HEN thou hast no observers, be afraid of thy

W

self; that which you are afraid to do before

men, be afraid to think of before God.

In your worst estate, hope, in the best, fear, but in all, be circumspect: man is a watch, which must be looked to and wound up every day.

Discontent is the greatest weakness of a generous soul, for many times it is so intent upon its unhappiness, that it forgets its remedies.

Hope will be your best antidote against all misfortune, and God's omnipotency an excellent mean to fix your soul.

More perish through too much confidence than by too much fear; where one despairs, there are thousands that presume.

A good conscience seats the mind on a rich throne of lasting quiet, but horror waits upon a guilty soul.

He that grieves for the loss of casual comforts shall never want occasion of sorrow.

There is no greater instance of a weak and pusillanimous temper, than for a man to pass his whole life in opposition to his own sentiments, and not dare to be what he thinks he ought to be.

Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil, but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it; nor should it be suffered to tyrannize in the imagination, to raise phantoms of horror, or beset life with supernumerary distresses.

A man cannot be truly happy here without a wellgrounded hope of being happy hereafter.

Fear not that which cannot be avoided. It is extreme folly to make yourself miserable before your time, or to fear that which it may be will never come, or if it does, may possibly be converted into your felicity. For it often falls out that that which we most feared, when it comes, brings much happiness with it.

All fear is in itself painful: and when it conduces not to safety, is painful without use.

"A wise man," said Seneca, "is provided for occurrences of any kind: the good he manages, the bad he vanquishes. In prosperity he betrays no presumption, and in adversity he feels no despondency."

Be rather confidently bold than foolishly timorous: he that in everything fears to do well, will, at length, do ill in all.

Hopes and cares, anger and fears, divide our life. Would you be free from these anxieties, think every day will be your last, and then the succeeding hours will be the more welcome, because unexpected.

If some are refined, like gold, in the furnace of affliction, there are many more that, like chaff, are consumed in it. Sorrow, when it is excessive, takes away fervour from piety, vigour from action, health from the body, light from reason, and repose from the conscience, unless supported by the grace of God.

The expectation of future happiness is the best relief of anxious thoughts, the most perfect cure of melancholy, the guide of life, and the comfort of death.

It is impossible to see the long scrolls in which every contract is included, with all their appendages of seals and attestations, without wondering at the depravity of those beings who must be restrained

from violation of promise by such formal and public evidences, and precluded from equivocation and subterfuge by such punctilious minuteness. Among all the satires to which folly and wickedness have given occasion, none is equally severe with a bond or a settlement.

Man could direct his ways by plain reason, and support his life by tasteless food; but God has given us wit, and flavour, and brightness, and laughter, and perfumes, to enliven the days of man's pilgrimage, and to "charm his painèd steps o'er the burning marl."-Rev. Sydney Smith.

He that denies to give alms for fear of being poor, or to entertain a disciple for fear of being suspected of the party, or to own a duty for fear of being put to venture for a crown; he that takes part of the intemperance, because he dares not displease the company, or in any sense fears the fears of the world, and not the fear of God-this man enters into his portion of fear betimes, but it will not be finished to eternal ages. To fear the censures of men, when God is your Judge; to fear their evil, when God is your Defence; to fear death, when He is the entrance to life and felicity, is unreasonable and pernicious. But if you will turn your passion into duty, joy, and

security, fear to offend God, to enter voluntarily into temptation; fear the alluring face of lust, and the smooth entertainments of intemperance; fear the anger of God, when you have deserved it; and when you have recovered from the snare, then infinitely fear to return into that condition, in which whosoever dwell is the heir of fear and eternal sorrow.-Jeremy Taylor.

Human life hath not a surer friend, nor many times a greater enemy than hope.-Feltham.