And here we say,

(1.) That "to know thyself diseased is half thy cure."

Let any one be made fully aware what a poisonous matter this habit of fault-finding is; how it cuts a man off from the sympathy of others; how it makes him "like the heath in the desert, that knoweth not when good cometh ;" and "like the pelican in the wilderness," solitary and moody, while the woods are ringing with notes of gladness from the well-feeling birds; and how, if it does not shut the kingdom of God against him, makes him at least a miserable Christian, I say, let a man realize all this, and if there be a cure, he will not rest till he has found and applied it. The only reason why we permit diseases of any kind to carry on their work uncounteracted, is, that we know not their nature, nor the perils to which they expose us. "The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Let the diseased know their condition in time, and there is hope that they will be saved, because they will call for the requisite aid.

But what is the remedy?

(2.) It is, I answer, the balm in Gilead; this sin is to be cured like every other, by application to the atonement of Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit.

Let the same mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, and you will fret no more; you, will bless them that curse you, and live and die in charity with all men.

Yet let no one think that this evil habit will give way by his merely thinking of the cross of Christ. There is to be superadded many a personal effort to subdue this perverse temper, and to fill it with the gentleness of Christ. He must put his own shoulder to the wheel, and wrestle hard with every temptation to speak harshly or unadvisedly with his lips, while he lifts up his prayer to the hills, whence cometh his help. Doing this with earnestness and perseverance, he will sooner or later find the balance-wheel of his soul in working order, and the energies of his being moving in harmony with the general good.

I arrest the subject here for the sake of a few remarks which clearly belong to it.

1. We have then before us a very feasible, as well as a greatly desirable plan for personal and relative improvement.

We talk much about the matter of reforms; nor should any one be ashamed of belonging to the school of progress. But we may, from various causes, fail to take the evils around us by the horns. The first step obviously is to reform ourselves. In order to see clearly the mote in thy brother's eye, you must first cast out the beam that is in thine own eye; then will you not only see clearly, but you will also bring to the work a steady hand and an attractive manner. The plan here suggested for self-improvement is feasible. Plans for the benefit of others you may find it hard to execute, because those others may not wish to be bene

fitted in the way you desire. But if you concur in the matter of self-improvement, you will have things all in your own way. There will be none to oppose not only, but all will rejoice to see you better natured, exhibiting the lamb rather than the tiger.

And then not only is this the feasible, but it is essential to success in the matter of wider reforms. It is to little purpose that the habitual drunkard declaims against the sin of drunkenness in others. Let every man in the church put his own spirit right, subjecting it to the law of Christ, and a light will speedily go forth from his example, which will make the world ashamed of its darkness. Indeed this is the plan of the great Reformer himself. "Let your light," said he, "so shine that men may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven."

Let the man, who is generally known to be impatient of contradiction and fretful under reverses, become meek and gentle under provocation, and he will soon be looked up to as one that has gained a great victory. "He that ruleth his own spirit is better than he that taketh a city." But can a man be known as having made this conquest without soon becoming a man of strength in the community? It will do for him to speak on the subject of reforms, and all ears will be opened to his argument, because he has reformed himself. We have, here then a feasible and a very desirable plan for personal and relative improvement.

I observe,

2. We cannot in any way so forcibly illustrate the reality and power of Christianity as by the exhibition of its fruits in our improved tempers.

Yet this demonstration is to be made out before men will believe in the reformatory power of the gospel. They may admit the beauty and grandeur of the theory, but until it is realized in practice, it will fail to touch the sensibilities of conscience, or to encourage effort to break the bond of iniquity. Christianity therefore will not be the power of God unto salvation in this infidel world, till the radically improved tempers of its professed friends fully appear in the ordinary intercourse of society. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples," said the great Master, "if ye have love one to another." A demonstration which of course cannot be made by those who are under the dominion of a fretful temper.

3. We see why so many in the church are mere cyphers in the work of favorably affecting other minds.

They may speak eloquently, and pray with apparent fervor, and be really persons of great mental power, and yet this constitutional devil may be so strong in them that their eloquent pleadings shall be neutralized by the just retort, "Physician, heal thyself." They are so often peevish and fretful as to have gained this unenviable and injurious distinction in the general judg ment. The young are afraid to come to them for guidance, lest

they be repelled by the knitted brow and the spiteful tongue. Their counsel is seldom sought by their superiors or equals, because they are known to be so much under the spirit of gloomy forebodings, as to be unfit to give reliable advice. And their religion too partakes so much of melancholic, as often to render the whole gospel repulsive to unreflecting minds. And so it comes to pass, that, though strong in the matter of native endowments, they are nevertheless weakness itself in respect to the exertion of a healthy reformatory influence, by reason of this sin that still dwelleth unbroken within them.

Let us hope and pray that God will bless this imperfect exhibition of the nature, causes, evils, and cure of fretfulness; that we shall all ponder the matter, and let it lie in our minds as what is deserving immediate and earnest attention; and that henceforth we will show ourselves "blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life."

SERMON DCLXXXV.

BY REV. T. S. CLARKE,

FRANKLIN, N. Y.

STUDY TO BE QUIET, &c.

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business."-1 Thess. iv. 11.

THIS text may strike some as impertinent. Designed originally to correct the idleness and consequent intermeddling of the Thessalonians, it may seem at first view to have no pertinency to a remarkably busy and industrious people. But perhaps, as we examine more narrowly the spirit of the text, it will be found to bear on other evils besides idleness. Whatever puts us out of our proper place, makes us more or less unquiet, and therefore to that extent disturbers of the public peace. We are turning the thoughts of others from their appropriate work. And therefore we need to study to be quiet, and to do our own business, so that others without interruption can do theirs.

To be quiet, in the sense of the text, does not mean that we are to be inactive and to do nothing. That is an impossibility; for though the mind and body should be idle, they will, they must, be doing something. Thoughts of some kind will be in

the mind, for a thoughtless mind is as great an absurdity as hot ice. And as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. What the text requires is, that our activity shall not interrupt the proper activity of others. We never speak of quiet ice, nor do we describe a pool of water standing still in its own slime. That which is lifeless, and especially that which is useless, is unworthy to be called quiet. But when a stream of water is running in its proper channel, and lining its banks with verdure and beauty, we naturally ask others to see "How quietly it is performing its office." Yet even from that stream we withdraw this epithet when it breaks over its banks, carrying desolation in its course. We can no longer call it a quiet stream. It is out of its proper place, and mischief is the result. So that quietness is consistent with motion, but inconsistent with commotion. Order is heaven's first law. So long therefore as order is maintained in the line of personal and relative duty, men are quiet in the sight of God, though manifesting a burning activity. Indeed, in these lines of thought and effort we are required to "do with our might what our hands find to do." It is only when activity, like a swollen stream, overleaps its proper channel, that the words of the text apply to us. Then it is high time that we study to be quiet.

Yet even in the line of duty we may make so much haste as to leave many things imperfectly done. Too impatient to reap the fruits of our toil, we may sow the seed before the ground is properly prepared, and so reap but a slim harvest. The student who is too eager to reach his professional life, may come to it only to find disappointment, because he lacks the mental furniture, with which alone it can be magnified. So that in the path of duty even we need to be quiet, in order to do all things well. We must not, like Ahimaaz, run, till we know what we are to run for.

Quietness then denotes a disposition to keep within the limits of our duty, though within those limits we are to work with all our might-diligent in business and fervent in spirit. The tongue which utters a word in season, and with an eloquence proportionate to the interests at stake, is quiet as the stream that keeps within its banks. It was made to give the most effective utterance to useful thoughts-to define and to defend the great principles of truth and righteousness, as well as for all the purposes of domestic life. Thus employed, however earnestly, the tongue is quiet.

But when it is used for the purposes of deceit and profaneness -when by tattling and evil speaking it causes heartburnings and alienations-the call of Heaven to us is to stop and study to be quiet. That little member has become unruly-it is setting on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire of hell.

So in going from house to house with a view to comfort the

afflicted, or to strengthen the bonds of good neighborhood, or to turn attention to the claims of eternity on our thoughts, we are not invading the quietness which the text enjoins. For the Saviour himself went about doing good, and that too in a way so quiet that he did not strive, nor cry, nor lift up his voice in the streets to the injury of others in their proper avocations. But when we go abroad, either to tell or to hear some new thing in the spirit of the ancient Athenians, or to meddle with that which is none of our business, and which can better be done without than with our interference, it is the mark of an unquiet mind, needing for its health the application of the text, " And that ye study to be quiet." That is to say, quietness cannot reign in our thoughts and activities, unless we study for it. It is the fruit of design, and a wisely arranged plan of life in the light of truth and the general good. As to speak before we think is the sign. of a distempered mind, leading to a mischievous activity, so to think before we speak to think as one that must give account of his uttered thoughts, is the mark of inward quietness. In such quietness and confidence is our strength. This state of mind, however, is never a hap-hazard affair. It cannot exist while a turbulent selfishness reigns in the soul. We must plan for it; study for it; pray for it; and esteem its possession better than gold. A controlling sense of personal responsibility for this purpose must be felt, so that the way to gain self-control shall be sought after and studied for in the light of God's testimonies, with more eagerness and steadiness than the sick long for the morning.

Now there are many Christians who act from impulse and whim; and no thanks to them if sometimes their course result in good; for the good was not the fruit of an intelligent plan; if in evil, as is most frequent, they must_bear the blame, as they had no right to act inconsiderately. Prompted by this spirit, measures are adopted without considering their fitness to compass the end proposed. Strong meat is given when milk would be better; because a certain measure succeeded well once, they are sure it will again, however difficult may be the circumstances or the preparations. Thus, like Jehu, they drive furiously on, putting their own and the interests of others in peril.

"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business." There is a way of doing our own business, which, instead of hindering, will promote the business of others; for this attention to our own affairs is not to be understood as in conflict with this other inspired direction : "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." How much, and in what respects, we may look on the things of others, and still be doing our own business, we cannot mistake, if we walk in the light of the golden rule, which requires us to do to others as we desire to have them do to us. If I would not have my neigh