(mind this) may make themselves wings as eagles; and fly away. Have we relations, beloved, deserving, and endearing? Death may deprive us of them all, and leave us to mourn alone.-Have we children? They may die young, and set our hearts a-bleeding; or they may live long, and by their irreligious life break our very hearts, when we are bowed down with years.

6. He makes a poor exchange, who takes the creature for God, or gives God less room in his mind, in his meditations, in his affections, that his enjoyments may have the more.

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7. Tranquillity of mind, and a smiling conscience, are the gift of heaven; and no enjoyment can bestow them, or compensate the loss when gone.

8. Carnality will spring up at every corner, come in with every good thing, and, like satan among the sons of God, intrude itself amidst all the graces of the Spirit; so that we have need to be always on our guard.

9. The brevity and uncertainty of human life, as it should dry the tears of the mourner, so it should moderate the joys of all the children of men.

10. According to the talents put into our hand, according to the gifts of heaven to us, so must we account to the sovereign Judge of all; and our aptness to misgive in every thing, should keep us humble at all times, and in all places.

11. Since infinite wisdom has seen meet to bestow very little created good, or earthly felicity, on the greater part of his people, this should teach us to pos sess the good things of this life with fear, and to rejoice in them with trembling.

12. To be dispossessed of our possessions, to lose our relations, to be dismissed from our posts and employments, and to be bereft of all our enjoyments, is more galling and irksome, than never to have had possession, relation, post, or employment.

13. Created good things, we can neither carry with us to another world, draw comfort from in the hour of death, nor secure to our heirs in this world, when we are no more; therefore it is only our vitiated imagination that pictures out such scenes of pleasure in a thing of nought.

14. Confidence in the creature too often accompanies the possession of the creature; yet this is the eut-worm at the root of all our enjoyments; for it is in God, the Giver of all, that all our confidence should rest.

15. The favour of God is our best inheritance, the providence of God is our richest possession; the one can make us happy, in spite of all misfortunes, while we live, and the other can attend our posterity, when

we are no more.

16. Finally, our wisdom is to seek to enjoy God in all things, to see him in all things, and in all things to glorify him; to prefer him above all things, and to be fully satisfied with him alone, in the room of all things, relations, riches, good name, peace, prosperity, health, and life, or whatever we enjoy below.

MEDITATION CXXX.

TAE JOY OF SALVATION.

Aug. 25, 1776.

WHAT must the joy of the benighted traveller be,

that has lost his way, and walks every step in terror of his life, through the roaring of lions, and yells of wild beasts around him, when the light of the morning scatters his fears, and the rising sun sends the beasts of prey again to their dens? What must the joy of the mariner be, that has sustained a terrible tempest, while the heavens above opened in thunder and lightning, and the ocean raged around in high swelling surges, till his vessel was a very wreck, and he expected to be burried in every returning billow, when at once the storm is changed into a calm, his native country appears in sight, and he arrives safe at his desired harbour? What must the joy of that person be, who banished into cruel exile, has a long time dwelt with savages, or beasts of prey, when recalled by a royal edict, and invited to dwell among his brethren, and in his father's house? What must the joy of an indigent man be, who, oppressed with poyerty, could never call aught his own, when he finds a treasure so rich, so immense, that thenceforth he shall be accounted the most opulent man in the country? What must the joy of the rebel be, who, being outlawed, and a price set upon his head, skulked in continual fear, and trembled at every breath of wind, when the royal pardon gives him his life, restores him to favour, and admits him to his sovereign's presence? What must the joy of the valiant soldier be

who, having stood long in the field of battle, engaged troop after troop, till faint and fatigued almost to death, yet conquers all his foes at last, clears the field, and returns in safety to the spoil? What must the joy of that man be, who has been chained to strife and contention for many years, when blessed with peace around, peace in his own house, and peace in his own mind? What must the joy of those affectionate parents be, whose only son is delivered from the jaws of death? of that loving husband, whose amiable wife is as it were restored to him from the dead? What must the joy of the prisoner be, who has long been confined to a loathsome dungeon, a stranger to the light of day, the sweets of society, and the visits of his friends, when set at perfect liberty, to walk in the light, and enjoy himself with his friends? What must the joy of the stranger be, who has walked whole days over burning mountains, around terrible craters of thundering volcanoes, trembling, lest he sink amidst the latent flames, or perish by some sudden eruption, when he finds himself safe on the fragrant plain, and charmed with the vineyards that spread around him? What must the joy of the bankrupt be, whose generous friend pays all his debts, brings him out of jail, and allows him a fund that he shall never want again? What must the joy of the infirm, bed-ridden patient be, who has long turned his face from the world, and toward the wall, beheld the grave as his solitary lodging, and taken his farewell of the children of men, when raised from his bed of languishing, his health recovered, and his youth renewed as the eagle's? What must the joy of the criminal be, who, guilty of some atrocious crimes has been condemned to lose his life, and, on the ap

pointed day, amidst assembled thousands, is led forth to execution; when lo! a post, swift as the wings of the wind, arrives with a royal pardon, that swells his breast with transport and surprise, and saves him from death? What must the joy be of persons besieged, and so straitened, and reduced to famine, that they are compelled almost to eat the flesh of one another, or their own, when the siege is raised, and plenty pours in at every gate? What must the joy be of one journeying over burning sands, scorched with the sun, and parching with raging thirst, till like to fall down dead, when a crystal fountain, or flowing stream appears before him? What must the joy of a beggar be, when admitted heir to a wealthy prince? What must the joy of a slave be, who, though loaded with chains, has often felt the rod of correction, when he sees his fetters knocked off, his vile raiment taken away, himself clothed in scarlet, a crown put upon his head, a sceptre in his hand, and himself proclaimed a king? Such, and much more, is the joy of salvation, where sinners are made saints, worms rise into angels, and men are made like unto God.

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