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till, by degrees, the flock too, as well as the shepherd, would become wise to salvation, would devoutly

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sanctify the Lord God in their hearts," and not only so, but be “ready always to give an answer to every one that should ask them a reason of the hope that is in them.”

And were both clergy and laity thus rightly principled, and firmly resolved; the enemies of our Zion would have both less encouragement to attack, and less power to hurt us; our national church might then despise all the wicked attempts and designs that are daily made and formed against her, and assume to herself that comfortable promise and assurance, that our Saviour himself has given, that even the gates of hell shall never prevail against her.

All that I have further to say, is only to apologize for having said so much upon a subject that so little needs it; and to close the whole with my hearty prayers to the throne of grace, that this pious and excellent book may meet with that desired effect and success, which the author aimed at in the composing of it, and may be as useful to others, as it was to himself.

THOUGHTS

ON

RELIGION.

WHEN, in my serious thoughts, and more retired meditations, I am got into the closet of my heart, and there begin to look within myself, and consider what I am, I presently find myself to be a reasonable creature: for was I not so, it would be impossible for me thus to reason and reflect. But, am I a reasonable creature? Why then, I am sure, within this veil of flesh there dwells a soul, and that of a higher nature, than either plants or brutes are endued with; for they have souls indeed, but yet they know it not, and that because their souls, or material forms, as the philosophers term them, are not any thing really and essentially distinct from the very matter of their bodies; which being not capable of a reflective act, though they are, they know it not, and though they act, they know it not; it being impossible for them to look within themselves, or to reflect upon their own existence or actions. But it is not so with me: I not only know I have a soul, but that I have such a soul, which can consider of itself, and deliberate of every particular action that

issues from it. Nay, I can consider, that I am now considering of my own actions, and can reflect upon myself reflecting; insomuch, that had I nothing else to do, I could spin out one reflection upon another, to infinity.

And, indeed, was there never another argument in the world to convince me of the spiritual nature of my soul, this alone would be sufficient to wrest the belief and confession of it from me: for what below a spirit can thus reflect upon itself? or, what below a spirit can put forth itself into such actions, as I find I can exercise myself in? My soul can, in a moment, mount from earth to heaven, fly from pole to pole, and view all the courses and motions of the celestial bodies, the sun, moon, and stars; and then the next moment returning to myself again, I can consider where I have been, what glorious objects have been presented to my view; and wonder at the nimbleness and activity of my soul, that can run over so many millions of miles, and finish so great a work in so small a space of time. And are such like acts as these, the effects of drossy earth, or impenetrable matter? Can any thing below a spirit raise itself so much beyond the reach of material actions?

But stay a little; what is this soul of mine that I am now speaking of, that it is so nimble in its actions, and so spiritual in its nature? Why, it is that which actuates and informs the several organs and members of my body, and enables me not only to perform the natural actions of life and sense; but likewise to understand, consult, argue, and conclude; to will and nill, hope and despair, desire and ab

hor, joy and grieve, love and hate; to be angry now, and again appeased. It is that by which at this very time, my head is inditing, my hand is writing, and my heart resolving, what to believe, and how to practise. In a word, my soul is myself; and therefore when I speak of my soul, I speak of no other person but myself.

Not as if I totally excluded this earthly substance of my body from being a part of myself; I know it is. But I think it most proper and reasonable to denominate myself from my better part: for alas! take away my soul, and my body falls of course, into its primitive corruption, and moulders into the dust, from whence it was first taken. "All flesh is grass," says the prophet, the prophet," and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." And this is no metaphorical expression, but a real truth; for what is that which I feed upon, but merely grass digested into corn, flesh, and the like; which by a second digestion, is transfused and converted into the substance of my body? And thence it is, that my body is but like the grass, or flower of the field, fading, transient, and momentary, to-day flourishing in all its glory, to-morrow cut down, dried up, and withered. But now, how far is this beneath the spiritual and incorruptible nature of my immortal soul? which subsists of itself, and can never be dissolved, being not compounded of an earthly or elementary matter, as the body is, but is a pure spiritual substance infused into me by God, to whom, after a short abode in the body, it is to return, and to live and continue for ever, either in a state of happiness or misery, in another life.

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