THE difcontents of the poor are much easier allayed, than thofe of the rich.

WHAT tho' no object strike upon the fight,
Thy facred prefence is an inward light.
What tho' no found fhall penetrate the ear,
To lift'ning faith the voice of truth is clear.
Sincere devotion wants no outward fhrine,
The centre of an humble foul is thine.

There may I worship, and there may'ft thou raise
Thy feat of glory, and thy throne of grace;
Yea, fix (if Chrift my advocate appear)
The ftrict tribunal of thy juftice there.

Let each vain thought, and each impure defire,
Meet in thy wrath with a confuming fire.
Thou too can't raise (tho' punishing for fin)
The joys of peaceful penitence within;
Thy juftice and thy mercy both are sweet;
Thou mak'ft our fufferings and falvation meet.
Befal me, then, whatever God fhall please,
His wounds are healing, and his griefs give eafe.
He is the true phyfician of the foul,
Applies the med'cine that can make it whole.
I'll do, I'll fuffer, whatfoe'er he wills;

I fee his aim thro' all thefe tranfient ills:
'Tis to enfure a falutary grief,

To fit the mind to abfolute relief;

Tillirg'd from ev'ry falfe and finite love,
Dead to the world, alive to things above;
The foul renew'd, as in its firft form'd youth,
Shall worship God in spirit and in truth.

NONE fhould be fo implacable, as to refufe an humble fubmiffion: he whofe very beft actions must be feen with favourable allowance, cannot be too mild, moderate, and forgiving.

A PASSIONATE temper renders a man unfit for advice; deprives him of his reafon; robs him of all that is great or noble in his nature. It makes him unfit for converfation;

converfation; deftroys friendship; changes justice into cruelty; and turns all order into confufion.

THERE is no greater fign of a mean and fordid spirit, fays Cicero, than to doat upon riches; nor is any thing more magnificent, than to lay them out freely in acts of bounty and liberality.

A FIRM truft in the affiftance of an Almighty Being, naturally produces patience, hope, chearfulness, and all other difpofitions of mind, that alleviate those calamities which we are not able to remove.

DIVINE Providence always places the remedy near the evil. There is not any duty, to which Providence has not annexed a blefling; nor any affliction, for which he has not provided a remedy.

A GOOD confcience, and a contented mind, will, make a man happy in all conditions.

HE that overcomes his paffions, conquers his greatest

enemies.

THE defire of being thought wife, is often an hinderance to being fo; for fuch a one is more folicitous to let the world fee what knowledge he hath, than to learn that which he wants.

A WISE man endeavours to fhine in himself; a fool to outfhine others. The firft is humbled by the fenfe of his own infirmities; the laft is lifted up by the difcovery of those which he observes in others. The wife man confiders what he wants; and the fool, what he abounds in. The wife man is happy when he gains his own approbation; and the fool, when he recommends himself to the applaufe of thofe about him.

NO knowledge, which terminates in curiofity and fpeculation, is comparable to that which is of use; and of all useful knowledge, that is most fo which confifts in a due care and just notion of ourselves.

OF all parts of wisdom, the practice is the beft. Socrates was esteemed the wifeft man of his time, because he turned his acquired knowledge into morality, and aimed at goodnefs more than greatness.

THOUGH it be an argument of a great wit, to give ingenious reafons for many wonderful appearances in nature; yet, it is an evidence of small judgment, to be pofitiye in any thing but the knowledge of our own ignorance.

THE highest learning is, to be wife; and the greatest wisdom is, to be good.

INSTEAD of labouring in nice learning and intricate fciences; instead of trifling away precious time upon the fecrets of nature, or myfteries of ftate, it were better to feek that only which is really and fubftantially good.

TRUE philofophy, fays Plato, confifts more in fidelity, conftancy, juftice, fincerity, and in the love of our duty, than in a great capacity.

THE best people need afflictions for trial of their virtue. How can we exercife the grace of contentment, if all things fucceed well? Or that of forgiveness, if we have no enemies?

THE moft excellent of all moral virtues, is to have a low efteem of ourfelves, which has this particular advantage, that it attracts not the envy of others.

IF a man fhould forfake a kingdom, and all the world, if he cannot renounce himself, he has hardly done any thing.

WHATSOEVER convenience may be thought to be in falfhood and diffimulation, it is foon over; but the inconvenience of it is perpetual, because it brings a man under a continual jealoufy and fufpicion; fo that he is not believed when he speaks truth, nor trufted, when perhaps he means honestly.

Reflection

Reflection by a Perfon in his Sixtieth Year.

PLAC'D on the world's distracted stage,
And forc'd to act a joyless part,
Why fhould I fhrink at creeping age,
Which warns me friendly to depart?
Why do I rather not rejoice,

That I my hapless course have ran;
And, rul'd by wifdom's heav'nly voice,
Make my laft exit like a man?
Fierce tho' affliction's billows roll,

And deep distress deforms the scene;
If innocence fecure the foul,

Vain is the rage, the tumult vain.
Serene she smiles, yet fmiling fighs,
To quit this darkfome, dull abode;
Wishing to win her native skies,
And find a lafting reft in God.
Weary'd, then let me quit the ftrife;
Kind Heav'n affent, and fet me free!
For why fhould I be fond of life,

When life itself is tir'd of me!

ORDER is Heaven's firft law; and this confeft,
Some are, and muft be, greater than the reft;
More rich, 'more wife-but who infers from hence,
That such are happier, fhocks all common sense.

BE careful not to endeavour to imitate other men's ways, except it be in their effential virtues.

THE diftribution of all our temporal mercies is wifely regulated by the hand of God. Some men are favoured with a large fhare of worldly bleffings; fome with things juft neceffary and convenient; while fome, equally deferving, have fcarcely whereon to lay their heads. The difpofal of these things is the work of God: he maketh poor and maketh rich; he bringeth low and lifteth up; and none have a right to say to him, What doft thou

EVERY ferious perfon must trace the marks of an invifible hand in all the variegated paths of life. He muft acknowledge, that it is not in man who walketh, to direct his steps; yea, he will rejoice to find they are ordered by the Lord, who delighteth in his way. And were we more obfervant of the hand of Providence, many of our inquiries would be needlefs; we should see the path marked out before us; and if at any time through mistake we should turn either to the right hand or to the left, we should hear a ftill fmall voice whispering behind, "This is the way, walk in it."

The Contented Swain.

I SEEK not India's pearly fhore,
Nor western climes will I explore;
Nor 'midst the world's tumultuous ftrife,
Will wafte what now remains of life.
I feek not aught that me may lead,
From tufted grove or flow'ry mead;
Qr from my native fwains among,
Who listen to my artless fong.
For nought Golconda's gems avail,
In this fequefter'd humble dale;
Nor joys can crowded cities yield,
Like thofe of hill or daify'd field.
Calm as the fummer evening's fun,
May here my glafs of life be run!
And bright as is his parting ray,
My profpect of a future day!
Mean while, the lab'ring hind to chear,
To wipe the widow's falling tear,
Such tranquil pleasures will beftow,
As riot's fons can never know.
This, this be mine! the speaking eye
Shall then the sculptur'd ftone fupply;
As o'er my turf the ruftics bend,

The poor fhall fay, "Here lies our friend."

LET,