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ing-stock of all; yet, would not the co knowledge of so sudden a change in his favour take off edge of all? Would not the forethought of the sumptuous table at which he should ever sit, and the generous wine that should go around, abate his hunger, and allay his thirst? Would not the idea of his genteel dress take away the shame of his rags? And his unconfined liberty render supportable his few hours. confinement? and that renown, love, and respect, which he should in a little be possessed of, take away the anguish that might arise from the opposite insults?

Now, O saint! thy case at the worst can be no worse than this, to suffer, through the short day of thy life, much tribulation, and many afflictions; much distress, and many troubles; yea, though some singular distress, as war, persecution, or pestilence, should bring thy death along with it, yet thy state is secured, and thine exit is into eternal glory. What! should poverty make any impression on thy mind, who art an heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ; who shalt walk on streets of gold, nor regard the sparkling pavement? Should imprisonment trouble thee, who shalt walk at liberty in the paradise of God through eternal day? Should shame produce a blush in thy countenance, who shalt be confessed by thy divine Master before his heavenly Father, and all his holy angels? Should want of any kind affect thee, who art complete in Him in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells? Should disappointments, repeated, aggravated disappointments, deject thee, whose assured Friend governs the universe, and never will forget, never will forsake thee? In a word, should any cross events in time distract

thee, whast an eternity of felicity before thee cre thy happiness shall stretch beyond thy most extensive thoughts?

Take the scales and balances, then, and sit down and weigh the lightness of thy troubles, the transitoriness of thine afflictions (even allowing them to harass thee through thy whole life, which is not one day, one minute, or one moment, to eternity) and that boundless, ineffable bliss, that awaits thy better life, thine immortal state in the invisible world, and say, if that ingenuity, which should be inseparable from an expectant of glory, be in thee, whether fits of despondency for any thing that can befal thee in this world, or songs of praise for that nameless immense ALL that is reserved for thee in the world to come, be most proper to thy present state?

MEDITATION CXXI.

ON BEING ILL USED.

Spithead, Oct. 18, 1759.

SURELY I forget myself, and the place of my

abode, else I should not take it in bad part to be ill used in such a world as this. Would I have at once the smiles of heaven and the caresses of the earth? It is very fair that I get through the enemy's country with the life, though now and then I suffer loss. I must not be surprised that I suffer, though innocent; for none were ever so innocent as our blessed Lord, yet none suffered more than did the Prince of innocence. "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they

have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household ?" Why am I astonished at an usage which my Lord not only met with himself, but assured all his disciples that they should experience? How is it that I have fallen into this fond delusion, dreaming that nothing should hurt me while I was endeavouring to walk uprightly with him before whom are all my ways, and forgetting that often the saints have suffered for following after what is good? I am yet in the world, and the god of this world is not my God, nor the men of this world my brethren; therefore no wonder that the world hate what is not its own. For shame! have I taken it amiss, that a few drops of that shower of malice and envy which poured in full flood on the glorious Head, should fall on an unworthy member? How have I forgotten to imitate the divine pattern of humility, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when blasphemed, replied with meekness, interceded for his murderers, and prayed for his most flagitious foes! O to be more and more self-denied! If once I thought as little of myself as I ought, I should not think much of being treated with indignity, and used contemptuously by others.

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Though may have recourse to the law for my protection and defence, yet surely it is often my duty to say, like humble David, "Let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him." How divinely sweet is the inspired advice, «Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath!" Ah! says. corrupt nature, must I tamely see myself abused, and not resent it? Must I not stand on my own defence, and return his wickedness on his own head?

No, says the apostle; vengeance belongeth not to you; "for it is written, Vengeance is mine, saiththe Lord, I will repay;" therefore let the matter alone, leave it to God, who knows when and how to plead thy quarrel against thine adversaries; and show thou the excellency of the Christian religion, by feeding thine enemy when hungry, and giving him to drink when thirsty, till thou hast won him from his spleen; but, if he still retain his inveterate malice, thy kindly acts will heap coals of fire upon his head. Then, let my behaviour be such as is here enjoined, while, with the psalmist, I say, "Let them curse, but bless thou;" keeping ever fixed in thy mind this maxim, That a greater pleasure springs from a free and frank forgiveness of injuries to the sanctifed soul, than the most choleric breast can feel in the most sanguine revenge.

Has not the sun often shed his cloudless beams on them who blasphemed their Maker? Have not the clouds many a time watered their fields who never acknowledged the divine munificence? And has not all nature poured forth her riches, times innumerable, to those who walked contrary to the God of nature? Came these things by chance? No. They were the effects of his unbounded goodness, which teems divinely free and vastly full on all, in spite of the ingratitude of the wicked, in spite of the daring impiety of the unjust; no less showing himself God in his conduct with the world, than in his creation of the world. Copy, then, my soul, this amiable perfection. Deal with the whole world, as if every one were thy brother, or thy friend; and though they may forfeit the name, let them never forfeit thy kind regard. As the sun changes not his course, though bursting

clouds and bellowing thunders fight below; so, if thou move in the celestial sphere of practical religion, thou wilt never omit the duties of a Christian to any, though all should commit the hostilities of an heathen towards thee. Let not the distress of thine enemy afford thee delight, nor the misfortunes of thy inveterate foe infuse a secret pleasure. Sympathise with him in his calamity who could laugh at thine ; and, as far as is consistent with truth, preserve his good name, who, to the wounding of truth, has robbed thee of thine. Remember benefits, forget injuries, forgive reproachful tongues, overlook affronts, wish well to every individual, pray for all for whom prayer ought to be made, and be a child of God in temper and conduct, in spite of corrupt nature, earth, and hell, aiming at perfection, as thy Father which is in heaven is perfect.

MEDITATION CXXII.

THE BIBLE A STORE-HOUSE OF INSTRUCTIONS. ·

Quiberon Bay, Jan, 23, 1759.

MAN is not only a worm as to his extract, but a

beast as to his knowledge; hence, the most sagacious. of Adam's sons would be but fools in things that concern them most, without this divine monitor, the Scripture. Here I am informed when the world began, and who was my first parent, the grand representative and federal head of all his offspring; how sin and death entered into the world, and how both are done away. Hence the mystery of a three-one God shines with awful effulgence; while the glorîeus, amiable, and divine work of redemption, darts

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