No Cross, No Crown

Coleridge remarked, that the temper of the present age inclines it to every enervating indulgence. Men appear to think the Christian armor an unnecessary incumbrance; they have no desire to engage in any combat, to undergo any trial: if religion is to be cultivated, it must be as one of the fine arts—as an element of belles-lettres; they forget, or despise the saying of Bishop Patrick, that there is no passage to celestial glory but by some cross; that we must suffer with Christ, as well as confess him, if we would be with him in paradise.