if thou hunt after it, it destroys thee.

If virtue accompany it, it is the heart's paradise; if vice associate it, it is the soul's purgatory. It is the wise man's bonfire, and the fool's furnace."

"Hath any wronged thee? Be bravely revenged slight it, and the work's begun; forgive it, and 'tis finished. He is below himself that is not above an injury."

want.

"Consider not so much what thou hast, as what others What thou hast, take heed thou lose not: what thou hast not, take heed thou covet not. If thou hast many above thee, turn thy eye upon those that are under thee: if thou hast no inferiors, have patience awhile, and thou shalt have no superiors. The grave requires no marshal."

"If thou expect death as a friend, prepare to entertain it : if thou expect death as an enemy, prepare to overcome it: death has no advantage, but when it comes a stranger."

"Insult not over misery, nor deride infirmity, nor despise deformity. The first shews thy inhumanity; the second, thy folly; the third, thy pride. He that made him miserable, made thee happy to lament him: He that made him weak, made thee strong to support him: He that made him deformed, gave thee favour to be humbled. He that is not sensible of another's unhappiness, is a living stone; but he that makes misery the object of his triumph, is an incarnate devil."

"Be very vigilant over thy child in the April of his understanding, lest the frosts of May nip his blossoms. While he is a tender twig, straighten him; whilst he is a new vessel, season him; such as thou makest him, such commonly shalt thou find him. Let his first lesson be obedience, and his second shall be what thou wilt. Give him education in good letters, to the utmost of thy ability and his capacity. Season his youth with the love of his Creator, and make the fear of his God the beginning of his knowledge. If he have an active spirit, rather rectify than curb it; but reckon idleness among

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his chiefest faults. As his judgment ripens, observe his inclination, and tender him a calling that shall not cross it: Forced marriages and callings seldom prosper. Shew him both the mow and the plough; and prepare him as well for the danger of the skirmish, as possess him with the honour of the prize."

The little volume entitled " Judgment and Mercy for Afflicted Souls," is a series of soliloquies, interrupted, as it were, by the voice of God in His Word, and ending in prayer.—

Thus :

The Fearful Man's Conflict.

How

"How potent are the infirmities of flesh and blood! How weak is nature's strength ! How strong her weakness! is my easy faith abused by my deceitful sense! How is my understanding blinded with deluding error! How is my will perverted with apparent good! If real good present itself, how purblind is mine eye to view it! if viewed, how dull is my understanding to apprehend it! if apprehended, how heartless is my judgment to allow it! if allowed, how unwilling is my will to choose it! if chosen, how fickle are my resolutions to retain it! No sooner are my resolutions fixed upon a course of grace, but nature checks at my resolves; no sooner checked, but straight my will repents her choice, my judgment recalls her sentence, my understanding mistrusts her light; and then my sense calls flesh and blood to counsel, which wants no arguments to break me off. The difficulty of the journey daunts me; the straitness of the gate dismays me; the doubt of the reward diverts me; the loss of worldly pleasure here deters me; the loss of earthly honour there dissuades me; here the strictness of religion damps me, there the world's contempt disheartens me; here the fear of my preferment discourages me: thus is my yielding sense assaulted with

my conquering doubts; thus are my militant hopes made captive to my prevailing fears; whence if happily ransomed by some good motion, the devil presents me with a beadroll of my offences: the flesh suggests the necessity of my sin, the world objects the foulness of my shame; where, if I plead the mercy and goodness of my God, the abuse of His mercy weakens my trust, the slighting of His goodness hardens my heart against my hopes. With what an host of enemies art thou besieged, my soul! How, how art thou beleaguered with continual fears! How doth the guilt of thy unworthiness cry down the hopes of all compassion! Thy confidence of mercy is conquered by the consciousness of thy own demerits, and thou art taken prisoner, and bound in the horrid chains of sad despair.

"But cheer up, my soul, and turn thy fears to wonder and thanksgiving; trust in Him that saith, 'Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you a kingdom.' (Luke xii. 32.)

"He hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.'-(Col. i. 13.)

"Exhort them to continue in the faith, and that we must through many tribulations enter into the kingdom of God.'(Acts xiv. 22.)

"Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, that they should be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to them that love Him?'-(James ii. 5.)

"I appoint you a kingdom, as my Father appointed to me. -(Luke xxii. 29.)

"Hast thou crucified the Lord of glory, O my soul, and hast thou so much boldness to expect His kingdom? Consult with reason, and review thy merits; which done, behold that Jesus whom thou crucifiedst even making intercession for thee, and offering thee a crown of glory. Behold the greatness of thy Creator veiled with the goodness of thy Redeemer; the

justice of a first person qualified by the mercy of a second; the purity of the divine nature uniting itself with the human in one Emmanuel; a perfect man to suffer, a perfect God to pardon; and both God and man in one person, at the same instant, able and willing to give and take a perfect satisfaction for thee. O my soul, a wonder above wonders! an incomprehensibility above all admiration! a depth past finding out! Under this shadow, O my soul, refresh thyself: if thy sins fear the hand of justice, behold thy sanctuary: if thy offences tremble before the Judge, behold thy Advocate: if thy creditor threaten a prison, behold thy bail: behold the Lamb of God that hath taken thy sins from thee: behold the Blessed of heaven and earth that hath prepared a kingdom for thee. Be ravished, O my soul; O bless the name of Elohim; O bless the name of our Emmanuel with praises and eternal hallelujahs.

"Great Shepherd of my soul, whose life was not too dear to rescue me, the meanest of thy little flock, cast down thy gracious eye upon the weakness of my nature, and behold it in the strength of thy compassion: open mine eyes that I may see that object which flesh cannot behold. Enlighten mine understanding, that I may clearly discern that truth which my ignorance cannot apprehend: rectify my judgment, that I may confidently resolve those doubts which my understanding cannot determine: sanctify my will, that I may wisely choose that good which my deceived heart cannot desire: fortify my resolution, that I may constantly embrace that choice which my inconstancy cannot hold weaken the strength of my corrupted nature, that I may struggle with my lusts, and strive against the base rebellions of my flesh. Strengthen the weakness of my dejected spirit, that I may conquer myself, and still withstand the assaults of mine own corruption: moderate my delight in the things of this world, and keep my desires within the limits of thy will; let the points of my thoughts be directed

to thee, and let my hopes rest in the assurance of thy favour : let not the fear of worldly loss dismay me, nor let the loss of the world's favour daunt me let my joy in thee exceed all worldly grief, and let the love of thee expel all carnal fear: let the multitudes of my offences be hid in the multitude of thy compassions, and let the reproachfulness of that death which thy Son suffered for my sake enable me to suffer all reproach for his sake: let not my sin against thy mercies, remove thy mercies from my sin; and let the necessity of my offences be swallowed up in the all-sufficiency of his merits : let not the foulness of my transgressions lead me to distrust, nor let the distrust of thy pardon leave me in despair. Fix in my heart a filial love, that I may love thee as a father, and remove all servile fear from me, that thou mayest behold me as a son. Be thou my all in all, and let me fear nothing but to displease thee; that being freed from the fear of thy wrath, may live in the comfort of thy promise, die in the fulness of thy favour, and rise to the inheritance of an everlasting kingdom."

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