enforced by the example of our blessed Saviour, but likewise recommends itself to us by the several advantages arising from this divine temper of mind. It was the great design of philosophy, and indeed very worthy it was of the study of the wisest men in the heathen world, to find out a suitable support and comfort to the mind of men under the various evils and afflictions of life. They felt that man was exposed to troubles and distresses of many kinds, and wanted all the arguments of consolation they could possibly think of, to keep him from sinking under them. And what then was the great remedy they applied? Why, some of them told him, that pain and affliction were not real evils, and therefore he ought not to be troubled with them. But what language was this to a man smarting under pain and affliction, who felt them to be real evils, and could not therefore help sinking under the load of them? A man at ease might please himself with such airy notions, and boast of having found out a certain remedy against the evils and miseries of life: But change the scene, and see him

in a fit of sickness, or under any great affliction, and you will probably hear him uttering the common groan of afflicted humanity, and the boasted philosopher lost in the suffering man.

Great

Others tell you, that you are born to misery, and that affliction is natural and necessary to you, and therefore why should you complain of what you cannot help, of what always was and always must be the condition of your nature. comfort indeed to a man in acute pain to be told, that his case is helpless, and that he is fatally doomed to suffer! Can you say any thing more grievous to him, or which can be a surer cause of depression under great and stinging afflictions?

What method then shall the afflicted soul take, to procure to itself suitable relief and consolation? None so effectual, as trust and reliance upon God, a firm belief that we are under the guidance and direction of a powerful and just, a wise and good Being, without whose permission no power can hurt us, without whose

direction no evil can befall us, and who in all his dispensations to the sons of men most effectually provides for the happiness of his creatures. This is the temper of mind, this the only consideration, which can alleviate the multitude of sorrows: The man who is under the influence of such a persuasion as this, will patiently receive evil at the hand of God as well as good, will resign himself entirely to his will, who he is assured loves us as well as we do ourselves, and better knows what is good for us than we ourselves do.

2dly. This temper of mind is not only a relief for the present, but also calms our fears and apprehensions for the future. For what can he fear, who has committed all his concerns to the care of a wise and good God, who resigns himself up entirely to his disposal, and in all events supports himself with this reflection, "It "is the Lord, let him do what seemeth "him good?" Whatsoever is brought upon him he takes chearfully, and he is patient in his low estate: Though distressed, he encourages himself in the Lord

his God: "Though the fig tree shall not "blossom, neither shall fruit be in the "vine; though the labour of the olive

shall fail, and the fields shall yield no "meat; though the flock shall be cut "off from the fold, and there shall be no "herd in the stalls; yet does he trust in "the Lord, and place his confidence in "the God of his salvation;" assuring himself that no affliction can befall him without the permission of the divine Being, on whose paternal care and affection towards him he relies in all the troubles and disappointments of life.

3dly. Another recommendation of this divine temper of mind is, that it tends to the improvement of our virtue. Afflictions and disappointments are the great methods, which God takes, to call us back to our duty and to fix us in our dependence upon him. The silent instruction of reason and true wisdom, or the still voice of conscience, are little attended to in the tumult and hurry of our passions. If therefore the judgments of God did not now and then rouse us to re

flection,

flection, the inhabitants of the world would entirely neglect the ways of righteousness. The Amighty therefore, mercifully severe, in pity to mankind finds it necessary to call them to a state of suffering: And if we then make the best use of the evils and. afflictions which befall us, and bear them as we ought, we ourselves may do a great deal to turn them to our benefit and advantage, to the healing the disorders of: the mind, and the improvement of our virtue. Why therefore should we repine and murmur at those things, which may prove so beneficial to us, if it be not our own fault, which tend to our good and, the increase of our happiness, which put us in possession of the invaluable treasure of a virtuous mind, that good part, which cannot be taken from us, and which so long as we possess, we are sure of the favour of God and the countenance, of heaven, which alone are sufficient to make the most afflicted condition happy?.

Lastly, As patience and submission to the divine will tend to the improvement! of our virtue in this world, so they exalt VOL. IV.

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