7 When thou sellest for gain, hear the whispering of conscience, and be satisfied with moderation; nor from the ignorance of the buyer make any advantage to thyself.

8 Pay the debts which thou owest; for he who gave thee credit, relied upon thine honor: and to withhold from him his due, is both mean and unjust.

9 Finally; O son of society! examine thy heart, call remembrance to thy aid; and if, in any of those things, thou findest thou hast transgressed, take sorrow and shame to thyself, and make speedy reparation to the utmost of thy power.

10 Happy is the man who hath sown in his breast the seeds of benevolence; the produce thereof shall be charity and love. From the fountain of his heart shall rise rivers of goodness; and the streams shall overflow for the good of mankind. He assisteth the poor in their trouble; he rejoiceth in furthering the prosperity of all men.

11 He censureth not his neighbor; he believeth not the tales of envy and malevolence; neither repeateth he their slanders. He forgiveth the injuries of men; he wipeth them from his remembrance; revenge and malice have no place in his heart. For evil he returneth not evil; he hateth not even his enemies; but requiteth their injustice with friendly admonition.

12 The griefs and anxieties of men excite his compassion, he endeavors to alleviate the weight of their misfortunes; and the pleasure of success rewardeth his labor. He calmeth the fury, he healeth the quarrels of angry men, and preventeth the mischiefs of strife and animosity. He promoteth in his neighborhood peace and good will; and his name is repeated with praise and benedictions.

13 The providence of God is over all his works; he ruleth and directeth with infinite wisdom. He hath instituted laws for the government of the world; he hath wonderfully varied them in all beings; and each by his nature, conform to his will. His goodness is conspicuous in all his works; he is the fountain of excellence, the centre of perfection.

14 The creatures of his hand declare his goodness, and all their enjoyments speak his praise; he clotheth them with beauty; he supporteth them with food; and preserveth them from generation to generation. If we lift up our eyes to the heavens, his glory shineth forth; if we cast them down upon the earth, it is full of his goodness: the hills and the vallies rejoice and sing; fields, rivers, and woods, resound his praise. 15 But thee, O man! he hath distinguished with peculiar

favor, and exalted thy station above all creatures. He hath endowed thee with reason to maintain thy dominion; he hath fitted thee with language to improve by society; and exalted thy mind with the powers of meditation, to contemplate and adore his inimitable perfections.

16 And in the laws he hath ordained as a rule of thy life, so kindly hath he suited thy duty to thy nature, that obedience to his precepts is happiness to thyself. "O praise his goodness with songs of thanksgiving, and meditate in silence on the wonders of his love: let thy heart overflow with gratitude and acknowledgment; let the language of thy lips speak praise and adoration; let the actions of thy life show thy love to his law."

SECTION VII.

Man considered in general.

1 Weak and ignorant as thou art, O man! humble as thou oughtest to be, Ŏ child of the dust! wouldst thou raise thy thoughts to infinite wisdom? wouldst thou see omnipotence displayed before thee? contemplate thine own frame. Wonderfully art thou made; praise therefore thy Creator with awe, and rejoice before him with reverence.

2 Know thyself then, the pride of his creation; the link uniting divinity and matter; behold a part of God himself within thee: remember thine own dignity; nor dare descend to evil or to meanness.

3 Say not unto the crow, why numberest thou seven times the age of thy lord? or, to the fawn, why are thine eyes to see my offspring to a hundred generations? Are these to be compared with thee in the abuse of life? are they riotous ? are they cruel? are they ungrateful? Learn from them rather, that innocence of life and simplicity of manners are the paths to a good old age. Knowest thou to employ life better than these? then less of it may suffice thee.

4 Enough hast thou of life, but thou regardest not: thou art not in want of it, O man! but thou art prodigal: thou throwest it lightly away, as if thou hadst more than enough; and yet thou repinest that it is not gathered again unto thee. Know that it is not abundance which maketh rich, but economy. The wise continueth to live from his first period; the fool is always beginning. Be virtuous while thou art young, so shall thine age be honored.

5 What blindeth the eye, or what hideth the heart of a man from himself, like vanity? Lo! when thou seest not

thyself, then others discover thee most plainly. Do well while thou livest; but regard not what is said of it. Content thyself with deserving praise, and thy posterity shall rejoice in hearing it.

6 Beware of irresolution in the intent of thy actions, beware of instability in the execution; so shalt thou triumph over too great failings of thy nature. Establish unto thyself principles of action; and see that thou ever act according to them. First know that thy principles are just, and then be thou inflexible in the path of them.

7 Attribute not the good actions of another to bad motives. thou canst not know his heart; but the world will know by this, that thine is full of envy. There is not in hypocrisy more vice than folly; to be honest is as easy as to seem so. Be more ready to acknowledge a benefit than to revenge an injury; so shalt thou have more benefits than injuries done unto thee. Be more ready to love than to hate; so shalt thou be loved by more than hate thee.

8 Be willing to commend, and be slow to censure; so shall praise be unto thy virtues, and the eye of enmity shall be blind to thy imperfections. When thou dost good, do it because it is good; not because men esteem it: when thou avoidest evil, fly it, because it is evil; not because men speak against it: be honest for love of honesty, and thou shalt be uniformly so; he that doth it without principle is wavering.

9 Presumption is the bane of reason; it is the nurse of error. What is the origin of superstition? and whence ariseth false worship? From our presuming to reason about what is above our reach, to comprehend what is incomprehensible.

10 Riches are servants to the wise; but they are tyrants over the soul of the fool. The covetous serveth his gold; it serveth not him; he possesseth his wealth as the sick doth a fever; it burneth and tortureth him, and will not quit him unto death.

11 Poverty wanteth many things; but covetousness denieth itself all. The covetous can be good to no man; but he is to none so cruel as to himself. Be industrious to procure gold; and be generous in the disposal of it; man is never so happy as when he giveth happiness unto another.

12 If there be a vice greater than the hoarding up of riches, it is the employing them to useless purposes. He that prodigally lavisheth that which he hath to spare, robbeth the poor of what nature hath given them a right unto. He who squandereth away his treasure, refuseth the means to do good: he

denieth himself the practice of virtues whose reward is in his hand; whose end is no other than his own happiness.

13 When thou hast taught thyself to bear the seeming good of men without repining, thou wilt hear of their real happiness with pleasure. If thou seest good things fall to one who deserveth them, thou wilt rejoice in it; for virtue is happy in the prosperity of the virtuous. He who rejoiceth in the happiness of another, increaseth by it his own.

14 He that is truly virtuous, loveth virtue for herself; he disdaineth the applause which ambition aimeth after. How pitiable were the state of virtue, if she could not be happy but from another's praise! Pursue that which is honorable, do that which is right; and the applause of thine own conscience will be more joy to thee, than the shouts of millions who know not that thou deservest them.

15 The noblest employment of the mind of man is the study of the works of his Creator. To him whom the science of nature delighteth, every object bringeth a proof of his God; every thing that proveth it, giveth cause of adoration. His mind is lifted up to heaven every moment; his life is one continued act of devotion.

16 Casteth he his eye towards the clouds, findeth he not the heavens full of his wonders? Looketh he down to the earth, doth not the worm proclaim to him, Less than Omnipotence could not have formed me?

17 While the planets perform their courses; while the sun remaineth in his place; while the comet wandereth through the liquid air, and returneth to its destined road again; who but thy God, O man! could have formed them? what but infinite wisdom could have appointed them their laws?

18 Behold, how awful their splendor! yet do they not diminish: Lo! how rapid their motions! yet one runneth not in the way of another. Look down upon the earth, and see her produce; examine her bowels, and behold what they contain! Hath not wisdom and power ordained the whole?

19 Who biddeth the grass to spring up? who watereth it at its due seasons? Behold! the ox croppeth it; the horse and the sheep, feed they not upon it? Who is he that provideth it for them? Who giveth increase to the corn which thou sowest? Who returneth it to thee a thousand fold?

20 What is the study of words compared with this? In what science is knowledge, but in the study of nature? Who is wise then, but he that knoweth it? Who hath understanding, but he that contemplateth it? For the rest, what

ever science hath most utility, whatever knowledge hath least vanity, prefer these unto the others; and profit of them for the sake of thy neighbor.

21 Piety to thy God, and benevolence to thy fellow creatures, are they not thy great duties? What shall teach thee the one, like the study of his works? what shall inform thee of the other like understanding thy dependencies ?

22 Wouldst thou learn to die nobly? let thy vices die before thee. Happy is he who endeth the business of his life before his death: who, when the hour of it cometh, hath nothing to do but to die; who wisheth not delay, because he hath no longer use for time.