ample and testimony of Newton. Of all philosophers that ever lived he was the least likely to be deceived. For, unlike many of his predecessors, he never built anything on hypothesis (as some philosophers now do); "hypotheses non fingo" was his maxim; but he reasoned from known phenomena. And he pursued his researches with that cautious self-distrust, modesty, and patience which, when joined with intellectual power, are the best guarantees of the success which is a gift of GOD, Who hides Himself from the proud, and gives grace and wisdom to the humble. You will remember with what reverent and devout words Newton closes his "Principia," the greatest philosophical work that was ever written. Having recapitulated the principles of his own physical system, he says: "All these things are ruled by GOD, not as the soul of the world" (which is the theory of the Pantheist), "but as the LORD of all. He it is Who is called the LORD GOD Almighty; GOD of gods, and LORD of lords. He is the Living GOD, Infinite, Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Eternal; Whom we know by His attributes, and by His all-wise and beneficent works, and by means of final causes; Whom we admire for His perfection, and Whom, as LORD of all, we worship and adore!" Right Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. (Bishop of Lincoln). SCRIBES-in all Ages turn Religion into Etiquette. The scribe is a man who turns religion into etiquette. . . . There are scribes in all ages-Romish scribes, who distinguish between venial and mortal sin, and apportion to each its appointed penance and absolution. There are Protestant scribes, who have no idea of GOD but as an incensed Judge, and prescribe certain modes of appeasing Him-a certain price-in consideration of which He is willing to sell forgiveness; men who accurately draw the distinction between the different kinds of faith-faith historical and faith saving; who bewilder and confuse all natural feeling; who treat the natural love of relations as if it were an idolatry as great as bowing down to mammon; who make intelligible distinction between the work that may, and the work that may not, be done on the Sabbath-day; who send into a perilous consideration of the workings of your own feelings and the examination of your spiritual experiences, to ascertain whether you have the feelings which give you a right to call GOD a FATHER. They hate the Romish scribe as much as the you Jewish scribe hated the Samaritan and called him heretic; but in their way they are true to the spirit of the scribe. Now, the result of this is fourfold. Among the tender-minded, despondency; among the vainer, spiritual pride; in the case of the slavish, superstition; with the hard-minded, infidelity. Ponder it well, and you will find these four things rife amongst us-despondency, spiritual pride, superstition, and infidelity. In this way we have been going | on for many years. Rev. F. W. Robertson (Sermons). SELF-the Great Obstacle. JESUS alone confronted Self-JESUS alone struck at the life of the darling idol-JESUS alone put forth a resolute and determined hand to extract and destroy, root and branch, the awful produce of the forbidden fruit. And hence the backwardness of men in the reception of His Divine authority-hence the eagerness to catch at every argument that hence the cavillings at the testimonies to would invalidate the claims He set uptruth of His miraculous powers-hence the His mission-hence the questionings of the obstinate withstandings against the force of His searching appeals-and hence comes out the secret why, in the space of nearly two thousand years, the principles He came to establish have so slowly progressed; comes out the secret why the boundaries are so narrow in the mass of nations where His faith may be found; comes out the secret why, in the bleak and barren wilderness of the great world we inhabit, only so small a spot presents itself that is green and living with the influences of His SPIRIT; comes out the secret why, in the very compass of a Christian profession, there should be so few who are Israelites indeed-why, where there is a lowing from a thousand hills in our spiritual Canaan, there should be so melancholy a spectacle of the lean and ill-favoured kine of Egypt. Oh, if the Gospel of JESUS might be holden with our loved and reigning vices, if only it would permit the gratification of one of our corrupt inclinations, if it would but let alone the favourite sin, what a willingness would there be to receive it! what a sweep would there be in its conquests! how rapid its march from field to field, until the subju gation were that of universal empire! Rev. J. J. Judkin SELF-the Great Tempter. Satan in these latter days seldom comes to the front; he employs a more subtle agent Self. Rev. William Charles Howell, M.A. SELF-CONCEIT. How great and common an error appears to me the mistake of those who persist in making their knowledge and apprehension the measure of the apprehension and knowledge of GOD! as if that alone were perfect which they understand to be so! Galileo Galilei. SELF-CONTROL. Chain up the unruly legion of thy breast. Lead thine own captivity captive, and be Cæsar within thyself. Sir Thomas Browne. SELF-DECEIVERS. Thither are to be reduced as deceitful workers those that promise to GOD, but mean not to pay what they once intended; people that are confident in the day of ease and fail in the danger; they that pray passionately for a grace, and if it be not obtained at that price, go no further, and never contend in action for what they seem to contend in prayer; such as delight in forms and outsides, and regard not the substance and design of every institution; that think it a great sin to taste bread before the receiving the Holy Sacrament, and yet come to communicate with an ambitious and revengeful soul; that make a conscience of eating flesh, but not of drunkenness; that keep old customs and old sins together; that pretend one duty to excuse another; religion against charity, or piety to parents against duty to Gon; private promises against public duty; the keeping of an oath against breaking of a commandment; honour against modesty; reputation against piety; the love of the world in civil instances to countenance enmity against GOD: these are the deceitful workers of GOD's Word-they make a schism in the duties of religion, and a war in heaven worse than that between Michael and the dragon, for they divide the SPIRIT of GOD, and distinguish His commandments into parties and factions; by seeking an excuse sometimes they destroy the integrity and perfect constitution of duty, or they do some thing whereby the effect and usefulness of the duty is hindered-concerning all which this only can be said, they who serve GOD with a lame sacrifice and an imperfect duty, a duty defective in its constituent parts, can never enjoy GOD, because He can never be divided; and though it be better to enter into heaven with one foot and one eye than that both should be cast into hell, because heaven can make recompense for this loss, yet nothing can repair his loss who, for being lame in his duty, shall enter into hell, where nothing is perfect but the measures and duration of torment, and they both are next to infinite. Bishop Jeremy Taylor. tation. SELF-DENIAL-breaks the Force of TempIf we accustom ourselves to self-denial, we break the force of most temptations. Rev. Thomas Emerson Bond. SELF-DENIAL-the Forsaking of Sin. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matt. xvi. 24). Let us deny ourselves in whatever we have made ourselves by sin; and such as we are made by grace,. let us continue. If a proud man be converted to CHRIST and is made humble, he hath denied himself; if a covetous man ceaseth to covet, and giveth of his own to relieve the needy, he hath denied himself; if an impure man changeth his life and becometh chaste, he hath denied himself, as St. Gregory saith. He who withstandeth and forsaketh the unreasonable will of the flesh, denieth himself. The Cross of CHRIST is taken when we shrink not from contempt for the love of the truth; when the man is crucified unto the world and setteth its joys at nought. It is not enough to bear the cross of a painful life except we follow CHRIST in His virtues, in meekness, love, and heavenly desires. He taketh the Cross who is ready to meet all peril for God; if need be, to die rather than to forsake CHRIST; and whoso taketh not thus the Cross, and followeth not CHRIST thus, is not worthy to be His disciple. He saves His people from their sins, and hath "left them an example that they should follow His steps." John Wycliffe. SELF-DENIAL-Infinite Gain, At a distance self-denial seems hard, for thou seest its outer form, and canst not know how they who deny self gain the presence of GOD. It seems hard to part with things of time, yet only until thou knowest how GOD replaces them with foretastes of heaven. . . The way of life seems a lonely way, but only till thou know how, to the lonely, CHRIST places Himself by their side. Hard is it to part with this life's destructive sweetness, but only till thou know the sweetness of the heavenly manna wherewith GOD feeds the inmost soul of those who choose Him. Hard is it to cross our own will, but only till we know the rest and peace of having no will but only His. Trust thyself really and wholly to take the few first earnest steps SELF-DENIAL along the narrow way, and by God's grace thou wilt never leave it; trust thyself with Him Who first trod it for thee, and He will smooth it to thee. Blessed will it be there to tread where are the footmarks of thy REDEEMER. Blessed there to tread where the enemy shall have no power to hurt thee, but He will "give thee power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy." Blessed to be there where thy footsteps shall not, as thou goest, gather the mire of this earth, but shall be washed with the blood of Him Who tracked the way for thee; blessed to be where thou shalt be borne on His arms, thou shalt rest thine aching head on His bosom, thou shalt hear within thee His guiding voice, and all thine own emotions shall be quelled and quieted by His peace. Rev. E. B. Pusey, D.D. (Parochial Sermons). SELF-DENIAL-looks out of Self to CHRIST. SELF-EXAMINATION our natural character, which is prone to de- SELF-DEVOTION. Self-devotion! it is the noblest thing in all this world, and the rarest. No, not rare; few family histories are without some heroic or pathetic instance thereof, continued throughout whole lives with unflinching fortitude. And could death open the locked records of many a heart, how often would some secret be found there that would furnish a key to all the history of the finished life-some strong, one love, some eternal faithfulness, which all the chances and changes of existence could never shake, which was the impulse of every thought, the motive of every action, the compelling force of every line of conduct. A devotion, not a Study the excellent lesson of self-denial, self-annihilation. A true Christian is like a vine that cannot stand of itself, but is wholly supported by the prop it leans on. It is no small thing to know ourselves to be nothing, of no might, of no worth, of no understand-passion, inasmuch as it was able to set itself ing nor reality; to look upon ourselves as helpless, worthless, foolish, empty shadows. This holy littleness is a great matter; when we find that all our inventory amounts to nothing but folly, weakness, and beggary; when we set down ourselves for cyphers, our gain for loss, our excellences for very vanities, then we shall learn to live like believers. . Let CHRIST be the only support you lean unto. When you are thoroughly emptied and nullified, and see all comeliness to be but as a withered flower, dead, dried, and past recovery, then you will be put upon the happy necessity of going out to CHRIST for Rev. Joseph Alleine. all. SELF-DEPENDENCE. When the Apostle Peter began to sink in the lake, he had not become himself heavier, nor had the water altered its power of sustaining him; but he had lost that property by which he might have walked upon the waves, and through which the risen saints will, at the last day, "meet their LORD in the air." He had let go faith, nor did he regain it when he cried to JESUS for help; for, could he have laid hold on the boat, it is quite as probable he would have done so as supplicated assistance in the manner he did. The instruction to be drawn from this passage is abundantly plain. Our falling into sin is not caused by any new change in entirely aside, absorb itself in the well-being of the other whose good it sought, without reckoning any personal cost, through weal and woe, pleasure and pain, requital or nonrequital. This is a sight not to blame or blind self-sacrifice, it is open-eyed self-devoweep over, but to rejoice in, for it is not tion, blessed on both sides, both to the giver and receiver. It has sharp agonies sometimes-what deep emotion is without them? but out of all come peace and content. pleasing in GOD's sight as lovely in man's, because there is no sin in it, no selfishness on either side, and in its very sadness-it must of necessity be often sad-there is a sacredness beyond all mortal joy. is It Dinah Muloch (Sermons out of Church). When will man learn to bear In nakedness confessed? Go, search thy heart, poor fool! Last night I drew up mine account, But therewithal I'll bring the bond, Robert Herrick. It is the advice of the wise man, "Dwell at home," or with yourself; and though there are very few that do this, yet it is surprising that the greatest part of mankind cannot be prevailed upon at least to visit themselves sometimes; but, according to the saying of the wise Solomon, "The eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth." He who teaches men the principles and precepts of spiritual wisdom before their minds are called off from foreign objects and turned inward upon themselves, might as well write his instructions, as the sybil wrote her prophecies, on the loose leaves of trees, and commit them to the mercy of the inconstant winds. Archbishop Leighton. SELFISHNESS-Spiritual: Caution Against. Even in spiritual things the desire and seeking of a man may be very selfish. Selfishness is not restricted to the domain of secular things. A man may carry his little egoism, with its subtle self-seeking, into the sphere of his religious life, and even there make self SELF-KNOWLEDGE the mainspring of all his desires and prayers, the test and measure of all his privileges. He may desire holiness for personal security, and love for unloving uses. His supreme solicitude may be that prayer may bring blessing to his own soul, that preaching may be instructive and comforting to himself, that he may have glowing emotions, personal enjoyments, and be so ministered to as that safely and triumphantly he may get to heaven. And there is a legitimate care for self. part of the Divine order of universal wellIt is a Divinely implanted instinct. It is being. Nor is it possible for a selfish man to be so meanly selfish in spiritual things as he may be in sensuous things. In spiritual things there are inherent qualities of goodness and nobleness which enlarge the soul that receives them in spite of itself. But a man who attains to no more than this, who does not consciously culture the spirit of self-sacrifice, who is as selfish as the necessary qualities of spiritual life will permit him to be, falls infinitely short of the magnanimities of the religious life, as exemplified, for instance, in self-sacrificing men like Abraham, Moses, and Paul. How selfish and little in religious life men often are! Everything in the Church and its services, everything in the Bible even, is practically estimated in its relation to themselves. The distinctive glory of the Divine MASTER was that "He pleased not Himself," that He sacrificed Himself for others, "laid down His life for the sheep." The last thing the LORD JESUS thought of was His own religious enjoyment. The heart of self-sacrifice is the only CHRIST-like, the only GOD-like heartthe heart of Him who "spared not His only begotten SoN," the heart of Him who accepted the cup and "endured the cross, despising its shame." Rev. Dr. Allon. SELF-KNOWLEDGE-its Three Peculiar Pro perties. Self-knowledge is that acquaintance with ourselves which shows us what we are, and ought to do and be, in order to our living comfortably and usefully here, and being happy hereafter. The means of it is selfexamination, the end of it self-government and self-fruition. It principally consists in a knowledge of our souls; for a man's soul is properly himself. The body is but the house, the soul is the tenant that inhabits it. Self-knowledge hath these three peculiar properties:-1. It is equally attainable by all. It requires no strength of memory, no force of genius, no depth of penetration, as many SELF-KNOWLEDGE-Study of Oneself. And curious pieces. Search, and thou shalt find Enough to talk of. Make no pretences Of new discoveries whilst yet thine own And nearest little world is still unknown. Away, then, with thy quadrants, compasses, Globes, tables, cards, and maps, and minute glasses! Lay by thy journals and thy diaries, tion Comes mounted on the wings of meditation. He that doth live at home, and learns to know GOD and himself, needeth no further go. Christopher Harvey. SELF-KNOWLEDGE the most Essential Knowledge. Think how shameful it is to get all knowledge, and not to know ourselves; and how miserable he is that encompasses all the world, and searches into all things, only neglects his own peace, or seeks it among the occasions of his trouble. Discharge thyself therefore with all speed from thy passions of rashness and hasty thoughts. Learn thy duty; do it: know GOD and thyself, and the world: and when thou art once humble, prudent, thankful, and heavenlyminded, then thou wilt not be displeased at what GOD or men do; nothing will trouble thee; or if anything do, it will be this, that thou doest these things no better. But this is the happiness of such a man's condition, that those who mourn shall be comforted, and it is a pleasure to be so aggrieved. No joys here like those of an ingenuous sorrow. No cup of blessing so sweet as that which is mingled with tears of true contrition for our ingratitude. Simon Patrick, Bishop of Chichester. SELF-LOVE-Founded in Human Nature. There is a love of ourselves which is founded in nature and reason, and is made the measure of our love to our neighbour; for we are "to love our neighbour as ourselves;" and if there were no due love of ourselves there could be none of our neighbour. But this love of ourselves, which is so consistent with the love of our neighbour, can be no enemy to our peace; for none can live more quietly and peaceably than those But there is a self-love which the Scripture who love their neighbours as themselves. condemns, because it makes men peevish and froward, uneasy to themselves and to their neighbours, filling them with jealousies and suspicions of others with respect to the intentions and designs of others towards themselves, making them apt to mistrust them, and so producing ill-will towards them; and where that hath once got into men's hearts, there can be no long peace with those they bear a secret grudge and ill-will to. The bottom of all is, they have a wonderful notions, and parties, and factions they hapvalue for themselves and those opinions, and pen to be engaged in, and these they make the measure of their esteem and love of others. As far as they comply and suit with them, so far they love them, and no about some things and yet be good still? | further. If we ask, Cannot good men differ Yes. Cannot such love one another notwithstanding such difference? No doubt they ought. Whence comes it then that a small difference in opinion is so apt to make a breach in affection? In plain truth, it is every one would be thought to be infallible, if for shame they durst to pretend to it; and they have so good an opinion of themselves that they cannot bear such as do not submit to them. From hence arise quarrellings and disputings, and ill-language, not becoming men or Christians. But all this comes from |