leave him to draw the conclufion: thou wilt be in danger of hurting thyself by doing other wife, and of making him worse.

XII.

If thou rafhly fay a thing which ought not to have been said, confefs thy fault as foon as thou can'st; it is the least atonement thou can'st make. If thou rafhly engage to do a thing which ought not to be done, do not make bad worse by perfifting to do it for thy word's fake.

XIII.

The cares of this life being neceffarily many, is it not wife to make them as few as poffible. by contentment in a little business ?

XIV.

Much business bringeth much worldly care; and what can compensate for the loss of time, that is voluntarily and unneceffarily incumbered?

XV.

If we let the inward inftructor fpeak, and be obeyed in little things, we fhall never want a guide in great ones.

XVI.

Guard against haftily becoming a surety for thy fuppofed friend, and thou fhalt have the fewer enemies, and the fewer troubles.

XVII.

Well did the wife man fay, "Riches cer"tainly make themfelves wings, and fly away "as an eagle towards heaven!" Prov. xxiii. 5. And the royal Pfalmift, "He gave them their

request, but fent leannefs into their foul!" Pfa. cvi. 15.

XVIII.

All true riches centre in the mind; but the love of outward grandeur and pleasure makes the poverty of the spirit!

XIX.

Sweet are those thoughts into which neither the luft of the eye, the luft of the flesh, nor the pride of life, enter!

XX.

Be not over-earneft in the purfuit even of thofe outward objects that may feem the most

proper

1

proper for thee; for fteadiness and calmness of mind make a prefent good, which over-earneftnefs of defire may destroy.

XXI.

That good often wears best, and lasts longest, which is obtained by steady and patient application.

XXII.

Words are often eafy, when proof is hard; and the tongue is found to be the ever faithful auxiliary of the determined and obftinate mind.

XXIII.

Well did an ingenious writer fay of folitude, that in it "the mind gains ftrength, and learns "to lean upon herfelf: in the world it feeks. "or accepts a few treacherous fupports;-the "feigned compaffion of one-the flattery of a "fecond-the civilities of a third-the friend"ship of a fourth; they all deceive, and bring "the mind back to retirement, reflection, and "books!" But though they read so many excellent maxims of wisdom, and their judgments are fo fully convinced of the lasting ad

vantages

vantages of true philofophy; how frail, how forgetful, and how much under the influence of the paffions, are men of fuperior accomplishments found! But they are living monitors to teach us wifdom by their weakness!

XXIV.

Of all fubjects that can poffibly engage human attention, there is none which can ftand in the leaft degree of comparison with the knowledge of GOD. To contemplate him as the creator and preferver of all things, and the wife and gracious benefactor of innumerable myriads of fentient and rational beings, is certainly an employment the most exalted in itself, and consequently the most worthy of the highest of his creatures. It must indeed be acknowledged, that to conceive of the supreme Being, as he exists in his infinite perfections, is impoffible; to rife to a degree of comprehenfion adequate to any part or attribute of his glorious na ure, is not to be expected. But if we attend to the evidences of his existence all around us, we are ftruck with inconteftible proofs of his goodnefs as well as power: if to the language of holy writ, where his nature is spoken

spoken of in the most striking and emphatical manner, we find it pronounced to be love, and light, &c. GOD is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. GOD is love. Under these

figures the serious mind has her abundant feast

of contemplation.

XXV.

From the most attentive confideration of the character of the Supreme Being, can it be poffible for any serious man to think otherwise, than that it must be the perfection of a created nature to attain the highest poffible resemblance of the divine attributes? And feeing we are privileged to make some fenfible, though almost infinitely diftant advances, towards his glorious nature of love, and the fruit of fuch fenfible advances is peace, which nothing else can give a true taste of, how unwife are the children of this world in their continual choice of inferior pursuits !

XXVI.

"The LORD hath his way in the whirlwind "and in the ftorm, and the clouds are the "duft of his feet. Nah. i. 3.