them; but whose strains allure to ruin.

There is a

banquet spread, where poison is in every dish. There is a couch which invites them to repose; but to slumber it is death.

upon

If we would judge whether a man is really happy,

it is not solely to his houses and lands, to his equipage

and his retinue, we are to look. Unless we could see farther, and discern what joy, or what bitterness, his heart feels, we can pronounce little concerning him.

The book is well written; and I have perused it with pleasure and profit. It shows, first, that true devotion is rational and well-founded; next, that it is of the highest importance to every other part of religion and virtue; and, lastly, that it is most conducive to our happiness.

There is certainly no greater felicity, than to be able to look back on a life usefully and virtuously employed; to trace our own progress in existence, by such tokens as excite neither shame nor sorrow. It ought therefore to be the care of those who wish to pass the last hours with comfort, to lay up such a treasure of pleasing ideas, as shall support the expenses of that time, which is to depend wholly upon the fund already acquired.

SECTION 7.

WHAT avails the show of external liberty, to one who has lost the government of himself?

He that cannot live well to-day, (says Martial,) will be less qualified to live well to-morrow.

Can we esteem that man prosperous, who is raised

to a situation which flatters his passions, but which corrupts his principles, disorders his temper, and finally, oversets his virtue?

What misery does the vicious man secretly endure! Adversity! how blunt are all the arrows of thy quiver, in comparison with those of guilt!

When we have no pleasure in goodness, we may with certainty conclude the reason to be, that our pleasure is all derived from an opposite quarter.

How strangely are the opinions of men altered, by a change in their condition!

:- How many have had reason to be thankful, for being disappointed in designs which they earnestly pursued, but which, if successfully accomplished, they have afterwards seen, would have occasioned their ruin?

What are the actions which afford in the remembrance a rational satisfaction? Are they the pursuits of sensual pleasure, the riots of jollity, or the displays of show and vanity? No: I appeal to your hearts, my friends, if what you recollect with most pleasure, are not the innocent, the virtuous, the honourable parts of your past life.

The present employment of time should frequently be an object of thought. About what are we now busied? What is the ultimate scope of our present pursuits and cares? Can we justify them to ourselves? Are they likely to produce any thing that will survive the moment, and bring forth some fruit for futurity?

Is it not strange, (says an ingenious writer,) that some persons should be so delicate as not to bear a disagreeable picture in the house, and yet, by their behaviour, force every face they see about them, to wear the gloom of uneasiness and discontent ?

If we are now in health, peace, and safety; without any particular or uncommon evils to afflict our condition; what more can we reasonably look for in this vain and uncertain world? How little can the greatest prosperity add to such a state! Will any future situation ever make us happy, if now, with so few canses of grief, we imagine ourselves miserable? The evil lies. in the state of our mind, not in our condition of for tune; and by no alteration of circumstances is likely to be remedied.

When the love of unwarrantable pleasures, and of vicious companions, is allowed to amuse young persons, to ingross their time, and to stir up their passions; the day of ruin, let them take heed, and beware!-the day of irrecoverable ruin, begins to draw nigh. Fortune is squandered; health is broken; friends are of fended, affronted, estranged; aged parents, perhaps, sent afflicted and mourning, to the dust.

On whom does time hang so heavily, as on the slothful and lazy? To whom are the hours so lingering? Who are so often devoured with spleen, and obliged to fly to every expedient, which can help them to get rid of themselves? Instead of producing tranquillity, indolence produces a fretful restlessness of mind; gives rise to cravings which are never satisfied; nourishes a sickly effeminate delicacy, which sours and corrupts every pleasure.

SECTION VI.

We have seen the husbandman scattering his seed upon the furrowed ground! It springs up, is gathered

into his barns, and crowns his labours with joy and plenty. Thus the man who distributes his fortune with generosity and prudence, is amply repaid by the gratitude of those whom he obliges; by the approbation of his own mind; and by the favour of Heaven.

Temperance, by fortifying the mind and body, leads to happiness intemperance, by enervating them, ends generally in misery.

Title and ancestry render à good man more illustrious; but an ill one, more contemptible. Vice is infamous, though in a prince; and virtue honourable, though in a peasant.

An elevated genius, employed in little things, appears (to use the simile of Longinus) like the sun in his evening declination: he remits his splendour, but retains his maguitude; and pleases more, though he dazzles less.

If envious people were to ask themselves, whether they would exchange their entire situations with the persons envied, (I mean their minds, passions, notions, as well as their persons, fortunes, and dignities,)-I presume the self-love common to human nature, would generally make them prefer their own condition.

We have obliged some persons :-very well!—what would we have more? Is not the cònsciousness of doing good, a sufficient reward?

Consider

Do not hurt yourselves or others, by the pursuit of pleasure. Consult your whole nature. yourselves not only as sensitive, but as rational beings; not only as rational, but social; not only as social, but immortal.

Art thou poor?-Show thyself active and industrious, peaceable and contented. Art thou wealthy?-Show thyself beneficent and charitable, condescending and humane.

Though religion removes not all the evils of life, though it promises no continuance of undisturbed prosperity, (which indeed it were not salutary for man always to enjoy,) yet, if it mitigates the evils which necessarily belong to our state, it may justly be said to give "rest to them who labour and are heavy laden."

What a smiling aspect does the love of parents and children, of brothers and sisters, of friends and relations, give to every surrounding object, and every returning day! With what a lustre does it gild even the small habitation, where this placid intercourse dwells! where such scenes of heartfelt satisfaction succeed uninterruptedly to one another!

many

How clear marks of benevolent intention appear every where around us! What a profusion of beauty and ornament is poured forth on the face of nature! What a magnificent spectacle presented to the view of man! What supply contrived for his wants! What a variety of objects set before him, to gratify his senses, to employ his understanding, to entertain his imagination, to cheer and gladden his heart!

The hope of future happiness is a perpetual source of consolation to good men. Under trouble, it sooths their minds; amidst temptation, it supports their virtue; and, in their dying moments, enables them to say "O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?"