means.

stant Employment of our Time in something useful, is recommended to us by every powerful Motive. Every Man should pursue some Object. All agree that the poor ought to be industrious, to support themselves, and not permit themselves to become a Burden upon the Public. Are the Rich, then, exempted from the Practice of this Virtue? By no Experience may convince us, that Man was formed for Action; and that whoever is idle, will suffer by it, either in his Estate, his Body, or his Mind; perhaps in all. It behoves all, then, who wish to promote their own, or the public Happiness, to improve their Time, in some laudable Pursuit, either in bodily Labour or in some useful Employment, or Study; or in providing for their Families; or in obtaining a Competency; or in improving their Minds in some useful Knowledge or Art; or in Acts of Charity, Beneficence, Piety and Virtue. Industrious Habits effectually prevent that Ennui, that vexatious Lassitude, which Providence has appointed as the Punishment and Scourge of those who have no Employment or Object to engage their Attention. Dr. Young has justly observed, that those who have no Cares must make them or be wretched." This Virtue is strongly enjoined in the Bible, and is beneficial to the Public, as well as to the Individual.

66

THRIFTINESS.

No UNNECESSARY EXPENSE

OR

shunned as a Pestilence.

The Man who does ab

solutely Nothing, is the most insignificant Being that lives. And when we consider the Time allotted us, in this our State of Probation, is very short; and that in this Period, however short, we have to provide for and enjoy the present, and secure our future Happiness, what Folly is it to waste that Time in useless Dissipation, or mere idle Inaction.

"Throw Years away! throw Empires and be blameless." It should be remembered, too, that it is scarcely possible for an indolent Man to injure himself alone; for should he have no Dependents to suffer by his Vices, yet his Example may prove injurious.

WASTEFULNESS, CARELESSNESS OF EXPENSE, PRODIGALITY. To waste our Property, or needlessly or negligently to squander it, is an Abuse of the Gifts of Providence, and highly criminal; not only as it shows Ingratitude to the Giver of every Good, but as it is injurious to ourselves; for we have no more Right to make ourselves unhappy, than we have to make others so, which is a Doctrine to which many People seem to pay little Regard. The Man that is frugal, that he may be charitable, can never be accused of Avarice; for he only converts

OR WASTE.

Exorbitant Wealth is a Burden,

and hardly worth a wise Man's Pursuit. A Competency is all of this World that any really want, and all that our Religion allows us to pursue with Ardour, and is one of the greatest temporal Blessings. But to acquire this Boon, or to keep it when obtained, we must be careful how we waste, or incur needless Expense. This Virtue is enfor

ced upon us by our Saviour, when he directs his Disciples, after having fed five thousand Persons by a Miracle, to "gather up the Fragments, that nothing be lost."

REGULARITY, PUNCTUALITY IN BUSINESS, are Matters of great Importance. Every one should manage his Affairs in a decent, orderly Manner, otherwise they will inevitably get into Confusion. His Accounts, in particular, ought to be kept in the most correct Manner, and the more especially, as he may be called to give his Oath to their Accuracy. He must be regular and punctual in his Payments, and in the Discharge of all his Engagements, as also in his Demands on others for his Dues. Such Conduct will secure his Credit, and give him Respectability in his Vocation, whatever it may be.

NEATNESS, CLEANLINESS in our Persons, Dress, Houses, &c. If these be not Christian Graces, they seem to be an Approach towards them. All

the

verts that to the use of his poor Neighbour, which would otherwise be lost to every useful Purpose.

A CARELESS, LOOSE, DISORDERLY MANAGING OF BUSINESS. When a Man carries on his Business in a loose, disorderly Way; when his Accounts are irregular and imperfect; when he is dilatory and procrastinating, and puts off Business of Importance to the last Moment; when he neglects paying his Debts at the stipulated Period, &c. his Affairs get into such Disorder, that he cannot easily extricate them. Such a one not only loses his Credit and Character, and suffers in his Property, but most commonly grossly injures those who have Concerns with him, and frequently finds himself ruined before he is aware of it. None should leave any Business to be done to-morrow, that may as well be done to-day.

SLOVENLINESS, SLUTTISHNESS.

These argue

great Carelessness, and a faulty Inattention to Appearances, and are Vices of Savage life.

USELESSNESS,

the civilized World, however, agree in commending them as healthful and ornamental, as well as decent and becoming; and they suggest the Idea of internal Purity.

USEFULNESS, PUBLIC SPIRIT. Such is the Constitution of Nature, (which is always to be considered as the Appointment of God, or as the Course of divine Providence,) that every Man who is blessed with a Capacity of rational Action, may, in some Way or other, and in some Degree, contribute to the public Welfare. And this Capacity lays him under a formal Obligation to apply that Capacity to the purpose for which it was given him. "No Man liveth to himself." No one is made for himself alone; but being formed for, and living in Society, he is as really obliged to consult the Welfare of the Public as his own. But there is probably a large Proportion of the World, who confine their Attentions exclusively to their own dear selves, and who perhaps never think of the Community of which they are Members, as an Object of their Regard, at all. And And many, who if they do sometimes happen to think of it, yet if they imagine its Interests militate with their own, such Thoughts have very littlé Influence on their Conduct, and the selfish Principle will always have the ascendant. Such Persons do as little consult their own true Interest, as that

of