be overtaken in sin, you that are spiritual, admonish such a one in the spirit of mildness. Of the second, in Daniel, c. xii. They who instruct others unto justice, shall shine like stars for all eternity. Of the third, in St. James, c. v. 19. If any of you shall stray away from the truth, and some one shall convert him, he ought to know, that he who made him be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins. Of the fourth, it St. Paul to the Romans xii. 15. Weep with those that weep. Of the fifth, in the Epistle to the Romans, c. vi. We, who are strong, must support the weaknesses of the_infirm. Of the sixth, in the gospel of St. Luke, c. vi. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Of the seventh, in St. James, e. v. Pray for one another, that you may be saved.

EXHOR.-Learn, O christian, to do all these works of mercy spiritual according to your ability, and as in your power. 1. Do not fail to correct or admonish sinners, when there is a prospect, that by so doing you can put a stop to sin; this may prevent many from damning their souls, and what greater charity? 2. Refuse no pains to instruct the ignorant; by this many may be saved, and God eternally glorified. Great is the duties of parents and superiors, to correct and instruct others under them, as they must one day give an account of what was committed to their charge.-3. Be not backward to give your counsel and best advice to others, chiefly to those who are out of the way of salvation, by their errors and vices be as an agent for God; by admonishing and speaking to those that err or do wicked things; that they may forsake them, and believe in our Lord. Wisdom xii. 2. When you shall see in the other world souls delivered from such torments, as those of hell; and ravished with such bliss as that of heaven, through your endeavours under God, O how will you think your charity bestowed!-4. Visit those in affliction, and comfort them; the comfort you give them will return to yourself: you will find more satisfaction in such visits, than in all the bad company you keep: It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting. Eccl. vii, 3.

5. Bear the troublesome manners of others, reflecting on your own failings. 6. Return not evil for evil, but forgive, and God will forgive you a thousand for one. 7. Pray daily for all men, friend, and enemy; the latter has more need of your prayers, and your charity is greater to him, the more he wants it: this being a true disciple of Jesus, which prayed for his crucifiers. Pray in particular for infidels and sinners; that God would open their eyes, to see truth from error, and distinguish solid, from deceitful and deluding joys: through such prayers of devout christians, many are converted. Pray always for the dead, for your deceased brethren; it is the last and greatest charity you can do for them remember this truth; that as we are still in the same church with them, though in a different state, they partake of our pray-. ers there is still communion between us; for charity

never ceases.

WHAT

Of Sin.

a. HAT is sin? A. It is an offence against God; as being a wilful transgression of his law, either by thought, word, or deed. By the law of God, here is meant, all that God has commanded or forbidden, whether by himself, or by his church, and by all lawful superiors.

INSTRUC. As we are now treating of sin and vice, we must distinguish these two. Vice is the habit of sin; sin is the act committed: by often repeated transgressions, sin grows into habit; and what more difficult to overcome? How few habitual sinners have we known reclaimed? Sin grows into a habit through repeated relupses, a neglect of repenting, and of amending. All sin is dreadful; but the habit of sin, grown into vice, is most dreadful, because vice takes off by degrees, the fear of God, or sense of eternity: it makes us blind to all good: this was the case of Pharaoh, and the Jews; they grew hardened in vice, through their repeated transgressions, presumption, and ingratitude: yet it is a certain truth, that the mercy of God never abandons any one in this

life, totally and finally; but presses the most hardened to repent, and gives them sufficient grace.

All sin in general is of that nature, that it brings the greatest mischief upon the soul, and may be truly styled, the only real evil in life, the evil of evils, as all others spring from it: it is an evil not to be conceived; none but those who feel the eternal effects of it, are sensible how great it is: faith tells us that it makes us hateful, and enemies to God; deprives us of his grace here, and glory hereafter; that it causes a separation between us and God, and so brings death to the soul, and makes it guilty of hell's torments: but what that glory is, which sin deprives us of, or what hell's torments are, no one, in this mortal body, can fully see: but as no tongue can express, or mind conceive, what God has prepared for those who love him; so it is alike inconceivable, what punishment he has prepared for those that hate him; to which ill disposition, sin at length brings the sinner: the imperfect enjoyment of God here, is only known by the sweets we find in virtue, and those refreshments of soul in his secret and divine impulses, in the hearts of good men; so likewise men may feel and know in part, the torments of hell through that terrible remorse of conscience, that arises from sin and vice, which is a worm that never dies, as long as sin continues.

Of original Sin.

Q. WHAT is original sin? A. It is the sin in

fall.

which we are all born, by means of Adam's

INSTRUC. Original sin was the first sin committed by man, and by the first man Adam; when, contrary to the express command of God, drawn away through the delusion of the devil, and in compliance to his wife, he consented to eat of the forbidden fruit'; and from thence ensued the fatal curse on all mankind: Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return. This had been fol lowed with an everlasting exclusion from heaven, and deprivation of the sight of God, had he not through pure mercy promised the coming of a Redeemer, to rescue us

from this immense evil. This Redeemer was no other than God the Son, the second Person of the blessed Trinity, made man. None but an infinite Being could atone for an offence against an infinite Being; none but an infinite mercy could satisfy an infinite justice.

This is the sin in which we are all born, as sons of sinful Adam. Through his sin we lost original justice, and are born out of the grace and favour of God;-Children of wrath, with a corrupt nature, that carries us to all kind of sin: As by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin, death; so unto all men death did pass, in whom all have sinned. Rom. v. 12. The only remedy at present, to take off the guilt of this sin, is the means which our Redeemer has left in baptism; whereby we have the merits of his blood and passion applied to our souls; without which there can be no remission of any sin, according to that maxim, Without blood spilt, there is no remission. Heb. ix. 22. Therefore baptism is now commanded for all: Go teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. None of the children of Adam shall now enter heaven, without it; no, not even infants; for the Redeemer of the world has said it, Unless one be re-born of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God: these unbaptized infants will never enter heaven; but are carried to a part of hell, called the Limbus of children; where they endure the pain of loss, that is, will never see God.

Though our blessed Redeemer frees us from the eternal punishment, and guilt of original sin; yet the penalties of it, which were to afflict Adam and his posterity in this world, still remain; and these are the evils that will reign in us till death; our bodies subject to all kinds of infirmities and death; our souls subject to ignorance of what is right; to weakness, in doing good, and resisting evil; to concupiscence, which inclines us to sin; and to malice, or perverseness of will; hence proceed all our disorders. But still our remedy against these, is the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, whereby we can do all things, through him that strengthens us.

EXHOR.-Let not this instruction on original sin pass, without some profit to your soul. Behold, in that first sin, the infinite perverseness of man; behold, in that instant, the infinite goodness of God: man sinning, and God forgiving, with the promise of a Redeemer, to crush the head of the Serpent. As often then as you read this, reflect, with the greatest gratitude, on your redemption, and say, What shall I return to our Lord for all he has given me? Greater was the mercy of God to man, than to the very Angels; The Angels that sinned he did not spare, but left them without redemption; man sinned, and he cast an eye of pity upon him: So God loved the world., St. John, iii. 16.

Great blessing, to have original sin forgiven you in baptism through the merits of Christ's passion and death, and thereby to be restored to your primitive innocence; to become the children of God, entitled to glory!-Renounce the devil, his works and pomps now, as you did then you were made christians for greater things than to make yourselves slaves again to Satan, to flesh and blood, and to the follies of the world. You were then, by grace, made partakers of the divine nature, beware how you degenerate; you were once children of darkness, now sons of light: once slaves of the devil, now servants of God, christians and followers of Christ; with this character you were marked in baptism; if you live up to it, it will remain to your glory; if otherwise, to your confusion. Your were then entitled to glory, use now the means that may bring you to the enjoyment of it; Seek the things above, not these below. Col. ii. 12. Things that will make your soul happy, not those things that will render it again miserable. While your body is on earth, let your soul be in heaven, by prayer, reading, contemplation. O what is a soul without God, without the grace, the love of God! the most wretched of all creatures on earth. Preserve then, by all means, the love and grace of God in your heart: abhor whatever destroys or Fessens it, as does all sin and iniquity. Reflect often on the sin of your first parents; and if so great miseries followed it, what must be the end of your manifold sins and