to restore and augment them to thee, when I fee that convenient too.

Nor think me hard and unjuft in thefe Difpenfations; for who fhall forbid me to do what I will with my own? I gave thee what thou could'ft not claim; and I take away what thou haft no right to keep. For every good and perfect Gift is mine, and not James i. 17. a Debt but a Favour. If then Affliction comes, remember 'tis of my fending; and I, who laid the Crofs, can both remove and recompenfe it: I kill and make alive, I bring down to the Grave, and raise up from it; And in the inftant that I lay my Thunder by, and smile again, thy Heavinefs fhall be changed into Joy unspeakable.

1 Sam. ii.

In all my Dealings I am juft, in all am wife, and good; and deserve, not only thy Admiration, but even thy Thanks and Praife; Could't thou but rightly comprehend my Methods, and the fecret Reafons of them, thou would'ft drink up the bitter Potion with Joy; with Joy, upon this very Confideration, that I do not fpare thee to thy hurt, but fend Afflictions in pure kindness to thee, when I forefee they will be for thy Advantage. Obferve the Tenure of my gracious Promife to my beft beloved Difciples: As my Father loved me, even fo bave I loved you. But both

John xvi. my Father's Love to Me, and Mine to them was exprefs'd, not by falfe and tranfitory Joys, but by fharp and long Conflicts; by being called, not to Honours, but to Contumelies and Difgrace; not by indulging them in Eafe and Sloth, but by inuring them to Tryals and Difficulties; by calling them, not to Reft and Peace, but to bring forth noble and generous Fruit with Patience. Remember well these Words, my Son, and then thou canst not think much, to drink of the Cup that I drank of fo deeply, and to be baptized with the Baptifm that I was baptized with. Thou canst not then defpair, or think that

God,

God, in afflicting thee, hath abandoned all Care and Concern for thy Benefit, fince even that tender, that unparallel'd, that unconceivable Affection, with which he loved his own dear Son, hindred not his making that very Captain of thy Salvation perfect

Hebr. ii.

thro' Sufferings. And what art thou? What is the beft of Men in comparison of Him? What are thy Agonies and Tryals, the very worst of thine, in comparison of His?

Difciple.]

CHA P. XXXVI.

Of feeking God alone.

HY Mercy, Lord, is great, which hath thus far affifted me; but ftill I feel I want a larger Portion of thy Grace, which may conduct me to fuch a State of Perfection, as may fecure and fet me at liberty from all the Obftructions which the Creatures lay in my Way. For fo long as I retain an Affection or Concern for any thing in this World, I find my Soul checkt and reftrain'd in her Mountings to Thee and Heaven. How often do I make the Prophet's Wifh my own, Oh that I had Wings like a Dove, for then would I fly away and be

Pfalm lv. at reft; Lo then would I get me away far off, and remain at a distance from the World. Now what is more at ease, more abftracted from the World, than a true fingle-hearted Honefty? What can boast of Freedom equal to His, who covets nothing upon Earth? All created Beings fhould indeed be paffed over, and left behind in this Flight, and a Man muft make a Stretch even beyond himself, and abandon his own Natural Inclinations and Defects, in order to get a distinct View of the Creator, and thofe Perfections in him, to which

no Creature bears any Refemblance. Now this is the very Reason, why fo few employ their Thoughts in Heavenly Contemplations with any fenfible Delight; because when they attempt it, they do it unskilfully; and bring thofe Worldly Affections along with them, that damp and difguft them in the Undertaking.

It is not, I confefs, an eafie Matter; nay, 'tis not poffible to Flesh and Blood, by its own Strength, thus to purge the Affections: Nothing lefs than a liberal and very powerful Infpiration of Divine Grace can thus exalt the Mind, and as it were, carry the Man out of himself: But till fuch Exaltation of the Soul have difengaged one from all Temporal Interefts, and fix'd down his Defires to that one Object worthy of them, God himfelf; all his Knowledge and imagined Excellencies are very little worth. For whatever false Notions of Honour and Greatnefs Men may delude themselves with, yet ftill all they have poor and little Souls, and dote upon that which ought to be difdained, who allow any thing, befides the Infinite and Eternal God, a very honourable Place in their Affections and Esteem. For All which is not God, is Vanity and Nothing, and ought to be nothing regarded. How vaft a difference is there between the Wisdom of a mortified pious Man, enlightned from above; and the pompous Learning of a profound and ftudious Divine? That Knowledge which defcends from above, fpeaks its heavenly Original, by marvelous and noble Effects; and works a greater Change in the Man, a greater Improvement in profitable Knowledge, than all that Comprehenfion, which the best Capacities, and the most indefatigable Industry can ever attain to.

We often hear very glorious Characters of Divine Contemplation, and the wonderful Delights and Tranfports attending it; and These a great many appear

very fond of, but then they have no regard to the neceffary Preparations for it; their Minds are full of fenfible Idea's, and poffefs'd with the things of this prefent World, and the Subduing and Mortifying their Defires and Paffions is a Matter they take no care about: And while their Affairs continue in this Pofture, they are in no degree qualified for thofe Ex'ercifes of the Mind. Methinks it is a moft unaccountable Folly, and argues that Men forget what Spirit they are of, when they call themselves Chriftians, i. e. Spiritual Perfons that have folemnly renounced the World with its Vanities, and the Flesh with its finful Lufts; who profefs to believe and to feek Happiness in a future State, and to place that Happiness in the Perfection of their Souls; and yet, in Reproach and Contradiction to thefe Profeffions, fuffer Body and Senfe to run away with them; lay out themselves entirely upon perishing and paltry Advantages, while the fubftantial and everlasting are wretchedly neglected, and their Souls fo perfectly forgotten,that they scarce afford one serious thought to their moft important concerns. Or, if at any time we set our felves to think, fome Trifle presently interrupts and draws us off from any profitable Recollections. Nay, we our felves fly out, and are glad to be diverted from a severe Examination into our own State, which is fure, if diligently pursued, to prefent us with objects of Shame and Sorrow, fuch as will wound our Sight, and foon make us weary of this neceffary Work. Thus we never trouble our felves to obferve which way our Inclinations are difpofed, or whither they tend; nor do we seriously bewail the abominable Impurity of our Hearts, though there be nothing but Impurity there. The way of all Flesh is corrupt upon Gen. vi, the Earth; and that univerfal Corruption fays the Scripture, brought a Flood to deftroy Mankind and every Creature. But whence, do we think,

pro

proceeds fuch Corruption of Manners? from the Corrupt Affections of Men, no doubt. For, if this Fountain be not fweet, the Action, which is but a Stream and Emanation from it, muft of neceffity be flat and bitter. For a pure Heart is the Ground-work of a holy Life; and as naturally fprings from it, as the

Fruit from the Tree.

And herein we are much to blame, that fo little Regard is had to the Difpofitions of the Heart; without which no true Judgment can ever be made, either of our felves or others. But this, which is in truth of greatest Confequence; the very point upon which a Man's whole Character turns, feems to be laid aside, as a thing too nice and fpeculative to be very curious in. We fix our Eyes upon the outward Action, confider what, or how much a Man hath done; but with what Sincerity, with what Zeal, with what honeft Intention he did it, or whether with none of all these Qualifications, we trouble not our felves to enquire. So again, for the Estimate we make of Perfons, they are all foreign from the true and proper Foundation of Merit and Refpect; The Riches, Valour, Beauty, Judgment, Wit, Elcquence, a good Style, or a sweet Voice, or a Knack of Management in Town or Country-bufinefs, his Preferments, or his Profeffion, Thefe we immediately take care to be informed of, and proportion our Value and Respects accordingly; but a Man's Humility and Poverty of Spirit, his Meekness and Patience, his Devotion and Piety, Thefe are feldom mentioned in the Character, or recommended as Motives to induce Regard. Thus Nature and Grace have their different Profpects and Affections. The former looks at the Outside of a Man, and rates him according to things that are not his; the latter places all within, and fets not at all by external Ornaments and Advantages: The former builds upon a

falfe