.

And hence we draw an important lesson for ourselves, which, however
obvious, is continually forgotten by us in the actual business of life;
viz. to do our duty without aiming at the world's praise. Mankind
knows nothing of St. Simon's and St. Jude's deeds and sufferings,
though these were great; yet there is One who "knows their works, and
labour, and patience, . . . and how they bore . . . and for His Name's
sake laboured, and fainted not[3]." Their deeds are blotted out from
history, but not from the Lamb's book of life; for "blessed are they
who die in Him, . . . that they may rest from their labours; and their
works do follow them[4]."

On this great practical rule, viz. to do what we do heartily, as unto
the Lord, and not unto men, I shall now make some remarks; and in doing
so, I shall be pointing out a mode in which we may follow these blessed
Saints, whose lives at first sight seem to have left no pattern behind
them for our imitation.

In heathen times, when men understood that they had souls, yet did not
know what was the soul's true happiness, or how it was to be gained,
much was thought, and more talked, of what they called _glory, fame,
honour_. This was natural, as a little consideration will show. For
before men begin to exercise their minds, while they remain ignorant
and dull, the common pleasures of sense satisfy them--eating, drinking,
and making merry. They do not think of the morrow. They have no end
in view, and act on no plan. But when intelligence is awakened, and
they learn to feel, reflect, hope, plan, and exert themselves, then
mere animal indulgences are not enough for them, and they look about
for some higher pleasures, more lasting and more refined. This is the
real effect of that civilization which is so much extolled; it gives
men refined wishes, and sets them on gratifying them. An enlightened
age is one which feels the wants of human nature. Knowledge and mental
cultivation render men alive to the things around them, busy, and
restless; but they do no more than make men sensible of their wants;
they find no remedy for them; they bring no appropriate food to the
hunger they create: for it is religion alone can do this.

Now the ancient heathen whom I speak of were just in this state; having
minds cultivated and refined intellectually, they felt the capabilities
of man for acting on a large field, and the need of some stimulus to
make him act thus. They saw that human na