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ing line of all thine actions; let it imprefs caution on thy lips, decency on thine eyes, and modefty on thy forehead.

O may this faving fear conduct thee in all thy fteps! By day may it watch over thee, and in thy nightly reft may it not depart from thy couch. Then fhalt thou bring forth the fruits of holiness, as a rich foil warmed by the fun-beams; and thy foul shall be the refidence of wisdom.

The rofe arms itself with the thorn against the hand of the rob. ber: and the foul of the righteous covers itself with the fear of God, as with a fhield.

Protected by this heavenly armour, thou shalt walk fecurely in the midst of thine enemies. Hell fhall rain around thee in vain. The arrows of wrath fhall fall harmless at thy feet.

Thou loveft thy Father, because he is good to thee: but forget not, that God is the tendereft of Fathers, and that he has poured out his gifts richly upon thee.

Turn thine eye heavenward, and confider that globe of light and fountain of heat! It was God who commanded it to spread its light before thee, and to communicate life to all around thee.

Caft thy fight upon the earth which thou inhabiteft: thou wilt find it clothed with the benefits of thy Creator. The works of his goodness are as confpicuous as the wonders of his wisdom.

The plants which spring from the bofom of the earth, the creatures which people the elements, are commanded to nourish thee, and to labour for thy clothing.

Confider the beauty of the bloffom; tafte the fweetnefs of the fruit: but remember, that GOD is the Creator of them, and that they are the gifts of his benevolence.

Thou beholdest what GOD has done for thee, in the appointment of nature! But who fhall defcribe that which he has pro.vided for thee, IN THE APPOINTMENT OF GRACE?

He who hath fnatched thee from the gates of eternal death, who prevents thee by his grace, is he not worthy that thou dedicateft to Him all thy powers?

All created beings around thee cry with a loud voice, - "Ac knowledge the Creator's government, and worship his Almighty power!"

The Heavens which roll regularly over thine head, the ocean raging within its appointed bounds, declare unto thee, that they fubmiffively obey the commands of the Moft High.

All the elements acknowledge Him, and precisely fulfil his will. He calleth the winds from the uttermoft verge of the earth; and they rage over the furface of the globe.

He commandeth the clouds to gather themselves together, and they pour down plenty on the fields.

But if inanimate creatures fo faithfully obey the commands of the Creator, how much more art thou in duty bound, who art ex. alted by reason far above other beings!

Hearken

Hearken to the voice of this reafon! It will tell thee that all the powers of thy foul, all the labours of thy life, must be dedicated to the service of the Moft High.

O if thou hadst once known the happiness of this reafonable fervice of GOD! never wouldst thou be anxious for thofe vain pleafures with which the world tempts thee.

Offer up, my child, unto the Lord, the bloom of thy youth; from thy early days let the increase of thy virtues afcend to his throne,

So oft as Aurora brings back the light of the day, fo often elevate thine heart to the Origin of all good, and pour out thy whole foul before him.

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Full of confidence, fend thy virtuous wishes to him; place thy neceffities before him; and wait in humble refignation the effects of thy prayers.

Should he vifit thee with affliction, and prove thy faith with the waters of tribulation; O then take heed that thou doft not mur mur against his yifitation, or, perhaps, renounce his fervice.

II. DUTIES TO OURSELVES.

Mafter-piece of a Gon, on this world, man! it behoves thee to prize the excellence of thy foul properly, and to affert the worth of this immortal being which thy Creator hath given thee. Raise thyfelf, it crieth to thee, raife thyfelf from the duft! Direct thy views to Heaven, and heroically tread the paffions un der thy feet.

Accuftom thyfelf early to the exercife of virtue. The first im preffions of it will probably never be effaced from the foul.

Remind thyfelf inceffantly, that thy principal business must be, to labour for Eternity, and to fecure thy happiness. All else is either indifferent or injurious.

Be thy days numerous as the fand on the fea-fhore, what will fuch a prodigious length of life avail thee, if it must conclude with the lofs of thy foul?

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Flee from evil, and do that which is good; for the Most High Judge fhall carefully weigh thy works in his balance.

The life of Man upon earth is as a path; on each fide he be holds a frightful abyfs; and fnares fpread themselves under his feet.

Reprefs fwelling pride, and the raging impulfe of anger. These two monsters, hatched by vengeance, have covered the whole earth with fin and destruction.

Doft thou give up thyfelf to the impulfe of wrath? It will cut the thread of thy life, and plunge thee into the pit before thy time.

Flee from the contentious man: He is a troubled ocean, whofe waves mount to the heavens: wrath flashes in his pointed dagger in his hand.

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But it is not enough to fupprefs the boisterous emotions of the foul; the door must be barred against the entrance of vice: fuffer it not to make its abode in thee. Labour by prayer to obtain that divine aid, which alone can give thee the full and complete victory over it.

Beware of idleness, that poisonous fountain of all evil. On the ocean of life calms are no less dangerous than ftorms.

The laborious are as a gentle ftream, whofe cryftaline waters glide over the fand, and every where entice forth the riches of the Spring.

Carefully avoid all connexion with men who drink wickednefs as water, and who glory in their shame,

Immodefty would foon expel every fentiment of purity, chaffity and honour from thy heart; would wash out the traces of ingenuous bashfulness from thy forehead, and spread in its flead contempt and difgrace.

Art thou once become the fport of thy paffions? then fhalt thou be as a ship defpoiled by the ftorm, driven to and fro by the winds; and a melancholy finking will be the conclufion of thy tranfgreflions.

The fociety of the virtuous and pious is to youth, what a good climate is to the conftitution, and the waters of the heavens to the fruits of the earth.

One of the most dangerous rocks to youth is the reading of improper books, thofe dumb teachers of vice and infidelity.

Caft far from thee that poisonous spawn of hell: rather let blind, nefs close thine eyes, than thou should ft employ them to thine own deftruction.

Heaven and earth, all created beings, and, above all, the Creator himself, all invite, all engage man to the love of wisdom, and the knowledge of eternal truths.

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Nothing is more beautiful, nothing more lovely than wisdom: its brightness eclipfes the fplendour of gold, and its fruits are fweeter than honey.

Let temperance and fobriety, my fon, prefide at thy table. He who becomes a flave to his appetites, deftroys his body, and weakens his understanding.

Confider the glutton oppreffed with food. He would make his body the temple of pleasure, but he converts it into a lazar-house. Stupidity is the confequence of gluttony. Wisdom never took her refidence in a foul enamoured with eating and drinking. Recollect frequently, that thou art but a paffenger in this world, This mortal life is but a moment, to introduce the great day of eternity.

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O youth! while the light irradiates thine eye, labour for thy falvation, Soon, very foon the darkness of death will overtake thee.

Flatter not thyfelf that the end of thy path is ftill afar off, How oft is youth deceived, when it prefumes on health and jovial day! III. Duties

III. DUTIES TOWARD OTHERS.

When thou, my fon, haft confidered, and art determined, with the Divine aid, to fulfil thy duty to thy great Creator and Redeemer; when thou haft thus formed thy mind, then turn thy heart to others: first, toward thofe to whom, under God, thou owest thine existence: Remember inceffantly, the anxiety thou gaveft them in thine infancy, and that thy education was to them a fountain of trouble.

Know that the blood of thy parents flows in thy veins: Nature itself obliges thee to be grateful.

Doft thou liften with pleasure to the inftructions of a father? Doft thou faithfully obferve the precepts of a mother? Then will the Almighty bless thine undertakings, and thy days fhall be many as the ftars of heaven.

Woe to him that defpifes the judgments of his father, and the reproofs of his mother! His candle fhall be extinguished, and his face covered with fhame.

Submiffion and docility are two of the firft virtues of youth. Youth fhould become like the wax which receives any impreffion; like the reed which yields to the gentle zephyr.

A child that has thrown off the yoke of reftraint, is like an unbridled horse, whose fire unrestrained, plunges himself headlong down the precipice.

Refpe&fully attend to the voice of inftruction: Wisdom shall fpring from it: Divine Grace fhall accompany it and the feeds every virtue fhall ftrike their roots in it:

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All men are brethren, for all are fprung from the fame original. Death unites all together; the monarch who guided the reins of a mighty kingdom, and the labourer who 'with the ploughshare inverts the foil of his fathers.

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O ye, who bathe in nectar and ambrofia! despise not the countryman whofe food is bread, moiftened with the fweat of his brow.

Let thy affection, my fon, extend to every one. The works of thy charity should know no other limits but thofe of thy ability. The wretch who, helplefs, wallows in the dust, bears, like thee, the image of God; like thee he bears the ftamp of immortality on his foul.

Does the poor knock at thy door? Does the complaint of his hunger or of his nakedness echo in thy hall; O fhut not thine ear to his complaints, nor pufh away the hand ftretched out to thee for help!

To the whole human race, thou art debtor: but thy country has the first claim on thee, which thy heart may not deny.

The more thou haft laboured during the fummer, the more shalt thou taste and enjoy fatisfaction in the winter.

Defame no one. The poifon of adders drops from the tongue of the flanderer, and deadly are the wounds it inflicts.

Never fuffer a thought of vengeance to arife in thy heart; it belongs to the Almighty: he has referved it for the great day of

wrath.

Is thine heart fenfible of the inftin&ts of friendship? choose one who may be another felf, and who in common with thee may take the burthen of human life on his shoulders.

True friendship is founded on piety and virtue, it refide in a vicious heart.

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Before thou placeft thy confidence in any one, confider attentively whether he has chofen prudence for his guide, and if his foul be not tainted with any vice.

Flee from the friend who flatters thy failings. He is a ferpent ready to discharge his poifon. Soon, perhaps, it will be in thy bowels.

If pious and virtuous fentiments exalt thine heart, then fhalt thou mount as the eagle above the clouds; thou fhalt glisten as a ftar through the blackness of the night.

Let integrity govern in all that thou fayeft. Never open thy mouth to injure the truth.

A noble boldness is the property of the upright; he goeth about with his head erect, and looks down with contempt on the fubterfuges of vice. His language is always a true copy of his heart. Hath any one done thee a kindness? preferve a lively sense of it in thy memory. Let fenfations of gratitude arife at the fight of thy benefactors.

O youth! who haft fet thy foot on the ftage of the world, and art perhaps to act fome important part, let a prudent conduct adorn thy virtues: let religion, fidelity, and prudence, govern thy heart.

Rough and beftrewed with thorns is the path leading to these virtues and graces: but their abode is tranfporting, and the advan tages of it are fo great that all labour to attain it is but trifling.

The Life and Death of THOMAS CROSSON.

HOMAS CROSSON was a native of Derryaghy in the

TCounty of Antrim, in the North of Ireland. He and his

family and most of his friends, were members of the Church of Rome, and had been inftructed in the principles of that religion. He was a warm advocate for the rites, ceremonies, and traditions of his Church, and careful to go through the forms prescribed by the fame, until the beginning of the year 1769, when it pleafed God to direct one of the Methodist-Preachers to vifit a place near where he lived. Curiofity (or rather over-ruling Providence) led him and his family to hear this ftrange preacher, whofe appearance had occafioned no fmall ftir in the neighbourhood. While the defpifed meffenger of the Lord was delivering the divine couplel, the word was powerfully applied to his eldest daughter's

heart,

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