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sensation in the mind of a grateful man, it exalts the soul into rapture, when it is employed on this great object of gratitude; on this beneficent Being, who has given us every thing we already possess, and from whom we expect every thing we yet hope for.

ADDISON.

THE VANITY OF WEALTH.

NO more thus brooding o'er yon heap,
With avarice painful vigils keep;
Still unenjoy'd the present store,
Still endless sighs are breath'd for more.
Oh! quit the shadow, catch the prize,
Which not all India's treasure buys!
To purchase heav'n has gold the pow'r?
Can gold remove the mortal hour?
In life can love be bought with gold?
Are friendship's pleasures to be sold?
No-all that's worth a wish-a thought,
Fair virtue gives unbrib'd, unbought.
Cease then on trash thy hopes to bind ;
Let nobler views engage thy mind.
DR. JOHNSON.

SELECT SENTENCES.

DILIGENCE, industry, and proper improvement of time, are material duties of the young. The acquisition of knowledge, is one of the most honourable occupations of youth.

A temperate spirit, and moderate expecta

tions, are excellent safeguards of the mind, in this uncertain and changing state.

Change and alteration form the very essence of the world.

True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise.

No person who has once yielded up the government of his mind, and given loose rein to his desires and passions, can tell how far they may carry him.

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The chief misfortunes that befall us in life, can be traced to some vices or follies which we have committed.

They who have nothing to give, can often afford relief to others, by imparting what they

feel.

He who would act like a wise man, and build his house on the rock, and not on the sand, should contemplate human life, not only in the sunshine, but also in the shade.

Whatever purifies, fortifies also the heart. Disappointments and distress, are often blessings in disguise.

The veil which covers from our sight the events of succeeding years, is a veil woven by the hand of mercy.

To be wise, in our own eyes; to be wise in the opinion of the world; and, to be wise, in the sight of our Creator; are three things, so very different, as rarely to coincide.

Man, in his highest earthly glory, is but a reed floating on the stream of time, and forced to follow every new direction of the current.

The external misfortunes of life, disappointments, poverty, and sickness, are light, in comparison of those inward distresses of mind, occasioned by folly, by passion, and by guilt.

No station is so high, no power so great, no character so unblemished, as to exempt men from the attacks of rashness, malice, or envy.

He who pretends to great sensibility towards men, and yet has no feeling for the high objects of religion, no heart to admire and adore the great Father of the universe, has reason to distrust the truth and delicacy of his sensibility.

When, upon rational and sober inquiry, we have established our principles, let us not suffer them to be shaken by the scoffs of the licentious, or the cavils of the sceptical.

Every degree of guilt incurred by yielding to temptation, tends to debase the mind, and to weaken the generous and benevolent principles of human nature.

Luxury, pride, and vanity, have frequently as much influence in corrupting the sentiments of the great, as ignorance, bigotry, and prejudice, have in misleading the opinions of the multitude.

Society, when formed, requires distinctions of property, diversity of conditions, subordination of ranks, and a multiplicity of occupa tions, in order to advance the general good.

The desire of improvement discovers a liberal mind; and is connected with many accomplishments, and many virtues.

Innocence confers ease and freedom on the mind; and leaves it to open to every pleasing

sensation.

Gentleness corrects whatever is offensive in our manners; and, by a constant train of humane attentions, studies to alleviate the burden of common misery.

Time once past, never returns: the moment which is lost, is lost for ever.

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THERE are many who have passed the age of youth and beauty; who have resigned the pleasures of that smiling season; who begin to decline into the vale of years, impaired in their health, depressed in their fortunes, stript of their friends, their children, and perhaps still more tender connexions. What resource can this world afford them? It presents a dark and dreary waste, through which there does not issue a single ray of comfort. Every delusive prospect of ambition is now at an end: long experience of mankind, an experience very different from what the open and generous soul of youth had formerly dreamt of, has rendered the heart almost inaccessible to new friendships. The principal sources of activity are taken away, when they for whom we labour are cut off from us; they who animated, and who sweetened all the toils of life. Where then can the soul find refuge, but in the bosom of religion? There she is admitted to those prospects of Providence and futurity, which

alone can warm and fill the heart. I speak here of such as retain the feelings of humanity; whom misfortunes have softened, and perhaps rendered more delicately sensible; not of such as possess that stupid insensibility, which some are pleased to dignify with the name of Philosophy.

It might therefore be expected, that those philosophers, who think they stand in no need themselves of the assistance of religion to support their virtue, and who never feel the want of its consolations, would yet have the humanity to consider the very different situation of the rest of mankind; and not endeavour to deprive them of what habit, at least, though, if they will not allow it to be nature, has made necessary to their morals, and to their happiness. It might be expected, that humanity would prevent them from breaking into the last retreat of the unfortunate, who can no longer be objects of their envy or resentment; and tearing from them their only remaining comfort. The attempt to ridicule religion may be agreeable to some, by relieving them from restraint upon their pleasures; and may render others very miserable, by making them doubt those truths, in which they were most deeply interested; but it can convey real good and happiness to no one individual.

GREGORY.

CREATION.

IN the progress of the Divine works and government, there arrived a period, in which this earth was to be called into existence.

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