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He passeth his days with perpetual constraint; his tongue and his heart are for ever at variance. He laboureth for the character of a righteous man; and he huggeth himself in the thoughts of his cunning.

O fool, fool the pains which thou takest to hide what thou art, are more than would make thee what thou wouldst seem; and the children of wisdom shall mock at thy cunning, when, in the midst of security, thy disguise is stripped off, and the finger of derision shall point thee to scorn.

THE

ECONOMY OF HUMAN LIFE.

PART VII.

RELIGION.

THERE is but one God, the author, the creator, the governor of the world, almighty, eternal, and incomprehensible.

The sun is not God, though his noblest image. He enliveneth the world with his brightness, his warmth giveth life to the produce of the earth: admire him as the creature, the instrument of God, but worship him not.

To the One who is supreme, most wise and bene. ficent, and to him alone, belong worship, adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.

Who hath stretched forth the heavens with his hand, who hath described with his fingers the courses of the stars.

Who setteth bounds to the ocean, that it cannot pass; and saith unto the stormy winds, Be still.

Who shaketh the earth, and the nations tremble; who darteth his lightnings, and the wicked are dismayed.

Who calleth forth worlds by the word of his mouth; who smiteth with his arm, and they sink into nothing.

O reverence the majesty of the Omnipotent; and tempt not his anger, lest thou be destroyed!' 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 his beings; and each, by his nature, conformeth to his will.

In the depths of his mind he revolveth all knowledge; the secrets of futurity lie open before

him.

The thoughts of thy heart are naked to his view; he knoweth thy determinations before they are made.

With respect to his prescience, there is nothing contingent; with respect to his providence, there is nothing accidental.

Wonderful he is in all his ways; his counsels are inscrutable; the manner of his knowledge transcendeth thy conception.

'Pay therefore to his wisdom all honour and veneration; and bow down thyself in humble and submissive obedience to his supreme direction.'

The Lord is gracious and beneficent; he hath created the world in mercy and love.

His goodness is conspicuous in all his works; he is the fountain of excellence, the centre of perfection.

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, he preserveth them with pleasure 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

valleys rejoice and sing; fields, rivers, and woods resound his praise.

But thee, O man, he hath distinguished with peculiar favour, and exalted thy station above all creatures.

He hath endued 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 comtemplate and adore his inimitable perfections.

And in the laws he hath ordained, as the 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.'

The Lord is just and righteous, and will judge the earth with equity and truth.

Hath be established his laws in goodness and mercy, and shall he not punish the transgressors thereof?

O think not, bold man! because thy punishment is delayed, that the arm of the Lord is weakened neither flatter thyself with hopes that he winketh at thy doings.

His eye pierceth the secrets of every heart, and he remembereth them for ever; he respecteth not the persons or the stations of men.

The high and the low, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, when the soul hath shaken off the cumbrous shackles of this mortal life, shall equally receive from the sentence of God a just and everlasting retribution, according

to their works.

Then shall the wicked tremble and be afraid; but

the heart of the righteous shall rejoice in his judg

ments.

O fear the Lord, therefore, all the days of thy life, and walk in the paths which he hath opened be. fore thee. Let prudence admonish thee, let temperance restrain, let justice guide thy hand, benevolence warm thy heart, and gratitude to heaven inspire thee with devotion. These shall give thee happiness in thy present state, and bring thee to the mansions of eternal felicity in the paradise of God.

This is the true ECONOMY OF HUMAN LIFE.

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