original superiority of mind, which is not to be found in the generality of men. Of the falseness of this opinion, the slightest observation of human life may satisfy us. The difference of talents indeed, and the varieties of original character, may produce a difference in the aims, and in the designs of men, and superiour minds will naturally form to themselves superiour objects of ambition. But the attainment of these ends, the accomplishment of these designs, is, in all cases, the consequence of one means alone, that of steadfastness and perseverance in pursuit. "It is the hand of the diligent," saith the wise man," that maketh rich." It is the same dili

gence, when directed to other ends, that maketh great. Every thing which we see with admiration in the world around us, or of which we read with delight in the annals of history, the acquisitions of knowledge, the discoveries of science, the powers of art, the glories of arms, the dignities of private, or the splendours of publick virtue,-all have sprung from the same fountain of mind,-from that steady but unseen perseverance which has been exerted in their pursuit. The possession of genius alone, is, alas ! no certain herald of success; and how many melancholy instances has the world afforded to us all, of how little avail mere natural talents are to the prosperity of their possessors, and of the frequency with which they have led to ruin and disgrace, when unaccompanied with firmness and energy of mind!

2. This stability of character is, in the second place, the surest promise of Honour. It supposes, indeed, all the qualities of mind that are regarded by the world with respect; and which constitute the honourable and dignified in human character. It supposes that profound sense of duty which we every where look for as the foundation of virtue, and for the want of which no other attainments can ever compensate. It supposes a chastened and regulated imagination, which looks ever to "the things that "are excellent," and which is incapable of being divested from their pursuit, either by the intoxications of prosperous, or the depressions of adverse fortune. It supposes, still more, a firm and intrepid heart, which neither pleasure has been able to seduce, nor

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indolence to enervate, nor danger to intimidate; and which, in many a scene of trial, and under many severities of discipline, has hardened itself at last into the firmness and consistency of virtue.-A character of this kind can never be looked upon without admiration; and, wherever we meet it, whether amid the splendours of prosperity, or the severities of adversity, we feel ourselves disposed to pay. pure and an unbidden homage. The display of wild and unregulated talents, may sometimes, indeed, excite a temporary admiration,--but it is the admiration we pay to the useless glare of the meteor, which is extinguished while it is beheld; while the sentiment we feel for the steady course of principled virtue, is the admiration with which we regard the majestick path of the sun, as he slowly pursues his way, to give light and life to nature.

3. This stability of character, is, in another view, the surest foundation of Happiness. There are, doubtless, many ways in which our happiness is. dependent upon the conduct and the sentiments of others; but the great and perennial source of every man's happiness is in his own bosom,-in that secret fountain of the heart, from which the "waters of joy "or of bitterness" perpetually flow.

It is from this source, the man of steadfast and persevering virtue derives his peculiar happiness; and the slightest recurrence to our own experience can tell us both its nature and its degree. It is pleasing, we all know, to review the day that is past, and to think that its duties have been done; to think

that the purpose with which we rose has been accomplished; that in the busy scene which surrounds us, we have done our part, and that no temptation has been able to subdue our firmness and our resolution. Such are the sentiments with which, in every year of life, and still more in that solemn moment when life is drawing to its close, the man of persevering virtue is able to review the time that is past. -It lies before him as it were in order and regularity; and while he travels over again the various stages of his progress, memory restores to him many images to soothe and to animate his heart. The days of trial are past; the hardships he has suffered, the labours he has undergone, are remembered no more; but his good deeds remain,-and from the grave of time seem to rise up again to bless him, and to speak to him of peace and hope. Such are, then, the consequences of firmness and stability of character; and such the rewards which he may look for, who, solemnly devoting himself to the discharge of the duties of that station or condition which Providence has assigned him, pursues them with steady and undeviating labour. It is the character which unites all that is valuable or noble in human life,the tranquillity of conscience, the honours of wisdom, and the dignity of virtue.

II. There is, however, let us thank God, my brethren, another and a sublimer view of the subject. Morality teaches us the wisdom of present life; but the Gospel teaches us the wisdom of eternity. It opens to us the gates of a greater world; and con

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