to bless both you and me, and all mankind; whose wonderous acts are recorded in those Scriptures which you constantly read; that God who created the heavens and the earth; who brought a flood upon the old world; who saved Noah in the ark; who was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; whom Job blessed and praised in the greatest afflictions; who delivered the Israelites out of the hands of the Egyptians; who was the protector of righteous Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and holy Daniel; who sent so many prophets into the world; who sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem mankind; this God, who has done all these great things; who has created so many millions of men, who lived and died before you were born, with whom the spirits of good men that are departed this life now live, whom infinite numbers of angels now worship in heaven; this great God, who is the creator of worlds, of angels, and of men, is your loving Father and friend, your good creator and nourisher, from whom, and not from me, you received your being ten years ago, at the time that I planted that little tender elm which you there see.

I myself am not half the age of this shady oak under which we sit; many of our fathers have sat under its boughs, we have all of us called it ours in our turn, though it stands, and drops its masters as it drops its leaves.

You see, my son, this wide and large firmament over our heads, where the Sun and Moon, and all the stars appear in their turns. If you were to be carried up to any of these bodies, at this distance from us, you would still discover others as much above you, as the stars that you see here are above the earth: were you to go up or down, east or west, north or south, you would find the same height, without any top, and the same depth, without any bottom. And yet, my child, so great is God, that all these bodies added together, are but as a grain of sand in his sight; and yet you are as much the care of this great God, and Father of all worlds, and all spirits, as if he had no son but you, or as if there were no creature for him to love

and protect but you alone. He numbers the hairs of your head, watches over you sleeping and waking, and has preserved you from a thousand dangers, which neither you nor I know any thing of.

How poor my power is, and how little I am able to do for you, you have often seen. Your late sickness has shown you how little I could do for you in that state; and the frequent pains in your head are plain proofs, that I have no power to remove them. I can bring you food and medicines, but have no power to turn them into your relief and nourishment; it is God alone that can do this for you. Therefore, my child, fear, worship, and love God; your eyes, indeed, cannot yet see him, but every thing you see, are so many marks of his power and presence, and he is nearer to you, than any thing you can perceive. Take him for your Lord, and Father, and Friend; look up to him as the fountain and cause of all the good that you have received, through my hands; and reverence me only as the bearer and messenger of God's good things to you; and he that blessed my father before I was born, will bless you when I am dead.

Your youth and tender mind are only yet acquainted with my family, and therefore you think there is no happiness out of it. But, my child, you belong to a much greater family than mine: you are a younger member of this Almighty Father of all nations, who has created infinite orders of angels, and numberless generations of men, to be fellow-members of one and the same society in Heaven. You do well to reverence and obey my authority, because God has given me power over you, to bring you up in his fear, and to do for you as the Holy Fathers, recorded in Scripture, did for their children, who are now in rest and peace with God.

I shall, in a short time die, and leave you to God, and yourself; and I trust in God that I shall go to his Son Jesus Christ, and live among Patriarchs and Prophets, Saints and Martyrs, where I shall hope for your arrival at the same place.

Therefore, my child, meditate upon

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these great things, and your soul will soon grow great and noble, by so meditating upon them. Let your thoughts often leave these gardens, these fields and farms, to contemplate upon God and Heaven, and upon Angels and the Spirits of good men living in light and glory.

As you have been used to look to me in all your doings, and have been afraid to do any thing, unless you first knew my will; so let it now be a rule of your life, to look up to God in all your actions, to do every thing in his fear. and to abstain from every thing that is not according to his will. Keep him always in your mind, teach your thoughts to reverence him in every place, for there is no place where he is not.

God keeps a book of remembrance, wherein all the actions of all men are written your name is there my child, and when you die, this book will be laid open before men and angels; and accordingly as your actions shall be there found, you will either be received to the happiness of these holy men who have died before you, or be turned away amongst wicked spirits, that are never to see God any more. Never forget this book, my son, for it is written, it must be opened, you must see it, and you must be tried by it; strive therefore to fill it with good deeds, that the handwriting of God may not appear against you.

God, my child, is all love, and wisdom, and goodness; and every thing that he has made, and every action that he does, is the effect of them all; therefore you cannot please God, but so far as you strive to walk in love, wisdom and goodness. As all wisdom, love, and goodness, proceed from God; so nothing but love, wisdom, and goodness, lead to God. When you love that which God loves, you act with him, you join yourself to him, and when you love what he dislikes, then you oppose him and separate yourself from him. This is the true and right way; think what God loves, and do you love it with all your heart.

First of all, my child, worship and adore God with humility; think of him

magnificently, speak of him reverently, magnify his providence, adore his power, frequent his service, and pray to him constantly and ardently.

Next to this, love your neighbour, which is all mankind, with such tenderness and affection as you love yourself. Think how God loves all mankind, how merciful he is to them, how tender be is of them, how carefully he preserves them, and then strive to love the world as God loves it. God would have all men to be happy, therefore do you desire, and will the same. All men are great instances of divine love, therefore let all men instance your love.

But above all, my son, mark this, never do any thing through strife, or envy, or emulation, or vain-glory; never do any thing in order to excel other people, but in order to praise God, and because, it is his will that you should do every thing in the best manner you can; for if it be once a pleasure to you to excel other people, it will, by degrees, be a pleasure to you not to see other people so good as yourself. Banish, therefore, every thought of self-pride, and self-distinction, and accustom yourself to rejoice in all the excellencies and perfections of your fellow-creatures; and be as glad to see any of their good actions as your own. For as God is as well pleased with their well doings, as with yours; so you ought to desire that every thing that is wise, and holy, and good, may be performed in as high a manner, by other people, as by yourself. Let this, therefore, be your only motive and spur to all good actions, honest industry and business, to do every thing in as perfect a manner as you can, for this only reason, because it is pleasing to God, who desires your perfection, and writes all your actions in a book.

When I am dead, my son, you will be master of all my estate, which will be a great deal more than the necessities of one family require.-Therefore as you are to be charitable to the souls of men, and to wish them the same happiness with yourself in Heaven; so be charitable to their bodies; endeavour to make them as happy as you can

upon earth. As God has created all things for the common good of all men; so let that part of them, which is fallen to your share, be employed as God would have all to be employed for the common good of all. Do good, my son, first of all to those that most deserve it; but remember to do good to all. The greatest sinners receive daily instances of God's goodness towards them; he nourishes and preserves them, that they may repent and return to him; do you, therefore, imitate God, and think no man too bad to receive your relief and kindness, when you see that he wants it.

I am teaching you Latin and Greek, that at proper times you may look into the history of past ages, and learn the methods of God's providence over the world. That, reading the writings of the ancient sages, you may see how wisdom and virtue have been the praise of great men of all ages, and fortify your mind by their wise sayings.

Let truth and plainness, therefore, be the only ornament of your language, and study nothing but how to think of all things, as they deserve, to choose every thing that is best, to live according to reason and order, and to act, in every part of your life, in conformity to the will of God. Study how to fill your heart full of love to God, and love to your neighbour. As true religion teaches us to be governed by right reason; so it loves and requires great plainness and simplicity of life. Therefore avoid all superfluous show of finery and equipage; don't consider what your estate can afford, but what right reason requires. Let your dress be sober, clean, and modest not to set off the beauty of your person, but to declare the sobriety of your mind, that your outward garment may resemble the inward plainness and simplicity of your heart. For it is highly reasonable, that you should be one man, all of a piece, and appear outwardly such as you are inwardly.

As to your meat and drink, in them observe the highest rules of Christian temperance and sobriety; consider your body only as the servant of your soul; and only so nourish it, as it may best

perform an humble and obedient service to the latter.

But, my son, observe this as a most principal thing, of which I shall remind you as long as I live with you. Hate and despise all human glory, for it is nothing else but human folly; it is the greatest snare and the greatest betrayer that you can possibly admit into your heart. Love humility in all its instances -practise it in all its parts, for it is the noblest state of the soul of man-it will set your heart and affections right towards God, and fill you with every temper that is tender and affectionate towards him. Let every day, therefore, be a day of humility-condescend to all the weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow creatures-cover their frailties -love their excellencies-encourage their virtues-relieve their wants-rejoice in their prosperity-compassionate their distress-receive their friendship -overlook their unkindness, and condescend to do the lowest offices to the lowest of mankind. Aspire after nothing but your own improvement and perfection, and have no ambition but to do every thing in so reasonable and religious a manner, that you may be glad that God is every where present, and observes all your actions.

The greatest trial of humility is an humble behaviour towards your equals in age, estate, and condition of life. Therefore, be careful of all the motions of your heart towards these people; let all your behaviour towards them be governed by unfeigned love. Have no desire to put any of your equals below you, nor any anger at those that would put themselves above you. If they are proud they are ill of a very bad distemper; let them, therefore, have your tender pity, and perhaps your meekness may prove an occasion of their cure. But if your humility should do them no good, it will, however, be the greatest good that you can do to yourself.

Remember that there is but one man in the world with whom you are to have perpetual contention, and be always striving to excel him, and he is, yourself.

The time of practising these precepts,