When he is reviled, he reviles not again; when he suffers, he threatens not, but committeth himself to him that judgeth righteously.' 1 Pet. ii. 23.-He

resolves, as St. Paul advises, to put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, with all malice, Ephes. iv. 31. and endeavours to attain that wisdom which is from above; which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits.' James, iii. 17.-This principle, of love, and charity, and good will to mankind, as it renders the mind quiet and easy, calm and composed; so it makes a man not only happy in himself, but a blessing and comfort to all about him; and consequently attracts the love, esteem, and admiration of all those that see and feel the kind and benign influences of so divine a temper. Great peace,' says the Psalmist, have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.' Psalm exix. 165.And the prophet assures us, that the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effects of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever.' Isaiah, xxxii. 17.

But now on the other hand, the life of an angry and revengeful man is all storm and tempest: he is like a troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.' Isaiah, lvii. 20.-He is a stranger to peace, and all the blessed fruits and effects of it; for, where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.' James, iii. 16. His mind is continually restless and uneasy, agitated to and fro with the violent force of unruly passions, which lead him on from one evil to another, and frequently burry him into those that are of a very mischievous consequence. What misery and torment must a man feel, who is possessed with a spirit so directly contrary to that of the Gospel! How little can he taste of the true hap piness of life, whose mind is always discordant and out of tune! He may, perhaps, possess a great

deal of the good things of this world, but can have very little enjoyment: for, what comfort can he find from any thing who has no peace in his own mind; who is at enmity with himself, and with almost every one else; and is capable of being put out of humour by every trifling, cross accident? Is it possible for a man of such a temper to be happy, even in the midst of the greatest prospe rity? No, certainly: it is the meek-spirited that Our Saviour hath pronounced blessed: they shall inherit the earth,' Matt. v. 5, and be refreshed' as the Psalmist speaks, 'in the multitude of peace,' and shall find a real comfort in whatever they possess; which, though it should happen to be but little, yet, being enjoyed in peace and quiet, and with a contented mind, will undoubtedly yield them a much greater and truer satisfaction, than a man of a contrary disposition can reap from large possessions and ample revenues.

5. I shall mention but one advantage more which a good man has above a wicked one as to this world; and that is, in respect of dutiful and obedient children; which is allowed by all to be a great blessing in itself, and is what the former has much more reason to expect and hope for than the latter. For, if it pleases God to bless a good man with children, he begins very early to instil into their tender minds the principles of virtue and religion he teaches them to remember their Creator in the days of their youth;' and brings them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. He sets before them, in his own conduct, the example of a holy and religious life; and endeavours to wean them from the pride and vanity of the world, and from those hurtful lusts and passions which tend only to make them miserable both here and here. after. He instructs them in that knowledge which is useful and profitable, which will give them a right understanding of themselves and of their duty, and make them wise unto salvation: and,

when the grace of God co-operates with these en. deavours, (as it will not fail to do,) what comfortable hopes may not such a parent entertain of reaping the happy fruits of all his labours! Instead of looking upon his children with grief and trouble, and having his grey hairs, by their means, brought down with sorrow to the grave; how much rather may he expect to behold them with pleasure and delight, when he sees them as so many olivebranches round about his table,' fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge and love of God?

There is no person, I believe, but will allow, that this is the most likely way a man can take to be happy in his children: and though it should not prove effectual, (for success is not in our own power,) yet of this he may be assured, that his pious and sincere endeavours to train up his children in a sober, honest, and religious course of life, will certainly recommend him to the favour and love of God; as is manifest from the great regard God expressed for Abraham on this very account. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abra. ham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judg ment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.' Gen. xviii. 17, 18, 19. This is a great encouragement to parents to be very careful in the education of their children: they are making provision for their own happiness at the same time that they are endeavouring to secure that of their children. But, should they be disappointed in these their pious endeavours, they are laying up in store a good foundation of comfort, to themselves at least, against the day of trouble: I mean, if it should please God that they

should live to see their children wicked and miserable, notwithstanding all the means they have used to make them otherwise. For they will then have the consolation to reflect that they are clear from the guilt of their children's sins; and will be free from those bitter self-reproaches that a wicked man must make, who sees his children ruined by those vices and follies which his example hath taught them, or his carelessness and neglect suffered them to fall into. Bitter reproaches, I say, those must undoubtedly be, which such a parent will make to himself, when he considers that he has his children's sins, as well as his own, to account for; and applies to himself (as he justly may) those dreadful words which God spake to the prophet Ezekiel: When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hands.' Ezekiel, iii. 18.-O terrible words of most just judgment! How dreadful must they sound in the ears of a wicked parent, whose chil dren have perished through his fault!

I have now considered some of those duties to which religion obliges us, and endeavoured to show how conducive they are to our temporal happiness; by which, I hope, it sufficiently appears, how much good men have the advantage of the wicked even as to this world. And here I cannot but take notice of the wonderful love of God to mankind, who, in order to encourage our obedience to his laws, has annexed a present, as well as future, reward to a good life; and has so interwoven our duty and happiness together, that while we are discharging our obligations to the one, we are, at the same time, making the best provision for the

other.

How much, then, do they derogate from the honour of God, who represent religion as an unprofit

able and unpleasant task! when it is plain to any man, that considers things rightly, and is not under the prejudice of his lusts and passions, that the great design of religion is to make us happy here, as well as hereafter. Accordingly, all its rules and precepts are so admirably suited to this end, that would men be persuaded to live in the prac tice of them, we should find this world a kind of heaven upon earth.

But, had the practice of our duty been ever so irksome and uneasy, and had nothing but trouble and misery been the lot of good men in this world; yet, when we consider that this life will shortly have an end, and that there is an eternal weight of glory' reserved in heaven for those that truly love and serve God; what wise man would not prefer the rugged paths of virtue and religion, which he knows will shortly lead him into an eternity of bliss and happiness, to the ways of sin and wickedness, (how pleasant soever he might find them,) where he is in danger every moment of falling into the pit of destruction, and which, he is sure, will, in a little time, bring him into a place of endless misery and torment?

But, since there is nothing in religion but what tends to make our lives easy, chearful, and contented; nothing but what is suitable to our na tures, and agreeable to the dictates of right reason; nothing but what will ennoble our minds, enlarge our understandings, and inspire us with a generous principle of universal love and charity and goodwill to mankind; in short, since the commands of God are not grievous,' but his yoke is easy, and his burthen light; it manifestly follows, that as a good life is the highest wisdom, so a wicked one is the extreme of folly and madness.