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that in Him they are, in reality, infinitely different from those virtues, or rather, in a matter where the disparity of the subjects is so very great, those shadows of virtues that go under the same name, either in men or angels. For it is not only true, that all things, in the Infinite and Eternal Being, are infinite and external, but they are also, though in a manner quite inexpressible, HIMSELF. He is good without quality, great without quantity, &c. He is good in such a sense as to be called by the Evangelist, the Only Good Being. Matt. xix. 17. He is also the Only Wise Being: To the only Wise God, saith the Apostle. 1 Tim. i. 17. And the same Apostle tells us, in another place, That He only hath immortality; 1 Tim. vi. 16, that is, from His own nature, and not from the will or disposition of another. "If we are considered as joined to, or united with God," says an ancient writer of great note, we have a being, we live, and in some sort are wise; but, if we are compared with God, we have no wisdom at all, nor do we live, or so much as have any existence*.” All other things were by Him brought out of nothing, in consequence of a free act of His will, by means of His infinite power; so that they may be justly called mere contingencies, and he is the only necessarily existent Being. Nay, He is the only really existent Being; Tò ovтws ov; or, as Plotinus expresses it, rò iwegovτws ỏv. Thus, also, the Septuagint speaks of Him as the only existent Being. wv. And so also does the heathen poet +. This is likewise implied in the exalted name, Jehovah, which expresses His being, and that He has it from Himself; but what that being is, or wherein its essence, so to speak consists, it does not say; nor, if it did, could we at all conceive it. Nay, so far is that name from discovering what His being is, that it plainly insinuates that His existence is hid and covered with a veil. I am who I am; or, I am what I am As if He had said, I myself know what I am, but you nei

Deo si conjungimur, sumus, vivimus, sapimus; Deo si comparamur, nec sapimus omnino, nec vivimus, imo nec sumus. Greg. Mag. Mor. † Οὐδε τὶς εσθ' ἔτερος χωρις μεγαλου βασιλῆος.

ther know nor can know it: and if I should declare wherein my being consists, you could not conceive it. He has, however, manifested in His works, and in His word, what it is our interest to know, that He is The Lord God, merciful and gracious, abundant in goodness and truth.

We call him a most pure Spirit, and mean to say, that He is of a nature entirely incorporeal; yet, this word, in the Greek, Hebrew, and all other languages, according to its primitive and natural signification, conveys no other idea than that of a gentle gale, or wind, which every one knows to be a body, though rarefied to a very great degree: so that, when we speak of that Infinite Purity, all words fail us; and even when we think of it, all the refinements of the acutest understanding are quite at a stand, and become entirely useless. It is, in every respect, as necessary to acknowledge his eternity, as His being; provided that, when we mention the term, God, we mean by it the First Being, supposing that expression to include also His Selfexistence. This idea of a First and Eternal Being, is again inseparably connected with an infinite degree of all possible perfection, together with immutability, and absolute perseverance therein. But all these are treated of, at great length, in Theological books, whereof you have a very large collection.

In like manner, if we suppose God to be the First of all beings, we must unavoidably, therefrom conclude His unity. As to the ineffable Trinity subsisting in this Unity, a mystery discovered only by the sacred Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, where it is more clearly revealed than in the Old, let others boldly pry into it, if they please, while we receive it with an humble faith, and think it sufficient for us to admire and adore.

The other Attributes that used to be mentioned on this subject, may be supposed to be perfectly comprehended under the following three, viz., power, wisdom, and goodness: for holiness, justice, mercy, infinite bounty, &c., may be with great propriety, ranked under the general term of goodness.

But rather than insist upon metaphysical speculations, let us,

while we walk daily in these pleasant fields, be constantly culling fresh and never-fading flowers. "When the Psalmist cries out, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and of His greatness there is no end, he wanted to shew," saith St. Augustine," how great He is. But how can this be done? Though he repeated, Great, Great, the whole day, it would have been to little purpose, for he must have ended at last, because the day would have ended; but his greatness was before the beginning of days, and will reach beyond the end of time *." The poet expresses himself admirably well, "I will praise thee, O blessed God with my voice, I will praise thee, also, with silence. For thou, O inexpressible Father, who canst never be known, understandest the silence of the mind, as well as any words or expressions +."

LECTURE XXII.

How to regulate Life according to the Rules of RELIgion.

I HAVE now, at different times, addressed myself to you upon several subjects of great importance and of the utmost necessity; though what I have hitherto said, was only designed as a preface or introduction to what I further proposed. But to attempt to prosecute this design at the very end of the year, would be quite improper, and to little or no purpose: I shall, therefore, altogether forbear entering upon it, and for this time, lay

* Volebat dicere quam magnus sit, sed hoc qui fieri potest? Etsi tota die magnum diceret, parum esset, finiret enim aliquando, quia, finiretur dies, magnitudo autem illius ante dies, et ultra dies.

before you a few advices, which may be useful, not only in order to employ to greater advantage the months of vacation that are now at hand, but also the better to regulate your whole lives.

And my first advice shall be, to avoid too much sleep, which wastes the morning hours, that are most proper for study, as well as for the exercises of religion, and stupefies and enervates the strength of body and mind. I remember that the famous abbot of Clairevaux, (St. Bernard,) when he found the friars sleeping immoderately, used to say, "That they slept like the secular clergy." And though we do not admit of the severe rules to which the monks subjected themselves, we must at least allow, that the measure and degree of sleep and other bodily refreshments, suitable for a young man devoted to study and devotion, is very far different from that excess in which the common sort of mankind indulge themselves.

Another advice, which is akin to, and nearly connected with, the former, shall be, to observe temperance in eating and drinking. For moderation in sleeping, generally follows sobriety in eating and other sensual gratifications; but that thick cloud of vapours that arises from a full stomach, must of necessity overwhelm all the animal spirits, and keep them long locked up in an indolent, inactive state. Therefore, the Greeks, not without reason, express these two duties, to be sober and to be watchful, indifferently by the same term. And the Apostle Peter, that he might make his connexion more evident, uses, indeed, two words for this purpose; but exhorts to these duties as closely connected together, or rather, as if they were, in some respect, but one, Be sober, be vigilant, 1 Pet. v. 8. And in the same Epistle, having substituted another word for sobriety, he expresses watchfulness by the same word he had put for sobriety in the other place, [Nare]. Be sober and watch, 1 Pet. iv. 7. Both these dispositions are so applied to the mind, as to include a sober and watchful state of the body and senses; as this is exceeding useful, nay, quite necessary, in order to a

* Seculariter dormire,

correspondent frame of the mind, and that disposition both of body and mind, not only subservient, but also necessary to piety and constancy in prayer: Be sober and watch unto prayer. 1 Pet. iv. 7.

When the body is reduced to its lightest and most active state, still, as it is corruptible, it is, to be sure, a burden to the mind. How much more must it be so, when it is depressed with an immoderate load of meat and drink, and, in consequence of this, of sleep! Nor can the mind rouse itself, or use the wings of contemplation and prayer with freedom, when it is overpowered with so heavy a load: nay, neither can it make any remarkable progress in the study of human literature, but will move slowly and embarrassed, be at a stand, like a wheelcarriage in deep clay. The Greeks very justly expressed the virtue we are now recommending, by the term Σwopooúvn, it being, as your favourite philosopher, [Aristotle] observes in his Ethics, the great preservative of the mind. He is certainly a very great enemy to his own understanding, who lives high and indulges himself in luxury. "A fat belly is seldom accompanied with an acute understanding*." Nor is it my intention in this, only to warn you against drunkenness and luxury; I would willingly hope that such an advice would be superfluous to you: but, in this conflict, I would willingly carry you to such a pitch of victory, that, at your ordinary and least dilicious meals, you would always stop some degrees within the bounds to which your appetite would carry you. Consider that, as Cato said, "the belly has no ears+;" but it has a mouth, into which a brible must be put, and therefore I address not myself to it, but to the directing mind that is set over it, which, for that reason, ought to govern the body with all its senses, and curb them at its pleasure. St. Bernard's words are admirable to this purpose. "A prudent mind, devoted to God, ought so to act in its body, as the master of a family in his own house. He ought not to suffer his flesh to

* Παχεῖα γαστήρ ληπτὸν οὐ τίκτει νόον.

Ventrem non habere aures