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which will not only vindicate the goodness SERM. of God from any impeachment, but will exhibit it even in a more amiable light, than if man had never offended nor been condemned. Reflect-you were created happy, by your own faults you became miserable; your Creator, notwithstanding, redeemed you from this state; he bought you with a price, and, merciful God! with what a price-even with the blood of his only Son-and the only penance for your guilt is a mixture of misery with happiness, in that short interval which passes between the cradle and the grave.

But, to set this matter in a still stronger light, there is much reason to believe that those sufferings, to which we are exposed in this world, are absolutely necessary for the recovery of that perfection, in which we were first created, and for the regaining of that dignity and purity which we forfeited by the fall: this conclusion is supported

VOL. II.

by

SERM. by many passages in scripture, wherein the

XIII.

Almighty is introduced, expressing his un
willingness to afflict the children of men,
and assigning their improvement in good-
ness and holiness, as the reason and ground
of his chastisements. It is likewise con-
firmed by what we read of past ages, and

what we see in our own: the best and
most virtuous characters, which history,
either sacred or profane, hath handed
down to us, were, generally speaking, those
who were most exercised in afflictions;
and we cannot but, ourselves, have observed
the tendency of prosperity to corrupt,
of adversity, to purify the heart; what is
true of individuals, is probably true of the
whole; we have, therefore, a presumptive
proof that the misery, which was intro-
duced by sin, is absolutely necessary to
bring us back to virtue; and thus the af-
flictions, with which God visits his children,
become the highest favours,-his severest

chas

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chastisements, the most tender mercies. SERM. Upon the whole, I trust that the goodness of God will stand clearly vindicated; we were created happy at first, till by our own fault we became miserable; it will again be our own fault, (if we are not happy at the last; God desires it, and has graciously invented a way to bring it about: and still farther, the sublunary cares and sorrows to which we are, in the mean time, liable, are the necessary steps to our restoration.

Having thus shewn that the miseries, which are to be met with in human life, are no impeachment of the benevolence of the Almighty, I now proceed to what I proposed in the second place, to point out the unreasonableness and ingratitude of discontent and despondency. Each of those arguments, which I have been using, to free from imputation the goodness of God in permitting or inflicting evils, is equally ef ficacious to silence the murmurs of those indivi.

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SER M. individuals, to whose lot they fall: they were not originally designed for us, but having been introduced by the folly and guilt of our first ancestor, they are necessary and unavoidable; and not only so, but they are in a high degree salutary and medicinal; and if we make that use of them, which we are expected to make and may make, if we are so disposed, they will be the means of our restoration to our original dignity and happiness; they will endure but for a moment, and will work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Here I might rest the cause; the above considerations are alone sufficient to prove the injustice of discontent and despondency, in any situation, however miserable; but there is yet more that may be said, which will place it in still more glaring colours.

Though it must be allowed, that some portion of misery will fall to the share of all men; that no prudence, virtue, or good fortune,

Let

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fortune, can entirely escape it; yet I be- SERM. lieve that it may be assumed, and will hold true for the most part, that the hours which we spend in ease and happiness are greatly superior, in number, to those which are passed in misery and pain. Even in this life, there are many positive pleasures that the virtuous enjoy, which, generally speaking, far overbalance their woes. us view our condition with impartial eyes, and be just to the bounty of heaven. Happiness, even on earth, is sown with no scanty hand, if we have but the disposition to reap it. Ungrateful as we are, we number and exaggerate our sorrows, while we suffer our various enjoyments to pass unheeded! Do we count as nothing the comforts which arise from the constant intercourse with our Maker by religion, the satisfaction of an approving conscience, and the hopes of eternal felicity, through the merits and death of our Redeemer? Heavy indeed

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