MRS. DORMER. Still much is left by this definition of duty to the decision of private judgment, with respect to particular circumstances of our conduct. MISS NEWMAN. Certainly it is so, and it was impossible that it should be otherwise; for if the Scripture had minutely described every step, which a Christian believer might lawfully take, and every act which it is his duty to avoid, in the evervarying situations of mankind, " even the world itself," as St. John speaks with reference to another subject, would "not have been able to contain the books that must have been written." But the rule, properly applied, is (I think) sufficiently clear for the solution of all doubts. And if in any case, through a want of skill in applying the rule, any doubt should remain on the mind respecting the lawfulness or expediency of any step proposed, it is clearly our duty to refrain from that which is doubtful. F For here St. Paul's canon, respecting the use of things indifferent (introduced with regard to the alternative of eating or not eating flesh), is plain and positive: He that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatever is not of faith is sin. Rom. xiv. 23. MRS. DORMER. This is certainly just; but do see to what your next index points. What does our infallible guide say particularly about worldly company? It seems impossible wholly to avoid it. And as it is impossible, so it would be inexpedient; for then many opportunities of being useful must inevitably be lost. MISS NEWMAN. Let then my next reference be weighed, which is to 2 Cor. vi. 14-18. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,1 saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. ye MRS. DORMER. Does not this passage refer to the conjugal 1 This is a quotation from Isaiah, lii. 11, on which the excellent Vitringa comments thus: "Horum vero purificatio, et spiritualis separatio in eo consisteret, ut se per gratiam Spiritus S. ab omni affectu carnali penitus purgarent, et se Deo, sacerdotum ac Levitarum instar, (in quibus, a Deo ad opus sacrum secretis, exactissima requirebatur puritas) totos devoverent ac consecrarent, Obliti domus paternæ, et non retrospicientes els τà ônιow ad ea quæ a tergo sunt; et quæ sibi olim lucro deputaverant, nunc damna censerent." union, and prescribe, in common with other similar directions, that a Christian man or woman may marry only in the Lord.1 i. e. a fellow Christian? MISS NEWMAN. That it relates to the marriage union, as the most intimate of all friendships, is evident. But it likewise refers to every instance of close association whatever: for the terms, fellowship, communion, concord, participation, agreement, which the Apostle has used in the foregoing animated interrogatories for the purpose of showing the absurdity of attempting to reconcile two opposite points, certainly require an interpretation which extends to all human connections. The spirit of a man of God, and that of a man of the world, are like two parallel lines, which, though extended to an infinite length, can never unite. As far as the east is from the west, so far distant is God from Mammon. They resemble two opposite points of the 4 1 Cor. vii. 39. compass, which can never be brought into con tact. MRS. DORMER. But as some intercourse with the world is allowed to be both lawful and expedient; how may I determine the limits which are thereto assigned, and thus be free from the danger of turning either to the right hand or to the left from the path of duty? MISS NEWMAN. An illustration of our duty in this respect strikes my mind, which I will lay before you. The rule of duty must be a general one, because the circumstances of the Lord's people differ so widely.-We will suppose then, for the sake of illustration, that a man is engaged in a journey to a distant place; on the termination of which, by his arrival at his point of destination, depends the acquisition of an estate immensely valuable. He meets on the road an acquaintance, |