553


tirtues,  it  is  also  a  quieting  and  consoling  re-
flection for  a  different,  and,  in  some  degree,  an
opposite  description  of  character,  that  is  to  say,
for  tender  and  timorous  consciences.  Such  are
sometimes  troubled  with  doubts  and  scruples
about  even  their  good  actions.  Virtue  was  too
easy  for  them,  or  too  diliicult;  too  easy  and  plea-
sant to  have  any  merit  in  it :  or  difficult  by  rea-
son of  fleshy,  selfish,  or  depraved  propensities,
still  existing  unsubdued,  still  struggling  in  their
unregenerated  hearts.  These  are  natural,  and,  as
I  have  sometimes  known  them,  very  distressing
scruples.  I  think  that  observations  might  be  ol-
fered  to  remove  the  ground  of  them  altogether:
but  what  I  have  at  present  to  suggest  is,  that  the
very  act  of  reflection,  which  leads  to  them,  is  un-
necessary, provided  you  will  proceed  by  our  rule,
viz.  to  leave  j^our  virtues,  such  as  they  are,  to
themselves;  and  to  bend  the  whole  force  of  your
thought  towards  your  sins,  towards  the  conquest
of  these.
But  it  will  be  said,  are  we  not  to  taste  the  com-
forts of  religion  1  Are  we  not  to  be  pennitted,  or
rather  ought  we  not  to  be  encouraged,  to  relish,
to  indulge,  to  enjoy  these  comforts  ?  And  can
this  be  done  without  meditating  upon  our  good
actions.
