SERM. indeed must be the calamities that can outXIII.

weigh these solid blessings, which all, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy. Others there are of an inferior order indeed, but which by no means deserve to be overlooked. Do we count as nothing the enjoyment of health, the innocent gratifications of sense, the contemplation of the various beauties of the universe, the satisfaction of internal thought and reflection, the pleasures of conversation and society, and the endearing intercourse of domestic love? How we deserved these nothings, it would be difficult for us to say, which ought alone to repress our complaints when they are withdrawn from us. Of some indeed, and these much the most valuable, we cannot be deprived but by ourselves, and if we will but retain these, they will amply compensate and console us for the loss of the others. These are, therefore, many positive pleasures in this life, the greatest of

XIII.

which all either do or might enjoy; plea- SERM. sures which, for the most part, far exceed, both in duration and weight, the proportion of woes which are intermixed with them. Is it not then the highest ingratitude, after we have been, for a long time, experiencing great and unmerited favours at the hands of God, if the scene a little varies and presents us with darker prospects, to be impatient and discontented?

But still farther, if the matter be accurately examined, we shall find that many of the evils, which are the subject of our hasty complaints, are brought on us by our own imprudence: disappointments frequently arise from unreasonable expectations; that degree of poverty, which is highly oppressive and disgraceful, is the general product of idleness; sickness is, in many instances, caused by intemperance; the loss of reputation, by vice or folly: in these cases, shame, one would think, should silence

04

SERM. indeed must be the calamities that can outXIII.

weigh these solid blessings, which all, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy. Others there are of an inferior order indeed, but which by no means deserve to be overlooked. Do we count as nothing the enjoyment of health, the innocent gratifications of sense, the contemplation of the various beauties of the universe, the satisfaction of internal thought and reflection, the pleasures of conversation and society, and the endearing intercourse of domestic love? How we deserved these nothings, it would be difficult for us to say, which ought alone to repress our complaints when they are withdrawn from us. Of some indeed, and these much the most valuable, we cannot be deprived but by ourselves, and if we will but retain these, they will amply com pensate and console us for the loss of the others. These are, therefore, many positive pleasures in this life, the greatest of

XIII.

which all either do or might enjoy; plea- SERM. sures which, for the most part, far exceed, both in duration and weight, the proportion of woes which are intermixed with them. Is it not then the highest ingratitude, after we have been, for a long time, experiencing great and unmerited favours at the hands of God, if the scene a little varies and presents us with darker prospects, to be impatient and discontented?

But still farther, if the matter be accurately examined, we shall find that many of the evils, which are the subject of our hasty complaints, are brought on us by our own imprudence: disappointments frequently arise from unreasonable expectations; that degree of poverty, which is highly oppressive and disgraceful, is the general product of idleness; sickness is, in many instances, caused by intemperance; the loss of reputation, by vice or folly: in these cases, shame, one would think, should silence

04

SER M. silence our murmurs, and prevent us from

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attributing to the constitution of human affairs, what is only to be imputed to ourselves.

Instances indeed may be met with, where the misery of particular individuals greatly overbalance their happiness, and where, perhaps, it could have been prevented by no exertions of prudence or of virtue: those, however, to whose lot this may fall, are not (as I have shewn in the beginning of this discourse) without abundant reasons for consolation; though woe be their present portion, it will arise from their own negligence, if it be not converted into bliss; heaviness may endure for a night, but, by patience and piety, joy cometh in the morning.

Let us then enjoy, with moderation and gratitude, the bounties of God, and let us submit with manly firmness to his chastisements; let us esteem them, as they are,

but