How he must Live that would Live

Well.

WHOEVER neglects his duty to God,

to his neighbor, or to himself, halts in something that should make life commendable. Did every man preserve a life of order, what harmony would exist in kingdoms, in cities, in families! to maintain this, how useful and needful is charity! without charity, a man cannot even be truly sociable. If there be any thing sweet in humanity, it is in the intercourse of beloved society, where every one is each other's counsellor, mind, and solace. Such a life as this, I take to be best pleasing both to God and man; nor yet can this be truly pleasant, unless a man be careful to give to God the honor that is due to him. When a man shall perform this three-fold duty, he shall find a peace Iwithin that shall fit him for whatever befalls him. He shall not have to fear himself, for he knows his course is order; he shall not fear the world, for he knows he has not done any thing to offend it; he shall have humble hope of heaven, for he knows he shall there find the favor of a servant, and of a Let me live thus, and I care not though the world slight my innocence.

son.

On Reprehension.

To reprehend properly, is the most difficult, as well as the most needful, office of true friendship; for who is it that will not sometimes merit reproof? And who can endure it? Yet how can a friend give greater proof of his regard, than in preventing danger before its birth; or in bringing a man to safety, who is on the road to ruin? When thou chidest a wandering friend, do it secretly, in season, and wiih affection: the presence of a multitude will sometimes induce a a man to make an unjust defence, rather than fail in a just shame; to avoid the finger of scorn being pointed at him. To admonish a man in the height of his passion, is to call a soldier to council in the heat of a battle: the end of passion is often the beginning of repentance; when a word seasonably given will sometimes, like a rudder, steer a man quite another course. To be plain, argues honesty; but to be pleasing, by gently administering truth, argues discretion, and is the way of wisdom. Let the offender always see your affection, without feeling your arrogance. Let the man who gives advice, guard against apparent superiority. If humility be accompanied

with affection, the bluster of self-defence will soon subside into gratitude; but if a friend must be lost, the best way to lose him, is by seeking kindly to save him. Let me endeavor to practise these precepts, and I can then only be hated for my goodness; and against this poison I shall prove my own antidote..

No one suffers reprehension so mildly as he who most deserves respect and praise.

On Fame.

IT seems strange, that man should be excited by the desire of a noble fame and memory after his death, when the account must pass upon his actions, and not upon the report of others. Virtue were a kind of misery, if fame only were all the garland that crowned her. Glory alone, would be a reward incompetent for the toils of industrious man: this follows him but upon earth; whereas, in heaven is laid up a more noble, more essential, recompence. Yet, in others, I will honor the fame where deserving deeds have given birth to it: myself, I will regard those actions only that may

in.

merit it.

I will not, for myself, seek it; though I shall be glad if it may be permitted to follow me, to excite others that they may go beyond me: If I can but tread the path that leads to it, I shall, on my own account, be content.

Check thyself, vain man, that with the ardor of a diseased fancy dost pursue fleeting shadows! Love substances, and hear what BOETHIUS tells thee:

He that seeks a glorious prize,
Thinking that the top of all,
Let him view th' expanded skies,

And the earth's contracted bail :
Then blush, to think that glory's plan
Is bounded by the breath of man."

The Christian's Settledness on God.

THOUGH man circuit about with ever

so many ambiguous turnings, yet, like a disunited element, he is never at quiet repose until he makes up to the centre of his soul, his God. All things him out of the quest of heaven, are but

that put

diversions and disturbances, which may be considered as impediments to the necessary adoration of his maker.

Though the pleasures, profits, and honors, of this world, may sometimes draw him out of his usual course, yet he wavers up and down in trouble, and is never at rest, until he returns to his wonted joy and inward happiness; there it is that his centre points, and there his circle is bounded: in God, as in the root for fecundity, are the causes of all felicity. All the oriental lustre of the richest gems; all the enchanting beauties of exterior shape; the exquisite of all forms; the loveliness of color; the harmony of sound; the heat and brightness of the enlivening sun; the heroic virtue of

the bravest minds; with the purity and quickness of the highest intellect ; are all emanations from the Supreme Deity. If we find any thing in the creature that is but faintly amiable, we may be sure, in God to find it in immense perfection. Absalom's beauty, Jonathan's love, David's valor, Solomon's wisdom, the prudence of Augustus, the eloquence of Cicero, with whatsoever else we most admire, the purity of Virgins, the innocence of Wisdom, and the intelligence of all.

Is it not wonderful, that the brittle, weak, and short-lived pleasures of this world should cap