furnish one manly fentiment? to fupport his finking fpirits? to administer one word of comfort or confolation? He dares not look upwards, towards GOD; or he looks up with doubts and mifgivings; or rather, ftruggling against his own conviction, he endeavours to wish

there may be no avenger of right or wrong. Himself he cannot fly to; for his confcience is his worft accufer. The world has forfaken him, the companions of his fins have been either cut off before, or now look upon him as an outcaft, or harrow up his foul with the remembrance of what he was before.

LET us now reverse the scene, and see, how a good man behaves in the season of trial and vifitation. He has a common chance of obtaining the bleffings of life if the world frowns upon him and disappoints his honeft endeavours, he has not the ftinging reflection, that vice and folly brought him to that state. He looks not upon the world as a wild ungoverned

ungoverned ftate; he knows, there is a Providence, governing it by certain general laws, to which he muft fubmit. He fubmits with chearfulness: his interefts cannot be lodged in fafer hands. He, that trufts in God, really abideth under the Shadow of the Almighty; and cannot be finally fruftrated, where infinite power and goodness prefide. He uses this season of reflection, to examine his past life and converfation; he corrects his errors, forms better refolutions; he feels himself improved in the school of affliction, and has the affurance of being rescued either here, or abundantly rewarded hereafter.

IT requires, I believe, no great share of experience, to know, that Providence often brings about the happieft iffues from incidents of the most ominous unpromifing afpect.

ONE man, you fee, in the journey of life, goes along happy and well-pleafed with himself; the road feems plain and

easy,

eafy, the weather is fair, the country presents the most delightful profpects to beguile and amuse his fteps: he wants no guide; he is fufficiently fecure in his own direction-when, on a fudden, the road vanishes, and he finds himself entangled and loft in wilds, at a distance from all relief and affiftance. Another encounters with nothing but difafters : as he just sets off, the skies frown, the road grows rough; darkness overtakes him; gloom and despair lie before him; deftruction seems ready to overwhelm him-when, on a fudden, the darkness unexpectedly clears up, the road widens, and he finds himself, contrary to all his hopes, in the place, where he would be, happy, triumphant, and amply rewarded for all his past anxieties.

How many (to drop the metaphor, how many) have found their fondeft, beft concerted schemes end in misery; how many have been, as it were, furprized into happiness, by means, that threat

H

threatened their utter deftruction? There is hardly any one, who cannot recollect occurrences of this kind in his life. He has been disappointed in fome favourite wish that disappointment has been his prefervation. His enemies have endeavoured to oppress him: their malice has only ferved to crown his merit with double honour.—Where we are not wanting to ourselves in industry and perfeverance, there is always hope: in the midst of darkness, light fuddenly springs up to direct us; want is but an introduction to plenty; fick nefs ferves only to give a truer relifh of health, and mifcarriage is the direct path and avenue to fuccefs.

THERE are, in short, but two or three exceptions to be made, and then we may place our confidence in Providence, without any danger or poffibility of deception.

Ir is poffible, men, not otherwise immoral or ill difpofed towards religion,

may

may sometimes want the more enterprizing virtues of active life. * Providence works by certain ftated methods, requiring the co-operation of human powers to expect fuccefs in any profeffion, without taking pains to understand and exercise it; to expect riches without industry and prudence; or health without exercise and temperance, fuch things are contrary to the Divine laws, and disappointment is in fuch cases an evil of our own creation.

WE are liable alfo to evil from the close connexions of fociety. The good and bad grow up together; their interefts are connected; they afford mutual

* Ουδε θεμις εσι αιτεισθαι παρα των θεων, ούτε, ιππεύειν μη μαθοντας, ιππομαχουτας νικαν ούτε, μη επισαμένους τοξευειν, τοξευονίας κραΐειν των επιταμένων τοξεύειν· ούτε, μη επιτάμενες κυβερναν, σωζειν ευχεσθαι ναυς κυβερνωνίας, &c. παρα γαρ τες των θεων θεσμες πανία τα τοιαυτα εστι· τ8ς δε αθέμιτα ευχομενος ομοίως εικός εσι παρα θεων ατυχειν, ωσπερ και παρα ανθρώπων απρακΐειν τες παρανομα δεομένες.