All-directing Power, which is the everlasting guardian of the universe. Whether it be his own lot to fall, or to rise, he will be equally assured, that he is in hands which cannot err. Whilst he maintains his duty towards his Creator; and confides implicitly in a faith, which must be true, or creation itself is one tremendous falsehood, despair, nor repining, cannot reach him. He alone is the philosopher, the hero, who thus towers above all earthly calamity. He asks but for virtue: with that he is master of all: he is the truly great, the intensely happy. It is not in the power of any thing mortal to shake his magnanimity; he depends on the Eternal: and he it is, that could see the globe melt from beneath his feet, without changing colour. DISCONTENT. We should deal ungratefully with nature, if we should be forgetful of her gifts, and diligent auditors of the chances we like not. Remark. In estimating our conduct, and our stations in life, we take our measure by two opposite standards: we compare our opinions and actions, with those of men who are evidently below us; and our fortune, with that of men who are as much above us: by this way of computing, we allow our vices to increase upon us, until we become scandalously wicked; and engender a discontent, which finally makes us miserable. HAPPINESS. EXTREME joy is not without a certain delightful pain: by extending the heart beyond its limits; and by so forcibly a holding of all the senses to any object, it confounds their mutual working (but not without a charming kind of ravishment,) from the free use of their functions. Remark. Hence it comes, that we cannot make any use of the first moments, nay hours, of happiness. Joy has seized upon all the faculties of the soul, and we are prisoner to our eyes and ears. We grasp the hand of a long-absent and dear friend; we gaze on him; we hardly articulate; we weep; we smile; we embrace him again and again; and, confounded with delight, abandon ourselves to silence and meditation. Rare moment, and precious! Sweet earnest of those perpetual transports, which the soul is formed to enjoy in eternity, unalloyed with that amazement which darkens and alarms, Thy joys suit not with the impaired constitution of man! like the brightness that shone out upon the face of Moses, they are too intolerable for mortal sense; it can only bear them through a veil. ΟΡΙΝΙΟΝ AND EXPECTATION. 1. Ir many times falls out, that we deem ourselves much deceived in others, because we first deceived ourselves. Remark. It is no uncommon thing to see people associating intimately with the illiterate, unreflecting and base part of mankind: they know them to be what they are; and yet, when in the turn of events they shew their sordid natures to the bottom, their offended companions affect to be astonished, outraged, and ill-used; when, if they took time for thought, they would remember, that when men keep company with thieves, they ought not to be surprised at finding their pockets picked. 2. An over-shooting expectation is the most cruel adversary of honourable doing. Remark. And, an over-shooting expectation is the sure executioner of all the self-denying virtues.When expectation of any kind outstrips the capability of action; when it seizes the prize at the outmost goal, before the race has started, the indignant candidate recoils from the stretch which he is told he must attain; and shrinks back, even from attempting a shorter circuit. Let expectation move by degrees, if it would not wither the hopes it wishes to see bloom. Man will not bear to be made a pro |