counsels are inscrutable; the manner of his knowledge transcendeth thy conception.

"Pay therefore to his wisdom all ho"nour and veneration, and bow down "thyself in humble and submissive obe"dience to his supreme direction."

The Lord is gracious and beneficent; he hath created the world in mercy and love. His goodness is conspicuous in all his works; he is the fountain of excellence, the centre of perfection.

The creatures of his hand declare his goodness, and all their enjoyments speak his praise; he clotheth them with beauty, he supporteth them with food, he preserveth them with pleasure from generation to generation.

If we lift up our eyes to the heavens, his glory shineth forth: if we cast them down upon the earth, it is full of his goodness; the hills and the vallies rejoice and sing; fields, rivers, and woods resound his praise.

But thee, O man, he hath distinguished with peculiar favour; and exalted thy

station above all creatures.

He hath endued thee with reason, to maintain thy dominion: he hath fitted thee with language, to improve by society; and exalted thy mind with the powers of meditation to contemplate and adore his inimitable perfections.

And in the laws he hath ordained as the

LIFE.

ECONOMY of HUMAN LIFE.

Part II. Man considered in the general— Considered in regard to his infirmities and their effects-The advantages he may acquire over his fellow-créaturesNatural accidents.

MAN considered in the General.

"O praise his goodness with songs of "thanksgiving, and meditate in silence on "the wonders of his love; let thy heart "overflow with gratitude and acknow"ledgment; let the language of thy lips "speak praise and adoration; let the "actions of thy life shew thy love to his "law."

The Lord is just and righteous, and will judge the earth with equity and truth.

Hath he established his laws in goodness and mercy, and shall he not punish the transgressors thereof?

O think not, bold man! because thy punishment is delayed, that the arm of the Lord is weakened; neither flatter thyself with hopes that he winketh at thy doings.

His eye pierceth the secrets of every heart, and remembereth them for ever; he respecteth not the persons or the stations of men.

The high and the low, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, when the

STRUCTURE.

Weak and ignorant as thou art, O man! humble as thou oughtest to be, O child of the dust! wouldst thou raise thy thoughts to infinite wisdom: wouldst thou see Omnipotence displayed before thee, contemplate thine own frame.

Fearfully and wonderfully art thou made; praise therefore thy Creator with awe, and rejoice before him with reverence.

Wherefore of all creatures art thou only erect, but that thou shouldst behold his works! wherefore art thou to behold, but that thou mayest admire them! wherefore to admire, but that thou mayest adore their and thy Creator!

Wherefore is consciousness reposed in thee alone? and whence is it derived to thee?

It is not in flesh to think; it is not in bones to reason. The lion knoweth not that worms shall eat him; the ox perceiv eth not that he is fed for slaughter. Something is added to thee unlike to

what

what thou seest: something informs thy clay, higher than all that is the object of thy senses. Behold, what is it!

Thy body remaineth perfect after it is fed, therefore it is no part of it; it is immaterial, therefore it is eternal: it is free to act, therefore it is accountable for its actions.

Knoweth the ass the use of food, because his teeth mow down the herbage? or standeth the crocodile erect although his back-bone is as straight as thine?

God formed thee as he had formed these after them all wert thou created; superiority and command were given thee over all, and of his own breath did he communicate to thee thy principle of knowledge.

Know thyself then the pride of his creation, the link uniting divinity and matter; behold a part of God himself within thee; remember thine own dignity, nor dare to descend to evil or meanness.

Who planted terror in the tail of the serpent? Who clothed the neck of the horse with thunder? Even he who hath instructed thee to crush the one under thy feet, and to tame the other to thy purposes.

233. Of the USE of the SENSES.

Vaunt not of thy body, because it was first formed; nor of thy brain, because therein thy soul resideth. Is not the master of the house more honourable than its walls?

The ground must be prepared before corn be planted; the potter must build his furnace before he can make his porcelain.

As the breath of Heaven sayeth unto the waters of the deep, This way shall thy billows roll, and no other; thus high and no higher shall they raise their fury; so let thy spirit, O man, actuate and direct thy flesh; so let it repress its wildness. Thy soul is the monarch of thy frame; suffer not its subjects to rebel against Thy body is as the globe of the earth, thy bones the pillars that sustain it on its

basis.

it.

As the ocean giveth rise to springs, whose waters return again into its bosom through the rivers, so runneth thy life from thy heart outwards, and so runneth it into its place again.

Do not both retain their course for ever? Behold, the same God ordaineth them.

Is not thy nose the channel to perfumes? thy mouth the path to delicacies? Yet

know thou that perfumes long smelt become offensive, that delicacies destroy the appetite they flatter.

Are not thine eyes the centinels that watch for thee? yet how often are they unable to distinguish truth from error?

Keep thy soul in moderation, teach thy spirit to be attentive to its good; so shall these its ministers be always open to the conveyance of truth.

Thine hand is it not a miracle? is there in the creation aught like unto it? wherefore was it given thee, but that thou mightest stretch it out to the assistance of thy brother?

Why of all things living art thou alone. made capable of blushing? The world shall read thy shame upon thy face: therefore do nothing shameful.

Fear and dismay, why rob they the countenance of its ruddy splendour? Avoid guilt, and thou shalt know that fear is beneath thee; that dismay is unmanly.

Wherefore to thee alone speak shadows in the visions of thy pillow? Reverence them; for know that dreams are from on high.

Thou man alone can speak. Wonder at thy glorious prerogative; and pay to him who gave it thee a rational and wel come praise, teaching thy children wisdom, instructing the offspring of thy loins in piety.

§ 234. The SOUL of MAN, its ORIGIN and AFFECTIONS.

The blessings, O man! of thy external part are health, vigour, and proportion. The greatest of these is health. What health is to the body, even that is honesty to the soul.

That thou hast a soul, is of all knowledge the most certain, of all truths the most plain unto thee. Be meek, be grateful for it. Seek not to know it gratefully: it is inscrutable.

Thinking, understanding, reasoning, willing, call not these the soul! They are its actions, but they are not its essence.

Raise it not too high, that thou be not despised. Be not thou ke unto those who fall by climbing; neither debase it to the sense of bittes; nor be thou like unto the horse and the mule, in whom there is no understanding.

Search it by its faculties; know it by its virtues. They are more in number

than

than the hairs of thy head: the stars of heaven are not to be counted with them.

Think not with Arabia, that one soul is parted among all men: neither believe thou with the sons of Egypt, that every man hath many know, that as thy heart, so also thy soul is one.

Doth not the sun harden the clay? doth it not also soften the wax? As it is one sun that worketh both, even so it is one soul that willeth contraries.

As the moon retaineth her nature though darkness spread itself before her face as a curtain, so the soul remaineth perfect even in the bosom of a fool.

She is immortal; she is unchangeable; she is alike in all. Health calleth her forth to shew her loveliness, and application anointeth her with the oil of wisdom.

Although she shall live after thee, think not she was born before thee. She was concreated with thy flesh, and formed with thy brain.

Justice could not give her to thee exalted by virtues, nor mercy deliver her to thee deformed by vices. These must be thine, and thou must answer for them.

Suppose not death can shield thee from examination; think not corruption can hide thee from inquiry. He who formed thee of thou knowest not what, can he not raise thee to thou knowest not what again?

Perceiveth not the cock the hour of midnight? Exalteth he not his voice, to tell thee it is morning? Knoweth not the dog the footsteps of his master? and flieth not the wounded goat unto the herb that healeth him? Yet when these die, their spirit returneth to the dust: thine alone surviveth. Envy not to these their senses, because quicker than thine own. Learn that the advantage lieth not in possessing good things, but in the knowing to use them.

Hadst thou the ear of a stag, or were thine eye as strong and piercing as the eagle's; didst thou equal the hounds in smell; or could the ape resign to thee his taste, or the tortoise her feeling; yet without reason, what would they avail thee? Perish not all these like their kindred?

Hath any one of them the gift of speech? Can any say unto thee, Therefore did I so?

The lips of the wise are as the doors of a cabinet; no sooner are they opened, but treasures are poured out before thee.

Like unto trees of gold arranged in beds of silver, are wise sentences uttered in due

season.

Canst thou think too greatly of thy soul? or can too much be said in its praise? It is the image of him who gave it.

Remember thou its dignity for ever: forget not how great a talent is committed to thy charge.

Whatsoever may do good may also do harm. Beware that thou direct her course

to virtue.

Think not that thou canst lose her in the crowd; suppose not that thou canst bury her in thy closet. Action is her delight, and she will not be withheld from it.

Her motion is perpetual; her attempts are universal; her agility is not to be suppressed. Is it at the uttermost parts of the earth? she will have it: Is it beyond the region of the stars? yet will her eye discover it.

Inquiry is her delight. As one who traverseth the burning sands in search of water, so is the soul that searcheth after knowledge.

Guard her, for she is rash; restrain her, for she is irregular; correct her, for she is outrageous; more supple is she than water, more flexible than wax, more yielding than air. Is there aught can bind her?

As a sword in the hand of a madman, even so is the soul to him who wanteth discretion.

The end of her search is truth; her means to discover it are reason and experience. But are not these weak, uncertain, and fallacious? How then shall she attain unto it?

General opinion is no proof of truth, for the generality of men are ignorant.

Perceivest thou of thyself, the knowledge of him who created thee, the sense of the worship thou owest unto him? Are not these plain before thy face? And be hold! what is there more that man needeth to know?

$235.

man.

Think not with the fool, that nothing is more valuable: nor believe with the pretended wise, that thou oughtest to contemn it. Love it not for itself, but for the good it may be of to others.

Gold cannot buy it for thee, neither can mines of diamonds purchase back the moment thou hast now lost of it. Employ the succeeding ones in virtue.

Say not, that it were best not to have been born; or if born, that it had been best to die early; neither dare thou to ask of thy Creator, Where had been the evil that I had not existed? Good is in thy power; the want of good is evil and if the question be just, lo! it condemneth

thee.

Would the fish swallow the bait if he knew the hook was hidden therein ? would the lion enter the toils if he saw they were prepared for him? So neither were the soul to perish with this clay, would man wish to live: neither would a merciful God have created him know hence thou shalt live afterward.

As the bird is inclosed in the cage before he seeth it, yet teareth not his flesh against its sides; so neither labour thou vainly to run from the state thou art in; but know it is allotted thee, and be content with it. Though its ways are uneven, yet are they not all painful. Accommodate thyself to all; and where there is least appearance of evil, suspect the greatest danger. When thy bed is straw, thou sleepest in security; but when thou stretchest thyself on roses, beware of the thorns.

A good death is better than an evil life: strive, therefore, to live as long as thou oughtest, not as long as thou canst. While thy life is to others worth more than thy death, it is thy duty to preserve it.

Complain not with the fool, of the shortness of thy time: remember that with thy days, thy cares are shortened.

Take from the period of thy life the seless parts of it, and what remaineth? Take off the time of thine infancy, the second infancy of age, thy sleep, thy thoughtless hours, thy days of sickness: and even at the fulness of years, how few seasons hast thou truly numbered? He who gave thee life as a blessing, shortened it to make it more so. To what end would longer life have served thee? Wishest thou to have had an opportunity of more vices? As to the good, will not he who limited thy span, be satisfied with the fruits of it?

To what end, O child of sorrow! wouldst thou live longer? to breathe, to eat, to see the world? All this thou hast done often already. Too frequent repetition, is it not tiresome? or is it not superfluous ?

Wouldst thou improve thy wisdom and thy virtue? Alas! what art thou to know? or who is it that shall teach thee? Badly thou employest the little that thou hast, dare not, therefore, to complain that more is not given thee.

Repine not at the want of knowledge; it must perish with thee in the grave. Be honest here, thou shalt be wise hereafter?

Say not unto the crow, Why numberest thou seven times the age of thy lord? or to the fawn, Why are thine eyes to see my offspring to an hundred generations? Are these to be compared with thee in the abuse of life? are they riotous? are they cruel? are they ungrateful? Learn from them rather, that innocence of life and simplicity of manners are the paths to a good old age.

Knowest thou to employ life better than these? Then less of it may suffice thee.

Man who dares enslave the world when he knows he can enjoy his tyranny but a moment, what would he not aim at if he were immortal?

Enough hast thou of life, but thou regardest it not: thou art not in want of it, Ŏ man! but thou art prodigal: thou throwest it slightly away, as if thou hadst more than enough; and yet thou repinest that it is not gathered again unto thee?

Know that it is not abundance which maketh rich, but economy.

The wise continueth to live from his first period: the fool is always beginning.

Labour not after riches first, and think thou afterwards wilt enjoy them. He who neglecteth the present moment, throweth away all he hath. As the arrow passeth through the heart, while the warrior knew not that it was coming; so shall his life be taken away before he knoweth that he hath it.

What then is life that man should desire it? what breathing, that he should covet it?

Is it not a scene of delusion, a series of misadventures, a pursuit of evils linked on all sides together? In the beginning it is ignorance, pain is in its middle, and its end is sorrow.

As one wave pusheth on another till both are involved in that behind them, even so succeedeth evil to evil in the life of man ;

the