CHAP. VIII.

COMFORTS AGANST POVERTY, AND LOSS OF PROPERTY.

SECTION 1.

The fickle nature of Earthly Good.

THOU art driven into want: and what is worse, out of abundance:-Those evils which we have been inured to as being bred up with us from our cradle, are grown so familiar, that we are little moved with their presence. But those, into which we fall suddenly, out of a state of outward felicity, are ready to overwhelm us. Let thy care be, not to want those better riches which shall make thy soul happy, and thou shalt not be too much troubled with the loss of this trivial and perishing stuff.

Had these been true riches, they could not have been lost. The good that is at last capable of loss, is unsatisfying while enjoyed; and when lost, it turns to evil. Didst thou not know that riches have wings; and what use is there of wings, if not to fly away. If another man's violence shall clip those wings, even this very clipping is their flight. Set thy heart upon that excellent and precious wealth which can never be taken from thee, which shall never leave thee, nor thou it; then thou shalt easily slight these poor losses.

As these were not really good, so they were not thine. Here thou foundest them, and here thou leavest them. What hadst thou but their use; neither can they be otherwise thine heir's, whom thou leavest behind thee. I am ashamed to hear a heathen philosopher say, 'All that is mine I carry about me,' when many of us christians are ready to hug those things as most ours, which are without ourselves. It is an unanswerable question which God puts to the rich man in the parable, upon the parting with his soul: Then, whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Luke xii. 20. Perhaps

a stranger's; perhaps, as in case of undisposed lands, the occupant's; perhaps a false executor's; perhaps an enemy's. Call that thine which thou shalt be sure to carry away with thee, which shall either accompany thy soul in its last passage or follow it: such shall be thy holy graces, thy charitable works, thy virtuous actions, thy heavenly dispositions. Lo, these are the treasures which thou shalt lay up for thyself in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through nor steal. Matt. vi. 20.

SECTION 2.

They are not ours, but only lent us.

THOU hast lost thy goods -May I not rather say, thou hast restored them? He parted with more than thou, who meekly said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Job i. 21. Whether it were by way of patrimony, or by way of providence and industry, the Lord gave it; and whether it were by the hands of Chaldeans or Sabeans, the Lord hath taken it. The Lord is in both; he did but give and take his own. Is it not just so with thee? What reason hast thou then to complain? Or may I not rather say, it was not given, but lent thee for awhile till called for; and dost thou grudge to restore, what thou borrowedst? Nay, that thou mayest have yet less claim to this pelf, was it not only left in thy hand by the owner to enploy for his use, till he should demand it with increase? What is it to thee, but to improve and account for? If others have taken off thy charge, while they have spoiled, they have also eased thee.

SECTION 3.

The right valuation of Riches.

THY wealth is gone:-Hast thou necessaries left? Be thankful for what thou hast : forget what thou hadst. If thou hadst possessed more, thou couldst have made use of no more than nature calls for: the rest would only have lain by thee for sight, or ready to be employed.

Only forbear the thought of superfluities, and what art thou the worse? Perhaps thy fare is coarser, thy dishes fewer, thy utensils meaner, thy clothes homelier, thy train shorter what of this? How is thy mind affected? Contentment stands not in quantities, nor in qualities; but in the inward disposition of the heart. That alone can multiply numbers, and raise prices that alone can turn honest friezes into rich velvets, pulse into delicacies, and make one attendant many officers.

Seneca tells us that the true measure of wealth is the body, as the last is of the shoe. If the shoe be too big for the foot, it is only troublesome and useless; and how poor an answer would it be of the cordwainer to say, that he had plenty of leather. It is fitness, which is to be regarded here, not largeness. Nor is this any other than the charge of the blessed apostle: Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. And if we have no more, we shall be but as we were, and as we shall be; for we brought nothing into the world, neither shall we carry any thing out. I Tim. vi. 7, 8.

THOU hast parted with thy wealth:-perhaps for thine own good. How many have we known that have been cumbered with plenty, like as the ostrich or bustard with bulk of body, so that they could not raise their thoughts

to spiritual things; who when their weight hath been taken off, have mounted nimbly towards heaven. · How many have we known that would have lost their lives, if they had not lost their gold; and how many also that would have lost their souls! The whole vessel had sunk in this boisterous sea, if the luggage of this earthly freight had not been cast overboard. And why art thou so troubled to lose that, which might have undone thee in the keeping?

SECTION 5.

The danger of Abundance.

THOU hadst wealth:--Hast thou not parted with that, for which many a man hath been the worse; worse both in body and soul, and by which never any soul was better? Have we not seen many good corn-fields marred with rankness; have we not seen many a good bough split with the weight of too much fruit? But had those fields been either thinner sown or seasonably eaten down, they had yielded a fair crop; and those boughs, had they been but moderately laden, would have outlived many

autumns.

Dost thou not hear thy Saviour say, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! Mark x. 23. Art thou troubled, that there is a rub removed out of the way to happiness; that the bunch of the camel is taken off, if yet thou mayest pass through the eye of the needle?

SECTION 6.

The cares that attend Wealth.

THOU hadst riches:-But hadst thou not cares to boot? Otherwise thou hast fared better than all thy

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neighbours. Nobody but thyself could ever handle these roses, without pricking his fingers.

He was famous amongst the jewish doctors, whose rule it was, He that multiplies riches, multiplies cares :' and our blessed Saviour hath coupled these two together. The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches. Mark iv. 9.

We have heard of one who was glad to be rid of his lately-found bag, that he might sleep and sing again. He was noted and envied at Rome for his wealth, who could experimentally say, The poor man laughs more often and more heartily than the rich;' and tells us that outward felicity is an unquiet thing, never ceasing to vex itself.' Thy sides are now rid of these thorns: why dost thou grumble at thine own ease?

SECTION 7.

The imperiousness of ill-used wealth.

THOU lately possessed great riches:-Mayest thou not rather say, thou wert possessed of them? Many a one hath wealth, in the same sense as a man hath taken an ague; when indeed the ague hath taken him, and holds him in a painful manner. The truth is, many a man's wealth is his master, and keeps him under hard conditions not allowing him sufficient diet, competent rest, or suitable recreation. If thou wert thus a drudge to thine estate, thou art now thine own man. Enjoy thy liberty, and together with thy patience, be thankful.