RICHES.

One man is filled with a strong passion for riches; he beholds, with horror, the contempt and misery which are the inseparable attendants on poverty. He fancies, that property would support and comfort him under many evils, to which, in this life, he is exposed; that it is the great means of procuring him friends, and of obtaining for him preferment, and that with these things, provided he contracts his desires, he would have, at least, the satisfaction of living at his ease, He conceives, therefore, he should be happy, if his fortune were equal to his wishes. But to how many evils do such conjectures expose him? These riches, on which his heart is set, inflate him with pride; they entangle him in the love of life, and in sensual passions; he procures to himself nothing more than imperfect and transient pleasures in this world; and at the hour of his death, regret, remorse, and fear, agitate his mind; yet all this is nothing, compared with the torments of his future

state. Even in this life,

where riches promised

him so much satisfaction, to how many have they proved deceitful? They draw down envy and hatred on the possessor; they are accompanied with cares, inquietudes and endless dangers; they lead persons to conceive rash designs, and to form fatal and foolish projects, insomuch, that many, by the love of money, have rushed to ruin, who might have lived in agreeable tranquillity, had they been contented with a less degree of property in their possession.

possession. Riches may afford us assistance; they may be a means of our doing good works, and of exercising splendid virtues, and thereby contribute much to our sanctification: but they may also be every way, very injurious to us; therefore no man can reasonably persuade himself, that he should be good, provided he was very rich: the only sure method he can take is, to refer the choice of his condition to the providence of God; because, by acting in this manner, he may hope that all things will terminate to his real advantage.

HEALTH.

What I say of riches may be said of health. Next to the interest of our salvation, we have no greater interest in this world. Pain dejects the mind as well as the body, and severely tries all our patience and resolution. Yet, perhaps, there is nothing more dangerous, than a vigorous state of health; our passions are then violent, and difficult to be subdued; sensual impressions are then strong; our relish for such pleasure is augmented, and we are less capable of that which elevates the mind, and less able to enter on that detachment from the world, which practical piety demands. This is the reason, to speak after the manner of men, that men enter much less on the study of their duty, when in the heat of youth and vigour of man hood, than when their animal spirits begin to cool. Passions insensibly diminish as our strength decays. On the contrary, bad health, which we SO much fear, interrupts indeed, all the pleasures of

this life, and is of no advantage to them who suffer it, with sentiments merely human; but to them who are properly exercised thereby, and who endeavour to reap from it the peaceable fruits of righteousness, nothing can be of greater use. The believer, when afflicted, is not always disposed to prayer, nor is he always filled with consolation. There are intervals which to him are painful and grievous, but they do not prevent his having frequent and delicious tastes of the love of God. He will be sometimes as in a furnace; he will cry out as if he was exposed to the devouring wrath of God; not being able to distinguish between the chastisements of a father and the vengeance of a judge; but he will also, have his seasons of refreshment. God will make him understand in his heart, the voice of grace; his soul will be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and shall praise the Lord with songs of joy and thanksgiving. He will learn, by these things, there are other pleasures than those which the men of this world admire; he will dispise the vain pleasures of life; his condition will make it easy for him to obtain the victory over his passions; he will no longer regard death with fear and trembling; on the contrary, the thoughts of it becomes pleasant, because he now pants for promised glory, and has a firm hope of obtaining future felicity.

FRIENDSHIP.

may say the same thing of friendship, or of

the

the possession, or loss, of those persons we most of all esteem. It is a great satisfaction to us to live with them. It is the most rational pleasure we can taste in life: therefore, there is no misfortune with which we are more affected, than the loss of our friends. Yet, we should not esteem them too much, although it is always pleasing to be indulged with their company. No person is without his faults; and there is none with whom we can live agreeably, without producing that kind of complacency which might be hurtful to them and to ourselves. It seldom happens, that God has much of our hearts in such ardent connections and attachments. Our own inclinations, good or bad, and the interests of life, are the usual cements of such friendship. Hence it often happens, they who should help to restore us to the path of duty, when we have wandered from it, or strengthen our resolutions when they are right, instead of granting such assistance, weaken our best resolutions, and multiply our defects. Besides, nothing has greater power to make us fond of life, nothing makes it more difficult for us, on many occasions, to submit to the will of God, than what is commonly called friendship. In short, nothing more augments our uneasiness and afflictions, than taking upon ourselves all that happens to others, who are as weak as we are, and exposed to the same misfortunes. Thus it appears, that for the comfort of our lives, and the interest of our salvation, it may be good for us to live with our kindred and friends: but, it may also be in

jurious:

jurious: nor are we able to say, which, upon the whole, will be best for us.

DESIRES AND FEARS.

I may say the same thing of all that men generally desire and fear. All those things may be good, or evil; partly according to the use they make of them, and in part from those events over which they have no dominion. For, in such things as more, or less, depend on their conduct, they cannot assure themselves what they shall do, whatever may be their present inclination. The mind of man is not always alike disposed. It is a subject in movement, and acts according to the diversity of objects presented to its notice, to the passions by which it moves, and the occasions which solicits and require such motion. They who despise danger, often fail when it approaches. We insensibly accommodate ourselves to our present situation; and when that gives us occasion to commit some fault, it is very difficult to avoid the snare. Hence, one of the reasons which humbles them most, who are best acquainted with themselves, is,

observing how often their better resolutions become fickle, and inconstant, in the hour of temptation; and by observing, that many, in that hour, slide into those faults, which, at another time, they could not believe it had been possible they should ever have committed. I conclude, therefore, that we must necessarily return to this point, that men -do not know what they should desire, or fear; and

as