A foft anfwer turneth away wrath; but grievous

words ftir up anger.

Pride goeth before deftruction; and a haughty fpirit before a fall.

Hear counfel, and receive inftruction, that thou mayft be truly wife.

He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth to the Lord : that which he hath given, will he pay him again.

The fluggard will not plough by reafon of the cold; he fhall therefore beg in harvest, and have nothing. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kifses of an enemy are deceitful. Open rebuke is better

than fecret love.

He that is flow to anger, is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city. If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink.

Seeft thou a man wife in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.

It is better to be a door-keeper in the houfe of the Lord, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

He that planted the ear, fhall he not hear? He that formed the eye, fhall he not fee?

I have been young, and now I am old; yet have I never seen the righteous forfaken, nor his feed begging bread.

I have seen the wicked in great power; and spreading himfelf like a green bay-tree. Yet he passed away: I fought him, but he could not be found.

Happy is the man that findeth wifdom. Length of days is in her right-hand; and in her left-hand, riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantnefs, and all her paths are peace.

How good and how pleafant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like precious ointment— Like the dew of Hermon, and the dew that defcended upon the mountains of Zion.

I went by the field of the flothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding: and lo! it was all grown over with thorns; nettles had covered its face; and the ftone-wall was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received inftruction.

Honourable age is not that which ftandeth in length of time; nor that which is meafured by number of years:-But wisdom is the grey hair to man; and an unfpotted life is old age.

Solomon, my fon, know thou the God of thy fathers; and ferve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind. If thou feek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forfake him, he will caft thee off for

ever.

SECTION IX.

THAT every day has its pains and forrows, is univerfally experienced, and almost universally confefsed.But let us not attend only to mournful truths: if we look impartially about us, we shall find, that every day has likewife its pleafures and its joys.

We should cherish fentiments of charity towards all

men.

The Author of all good nourishes much piety and virtue in hearts that are unknown to us; and beholds repentance ready to fpring up among many, whom we confider as reprobates.

No one ought to confider himself as infignificant in the fight of his Creator. In our feveral ftations, we are all fent forth to be labourers in the vineyard of our heavenly Father. Every man has his work allotted, his talent committed to him; by the due improvement of which he may, in one way or other, ferve God, promote virtue, and be ufeful in the world.

The love of praise fhould be preserved under proper fubordination to the principle of duty. In itself, it is a ufeful motive to action; but when allowed to extend its influence too far, it corrupts the whole character; and produces guilt, difgrace, and mifery. To be entirely deftitute of it, is a defect. To be governed by it, is depravity. The proper adjustment of the feveral principles of action in human nature, is a matter that deferves our highest attention. For when any one of them becomes either too weak or too ftrong, it endangers both our virtue and our happiness.

The defires and pafsions of a vicious man, having once obtained an unlimited fway, trample him under their feet. They make him feel that he is fubject to various, contradictory, and imperious mafters, who often pull him different ways. His foul is rendered the receptacle of many repugnant and jarring dispositions; and resembles fome barbarous country, cantoned out into different principalities, which are continually waging war on one another.

Diseases, poverty, disappointment, and fhame, are far from being, in every instance, the unavoidable doom of man. They are much more frequently the offspring of his own mifguided choice. Intemperance engenders disease, floth produces poverty, pride creates difappointments, and difhonefty expofes to fhame.

The ungoverned pafsions of men betray them into a thoufand follies; their follies into crimes; and their crimes into misfortunes.

When we reflect on the many distresses which abound in human life; on the fcanty proportion of happiness which any man is here allowed to enjoy; on the small difference which the diversity of fortune makes on that fcanty proportion; it is furprifing, that envy fhould ever have been a prevalent passion among men, much more that it should have prevailed among Christians. Where fo much is fuffered in common, little room is left for envy. There is more occafion for pity and sympathy, and inclination to assist each other.

At our first setting out in life, when yet unacquainted with the world and its fnares, when every pleasure enchants with its fmile, and every object fhines with the glofs of novelty; let us beware of the feducing appearances which furround us; and recollect what others have fuffered from the power of headstrong defire. If we allow any passion, even though it be efteemed innocent, to acquire an absolute afcendant, our inward peace will be impaired. But if any which has the taint of guilt, take early possession of our mind, we may date, from that moment, the ruin of our tranquillity.

Every man has fome darling pafsion, which generally affords the first introduction to vice. The irregular gratifications into which it occafionally feduces him, appear under the form of venial weakneffes; and are indulged, in the beginning, with fcrupuloufnefs and referve. But, by longer practice, these restraints weaken, and the power of habit grows. One vice brings in another to its aid. By a fort of natural

affinity they connect and entwine themselves together; till their roots come to be spread wide and deep over all the foul.

SECTION X.

WHENCE arifes the mifery of this present world? It is not owing to our cloudy atmosphere, our changing feafons, and inclement fkies. It is not owing to the debility of our bodies, or to the unequal diftribution of the goods of fortune. Amidst all difadvantages of this kind, a pure, a ftedfaft, and enlightened mind, poffefsed of strong virtue, could enjoy itself in peace, and fmile at the impotent afsaults of fortune and the elements. It is within ourselves that mifery has fixed its feat. Our difordered hearts, our guilty pafsions, our violent prejudices, and misplaced defires, are the inftruments of the trouble which we endure. Thefe fharpen the darts which adverfity would otherwife point in vain against us.

While the vain and the licentious are revelling in the midft of extravagance and riot, how little do they think of thofe fcenes of fore diftrefs which are pafsing at that moment throughout the world; multitudes ftruggling for a poor fubfiftence, to fupport the wife and the children whom they love, and who look up to them with eager eyes for that bread which they can hardly procure; multitudes groaning under fickness in defolate cottages, untended and unmourned; many, apparently in a better fituation of life, pining away in fecret with concealed griefs; families weeping over the beloved friends whom they have loft, or, in all the bitterness