running with the children of this world "to the same excess of riot."
One would suppose that they had already made their choice, having
embraced one or the other of these notions: either that religion is
a fantom, or that, all things considered, it is better to endure the
torments of hell than to be restricted to the practise of virtue. Oh
no! that is not their notion. Ask the worse among them. Ask whether
they have renounced their salvation. You will not find an individual
who will say that he has renounced it. Ask them again whether they
think it attainable by following this way of life. They will answer,
No. Ask them afterward how they reconcile things so opposite as their
life and their hopes. They will answer that they are resolved to
reform, and by and by they will enter on the work. They will say,
as Felix said to St. Paul, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a
convenient season, I will call for thee." Nothing is less wise than
this delay. At a future period I will reform. But who has assured me
that at a future period I shall have opportunities of conversion? Who
has assured me that God will continue to call me, and that another
Paul shall thunder in my ears?

I will reform at a future period. But who has told me that God at a
future period will accompany His word with the powerful aids of grace?
While Paul may plant and Apollos may water, is it not God who gives
the increase? How then can I flatter myself that the Holy Spirit
will continue to knock at the door of my heart after I shall have so
frequently obstructed His admission?

I will reform in future. But who has told me that I shall ever desire
to be converted? Do not habits become confirmed in proportion as they
are indulged? And is not an inveterate evil very difficult to cure? If
I can not bear the excision of a slight gangrene, how shall I sustain