fants-from the incredibility of fo horrid an account—are filenced by this account of the man; fince, in this, he acted but like himself, and just so as you would expect, in the fame circumftances, from every man of fo ambitious a head-and fo bad a heart.-Confider, what havoc ambition has made-how often the fame tragedy has been acted upon larger theatres —where not only the innocence of childhood-or the grey hairs of the aged, have found no protection--but whole countries without diftinction have been put to the fword, or, what is as cruel, have been driven forth to nakedness and famine, to make way for new ones, under the guidance of this paffion-For a fpecimen of this, reflect upon the story related by Plutarch: when, by order of the Roman fenate, feventy populous cities were unawares facked and deftroyed, at one prefixed hour, by P. Æmiliusby whom one hundred and fifty thousand unhappy people were driven in one day into captivity-to be fold to the highest bidder, to end their days in cruel labour

and anguish. As astonishing as the account before us is, it vanishes into nothing from fuch views, fince it is plain from all history, that there is no wickednefs too great for fo unbounded a caufe, and that the most horrid accounts in hiftory are, as I faid above, but too probable effects of it.

May GOD of his mercy defend mankind from future experiments of this kind -and grant we may make a proper use of them, for the fake of Jefus Christ. Amen.

N 4

SERMON X.

Job's Account of the Shortnefs and Troubles of Life, confidered.

JOB XIV. I, 2.

Man that is born of a woman, is of a few days, and full of trouble-He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth alfo as a fhadow, and continueth not.

HERE

THE is fomething in this reflection of holy Job's, upon the fhortness of life, and inftability of human affairs, fo beautiful and truly fublime; that one might challenge the writings of the most celebrated orators of antiquity, to produce a fpecimen of eloquence, fo noble and thoroughly affecting. Whether this effect be owing in fome measure to the pathetic nature of the fubject reflected on; or to the eastern manner of expreffion, in a style more exalted and fuitable to fo great a

fubject, or (which is the more likely account), because they are properly the words of that Being, who first inspired man with language, and taught his mouth to utter; who opened the lips of the dumb, and made the tongue of the infant eloquent;-to which of these we are to refer the beauty and fublimity of this, as well as that of numberless other paffages in holy writ, may not seem now material; but furely without these helps, never man was better qualified to make just and noble reflections upon the shortnefs of life, and inftability of human affairs, than Job was, who had himself waded through fuch a fea of troubles, and in his paffage had encountered many viciffitudes of storms and funfhine, and by turns had felt both the extremes, of all the happiness, and all the wretchedness, that mortal man is heir to.

The beginning of his days was crowned with every thing that ambition could wish for ;-he was the greateft of all the men of the Eaft-had