Do, or do we not, admit that God is all-wise, allpowerful, all-good, all-merciful? (He is too benevolent to be strictly just, or what would become of us poor sinners?) We do, from our very hearts, believe all this; why, then, under any circumstances, should we repine? If God possess these attributes, that all-good Creator and Parent will manage, for the best, the affairs of the entirely dependent creatures whom He has made; but He will take his own time, and we must await it with patience, and, with true humility, say, God's will be done. Depend upon it (for it is your positive duty to have so much trust in God) that you will never, looking at the whole scope of existence here and hereafter, regret the failure of any plan, howsoever advantageous to you it seemed at the time, and in whatever purity of motive it may have originated. No design takes unless God give it leave; if He choose to forbid, He has his own good reasons, and we are not to dispute them. Rest assured, too, that whoever has suffered in this world for conscience and duty's sake, will find ample compensation in the world to come. No Howard will there regret that he died in consequence of visiting the imprisoned; no Wolfe regret that he met death, in the bloom of his glory, at Quebec. Trust thou then in the Lord thy God, in His infinite benevolence, and humbly, but confidently, hope that, at the awful Day of Judgement, when we stand trembling before Him, He will temper his justice with mercy.' The all-wise Providence, in whom I trust, never forsakes the brave, or the counsels of the just, when acting in a just and righteous cause." When we act according to our duty, we commit the event to Him, by whose laws our actions are governed, and who will suffer none to be finally punished for obedience.3 Why may not God as well deal with us as with other men? why should we imagine that He must continually do miracles in our behalf, causing all those evils, which fall upon our neighbours all about, to skip over us, bedewing us, like Gideon's fleece, with plenty of joy, while all the earth beside is dry? We are indeed very apt to look upward towards those few who, in supposed advantages of life, transcend us, but seldom do we cast down our eyes on those innumerably many good people who lie beneath us in all manner of accommodations.4 He had learnt a most useful principle of life, which was to lay nothing to heart which he could not help, and how great soever disappointments had fell out (if possible) to think of them no more, but to work on upon other affairs, and, if not all, some would be better-natured." Never suffer yourself to be worried about trifles: 2 Walter Scott. 3 Rasselas. 1 C. 5 Life of Sir Dudley North, 381. "think how insignificant such matters will appear a twelvemonth hence."' We should accustom ourselves to look more than we do on the bright side of our condition, not in order to grow vain and contemptuous upon it, but to enjoy it with humble complacency. We should place a just value on all our greater comforts, and fetch out of the very least as much as they will afford us.2 The very sight of the sun, and the views of the face of nature, are things, every one of them, designed and fitted to give us pleasure, if we would be so kind to ourselves as to take it.3 Can any thing be more desirable, or more substantially useful, than to know that there is a Being from whom no secrets are hid, to whom our good works are acceptable, and even the good purposes of our hearts, and whose government, directed by wisdom and benevolence, ought to make us rest secure that nothing does, or will, fall out but according to good order? This sentiment, rooted in the mind, is an antidote to all misfortune: without it, life is but a confused and gloomy scene.* In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, ye people, pour out your hearts before him: God is a refuge for us." Throw thy cares entirely upon God. It is His 1 Johnson. 2 Secker, Sermons. 3 Ibid. 4 Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion, 321. 5 Psalm, lxiii. business to govern the world, not thine. Rest assured that God will neither do, nor suffer any thing to be done, but what thou wouldst do thyself if thou sawest what He seeth. Be more truly satisfied with what God does in the world (for that is loving God).' To her the breathing of the spring air was a delight, the warbling maze of the brook a treasure; the notes of the forest birds, nature's own melody, were to her the sweetest concert; and, thankful for all that a good God had given, she would long for the wings of the lark to soar into the blue air, and sing her gratitude at the gates of heaven." It is indeed a glorious world, Mr. Wilson; and I feel that heavenly moments are granted us here, which makes it a privilege even to exist, poor miserable creatures, as we often call ourselves.3 Hé quoi!-parcequ'il n'est point dans la vie de plaisir sans mélange, faut-il se priver à tout?4 Quand on n'a pas ce qu'on aime, il faut aimer ce qu'on a." In the heaviest afflictions, if they were stripped of all that is purely imaginative, there would remain much less to regret than is generally conceived." Whatever one must do, one should do de bonne grâce. 1 Shaftesbury. See Life of Locke, by Lord King, 107. 2 New Monthly, No. 103. p. 34. 4 Marmontel. 3 Two Old Men's Tales. 5 Idem. 6 New Monthly, Aug. 1829. 7 Chesterfield. It so falls out, That what we have we prize not to the worth A wise man, without being a stoic, considers, in all misfortunes that befall him, their best as well as their worst side; and every thing has a better and a worse side. I have strictly observed this rule for many years, and have found, by experience, that some comfort is to be extracted under most moral ills by considering them in every light, instead of dwelling, as most people are apt to do, upon the gloomy side of the object.2 Use affliction as a punishment for thy sins; and so God intends it most commonly: if, therefore, thou submittest to it, thou approvest of the Divine judgement; and no man can have cause to complain any thing but himself, if either he believes God to be just, or himself a sinner.3 of One must take every thing as it comes, and make the best of it. I have had a much happier life than I deserve, and than millions that deserve better. I should be very weak if I could not bear the uncomfortableness of old age, when I can afford what comforts it is capable of. How many poor people have none of them! I am ashamed whenever I am 1 Measure for Measure, iv. 2. 2 Chesterfield. |