RULE XV.

See Vol. 2. p. 101.

The gentle mind is like the smooth stream, which reflects every object in its just proportion, and in its fairest colours. Beware of those rash and dangerous connexions, which may afterwards load you with dishonour.

Blind must that man be, who discerns not the most striking marks of a Divine government, exercised over the world. It is labour only which gives the relish to pleasure.

In that unaffected civility which springs from a gentle mind, there is an incomparable charm.

They who raise envy, will easily incur censure.

Many of the evils which occasion our complaints of the world, are wholly imaginary.

He who is good before invisible witnesses, is eminently so before the visible.

His conduct, so disinterested and generous, was universally approved.

RULE XVI.

See Vol. 2. p. 102.

The fumes which arise from a heart boiling with violent passions, never fail to darken and trouble the understanding. If we delay till to-morrow what ought to be done to-day, we overcharge the morrow with a burden which belongs not to it.

By whatever means we may at first attract the attention, we can hold the esteem, and secure the hearts of others, only by amiable dispositions, and the accomplishments of the mind.

If the mind sow not corn, it will plant thistles.

One day is sufficient to scatter our prosperity, and bring it to nought.

Graceful in youth, are the tears of sympathy, and the heart that melts at the tale of wo.

The ever active and restless power of thought, if not employed about what is good, will naturally and unavoidably engender evil.

He who formed the heart, certainly knows what passes within it.

To be humble and modest in opinion, to be vigilant and attentive in conduct, to distrust fair appearances, and to restrain rash desires, are insructions which the darkness of our present state should strongly inculcate.

RULE XVII.

See Vol. 2. p. 102.

The greatest misery is, to be condemned by our own hearts. The greatest misery that we can endure, is, to be condemned by our own hearts.

Charles's highest enjoyment was, to relieve the distressed, and to do good.

The highest enjoyment that Charles ever experienced, was, to relieve the distressed, and to do good.

RULE XVIII.

See Vol. 2. p. 103.

If opulence increases our gratifications, it increases, in the same proportion, our desires and demands.

He whose wishes, respecting the possessions of this world, are the most reasonable and bounded, is likely to lead the safest, and, for that reason, the most desirable life.

By aspiring too high, we frequently miss the happiness, which, by a less ambitious aim, we might have gained.

By proper management, we prolong our time: we live more, in a few years, than others do in many.

In your most secret actions, suppose that you have all the world for witnesses.

In youth, the habits of industry are most easily acquired. What is the right path, few take the trouble of inquiring.

RULE XIX.

See Vol. 2. p. 103.

Providence never intended, that any state here should be either completely happy, or entirely miserable.

As a companion, he was severe and satirical; as a friend, captious and dangerous; in his domestic sphere, harsh, jealous, and irascible.

If the Spring put forth no blossoms, in Summer there will be no beauty, and in Autumn, no fruit. So, if youth be trifled away without improvement, manhood will be contemptible, and old age, miserable.

RULE XX.

See Vol. 2. p. 103.

Be assured, then, that order, frugality, and economy, are the necessary supports of every personal and private virtue.

I proceed, secondly, to point out the proper state of our temper, with respect to one another.

Here, every thing is in stir and fluctuation; there, all is serene, steady, and orderly.

I shall make some observations, first, on the external, and next, on the internal, condition of man.

Sometimes, timidity and false shame prevent our opposing vicious customs; frequently, expectation and interest impel us strongly to comply.

CHAPTER II.

CONTAINING INSERTIONS OF THE SEMICOLON AND COMMA.

See Vol. 2. p. 104.

THAT darkness of character, where we can see no heart; those foldings of art, through which no native affection is allowed to penetrate; present an object, unamiable in every season of life, but particularly odious in youth.

To give an early preference to honour above gain, when they stand in competition; to despise every advantage which cannot be attained without dishonest arts; to brook no meanness, and to stoop to no dissimulation; are the indications of a great mind, the presages of future eminence and usefulmess in life.

As there is a worldly happiness, which God perceives to be no other than disguised misery; as there are worldly honours, which, in his estimation, are reproach; so there is a worldly wisdom, which, in his sight, is foolishness.

The passions are the chief destroyers of our peace; the storms and tempests of the moral world.

Heaven is the region of gentleness and friendship; hell, of fierceness and animosity.

The path of truth, is a plain and a safe path; that of falsehood, is a perplexing maze,

Modesty is one of the chief ornaments of youth; and it has ever been esteemed a presage of rising merit.

Life, with a swift, though insensible course, glides away; and, like a river which undermines its banks, gradually im pairs our state.

The violent spirit, like troubled waters, renders back the images of things distorted and broken; and communicates to them all that disordered motion, which arises solely from its own agitation.

Levity is frequently the forced production of folly or vice; cheerfulness is the natural offspring of wisdom and virtue only. Persons who live according to order, may be compared to the celestial bodies, which move in regular courses, and by stated laws; whose influence is beneficent; whose operations are quiet and tranquil.

CHAPTER III.

CONTAINING APPLICATIONS OF THE COLON, &c,..

See Vol. 2. p. 105,

THE three great enemies to tranquillity, are vice, superstition, and idleness: vice, which poisons and disturbs the mind. with bad passions; superstition, which fills it with imaginary terrors; idleness, which loads it with tediousness and disgust.

To sail on the tranquil surface of an unruffled lake, and to steer a safe course through a troubled and stormy ocean, require different talents: and, alas! human life oftener resembles the stormy ocean, than the unruffled lake.

When we look forward to the year which is beginning, what do we behold there? All, my brethren, is a blank to our view: a dark unknown presents itself.

Happy would the poor man think himself, if he could enter on all the treasures of the rich: and happy for a short time he might be but before he had long contemplated and admired his state, his possessions would seem to lessen, and his cares would grow.

By doing, or at least endeavouring to do, our duty to God and man; by acquiring an humble trust in the mercy and favour of God, through Jesus Christ; by cultivating our minds, and properly employing our time and thoughts; by governing our passions and our temper; by correcting all unreasonable expectations from the world, and from men; and, in the midst of worldly business, habituating ourselves to calm retreat and serious recollection: by such means as these, it may be hoped, that, through the Divine blessing, our days shall flow in a stream as unruffled as the human state admits,

A metaphor is a comparison, expressed in an abridged form, but without any of the words that denote comparison: as, "To the upright there ariseth light in darkness,'

All our conduct towards men; should be influenced by this important precept: "Do unto others, as you would that others should do unto you."

Philip III. king of Spain, when he drew near the end of his days, seriously reflecting on his past life, and greatly affected with the remembrance of his mispent time, expressed his deep regret in these terms: "Ah! how happy would it have been for me, had I spent, in retirement, these twenty-three years, that I have possessed my kingdom!"

Often is the smile of gaiety assumed, whilst the heart aches within though folly may laugh, guilt will sting.

There is no mortal truly wise and restless at once: wisdom is the repose of minds.

CHAPTER IV.

CONTAINING INSERTIONS OF THE PERIOD, &c.

Sce Vol. 2. p. 106.

THE absence of evil is a real good.

Peace, quiet, exemption from pain, should be a continual feast.

Worldly happiness ever tends to destroy itself, by corrupting the heart. It fosters the loose and the violent passions. It engenders noxious habits; and taints the mind with false delicacy, which makes it feel a thousand unreal evils.

Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the afflicted, yield more pleasure than we receive from those actions which respect only ourselves. Benevolence may, in this view, be termed the most refined self-love.

The resources of virtue remain entire, when the days of trouble come. They remain with us in sickness, as in health; in poverty, as in the midst of riches; in our dark and solitary hours, no less than when surrounded with friends and cheerful society. The mind of a good man is a kingdom to him, and he can always enjoy it.

We ruin the happiness of life, when we attempt to raise it too high. A tolerable and comfortable state, is all that we can propose to ourselves on earth. Peace and contentment, not bliss, nor transport, are the full portion of man. Perfect joy is reserved for heaven.

If we look around us, we shall perceive that the whole universe is full of active powers. Action is indeed the genius