him to earth, and towards hell. Plainly such a "house " is "divided against itself:" such a mind can have no happiness or peace.
Nevertheless, such a state of mind as this, unnatural as it may seem, is very common,—nay, it may be said, well nigh universal, at the present day. The reason is, that we all are born with innumerable bad passions and propensities, inherited from our parents and ancestors. Every one, who has any degree of self-knowledge, must be conscious of this. We have passionateness, we have pride, impure propensities, the spirit of revenge, quickness at taking offence, stubborness and obstinacy, self-will, and numberless other evils; and, what maybe said indeed, to comprehend them all,—we have self-love, the parent stock of all sins and crimes. It may be said, that self-love is natural: true, it is natural: and that remark proves the truth of the position, that man's nature, as it comes hereditarily to him at the present day, is essentially corrupted and defiled, and the very opposite of the Divine Nature and of angelic natures. For God is essential Love,—not the Love of Himself, but the love of others; longing and delighting to bless and do them good to the utmost. Similar is the character of angels: their highest delight and joy is to do good to each other and to man, without thought of themselves. Now, man's nature was intended to be the same, for he was created in "God's image and likeness," and he was intended to become an angel of heaven. Then, does not the fact, that he finds this state of feeling not natural to him but the reverse—that he is inclined, that we are all inclined, to love ourselves rather than others, and better than others,—does not this prove the
