528. Father. One custom is to be expell'd by

another; abate of the excess, retreat by degrees within the bounds of temperance, 'till appetite be reconciled to reason; but leave not the Almighty Counsellor out of the cabinet, for drunkenness and swearing are like those devils spoken of in the gospel, that go not out but by prayer and fasting.' But what became of the manuscript

MAXIMS, ADVICE, AND

CAUTIONS.

Son. As soon as WISEMAN was gone, FLATTERER snatching it out of Youth's hand, cry'd, what more grave lessons still? D-n his dry doctrines, such stuff is only fit for schoolboys, and threw it to me. Father. Read it.

Son. Dear KINSMAN;

¶ Refuse not to be informed-good counsel breaks no man's head.

Horace laughs at those that are asham'd to learn, and not asham'd to be ignorant. And,

Solomon brands those for fools that despise INSTRUCTION.1

¶ Man's nature is ever subject to extremity, either dull in want, or wanton in fruition.

¶ There is nothing more generally desired than LIBERTY, and scarce any thing more universally

1 Prov. 1. 7.

abused. The greatest part of mankind employ their first years to make their last miserable. But, 536. TIME will claim groans, tears, and miserable despair, diseases, want, and abject poverty, for all the fleeting, ill-spent moments youth borrow'd from him.

537.

Stand in awe of your SELF, if you would not be ashamed before others.

538. Let not FELICITY eat up circumspection.-Who remits his care, perishes by his neglect.

539.

What avails the faculty of REASON, without the exercise of it.-Where an obstinate I will is the preface, I wou'd I had not is generally the conclusion.

540. It's impossible to be happy without making

reason the standard of all our thoughts, words, and actions, and yielding a constant, ready, and cheerful obedience to all its dictates.

541. Mistrust your own opinion; fear the issue of advice consonant to your desires.-Flatterers, like Acteon's hounds, will destroy their master.

542. Use much attention and consideration, weigh things themselves; follow the dictates of reason, tho' appetite lean another way.

543. Meditate often on the nature of your being;

consider who you are, what you do, whence you

came, where you must go, and beware of had I wist.

Non putaram are the words of a fool.

Esau wept,' but too late.

¶ Man cannot be truly HAPPY here without a well-grounded hope of being so hereafter.

A globe cannot fill a triangle; the emptiness and nullity that there is in the enjoyments of this world, show they were never designed to fill up the large capacities of the heart of man.

¶ The care of RELIGION, and of our souls, is the one thing necessary. He that neglects the service of the ALMIGHTY, dies without doing that for which he was made to live. (§ 307.)

RELIGION will bear a man up in all estates and accidents, make his thoughts vertuous, words discreet, actions prudent, and life blameless; as aiming only at the glory of GoD, and doing all the good he can to himself and others.

CHRISTIANITY is the highest exultation of nature, and right reason, the only excellent and compendious art of happy living, piety towards GOD, justice and charity towards MEN, and temperance and chastity in reference to OUR SELVES, are tasks

1 Gen. 27. 38.

551.

552.

553.

554

555.

556.

that are rewards, and precepts that are a divine sort of Alchymy, to sublime at once our natures and our pleasures.

Begin and End the day with PRAYER.

PRAYER is a worship from which neither poor nor rich are exempted or excluded.

Early in the MORNING, whilst the spirits are fresh and lively, e'er a throng of worldly thoughts crowd in upon you, devoutly meditate on God's promises, entreat his assistance, and with fervency of spirit, and intent devotion, beg of God in faith, through the merits of Christ, the things you want, deprecate those you fear, interceed for others, and give thanks for what you have received.

ORIGEN observed, that the day wherein he so shamefully fell, in sacrificing to idols, he ventur'd out in the morning before he had compleated his usual prayers.

At EVENING bend your knees, before you want the pillow.

In breaches of SLEEP say some short ejaculations, that those spaces of life that have in them no direct business, may be filled with religion.

557. Such as are remiss, cold, and negligent in prayer, in time of health, can hardly be confident of audience, in sickness, and affliction.-Those who