far more than he can value any man else. There is therefore no reason to take the finest feathers from all the winged nation, to deck that bird that thinks already she is more valuable than any of the inhabitants of the air. Either change all or none. Cease to love yourself best, or be content with that portion of being and blessing for which you love yourself so well.

It conduces much to our content, if we pass by those things which happen to our trouble, and consider that which is pleasing and prosperous, that by the representation of the better, the worse may be blotted out and at the worst you have enough to keep you alive, and to keep up and to improve your hopes of heaven. Or else please thyself with hopes of a future: for we were born with this sadness upon us; and it was a change that brought us into it, and a change may bring us out again. Harvest will come, and then every farmer is rich, at least for a month or two. It may be thou art entered into the cloud which will bring a gentle shower to refresh thy sorrows.

Now suppose thyself in as great a sadness as ever did load thy spirit, wouldst thou not bear it cheerfully and nobly, if thou wert sure that within a certain space some strange excellent fortune would relieve thee, and enrich thee, and recompense thee so as to overflow all thy hopes, and thy desires, and capacities? Now then, when a sadness lies heavy upon thee, remember that thou art a Christian designed to the inheritance of Jesus: and what dost thou think concerning thy great fortune, thy lot and

portion of eternity? If thou considerest thy own present condition, and comparest it to thy future possibility, thou canst not feel the present smart of a cross fortune to any great degree, either because thou hast a far bigger sorrow, or a far bigger joy. Here thou art but a stranger travelling to thy country, where the glories of a kingdom are prepared for thee; it is therefore a huge folly to be much afflicted, because thou hast a less convenient inn to lodge in by the way.

But these arts of looking backwards and forwards are more than enough to support the spirit of a Christian: there is no man but hath blessings enough in present possession to outweigh the evils of a great affliction. Tell the joints of thy body, and do not accuse the universal providence for a lame leg, or the want of a finger, when all the rest is perfect, and you have a noble soul, a particle of divinity, the image of God himself; and by the want of a finger you may the better know how to estimate the remaining parts, and to account for every degree of the surviving blessings. And he that hath so many causes of joy, and so great, is very much in love with sorrow and peevishness, who loses all these pleasures, and chooses to sit down upon his little handful of thorns. Enjoy the blessings of this day, if God sends them, and the evils of it bear patiently and sweetly; for this day only is ours, we are dead to yesterday, and we are not yet born to the

morrow.

If you will secure a contented spirit, you must measure your desires by your fortune and condition, not your

fortunes by your desires; that is, be governed by your needs, not by your fancy; by nature, not by evil customs and ambitious principles. Is that beast better that hath two or three mountains to graze on, than a little bee that feeds on dew or manna, and lives upon what falls every morning from the store-houses of heaven, clouds and providence? Can a man quench his thirst better out of a river than a full urn; or drink better from the fountain when it is finely paved with marble, than when it swells over the green turf? But that which we miscall poverty, is indeed nature; and its proportions are the just measures of a man, and the best instruments of content. God and nature made no more needs than they mean to satisfy; and he that will make more, must look for satisfaction where he can.

In all troubles and sadder accidents let us take sanctuary in religion, and by innocence cast out anchors for our souls, to keep them from shipwreck, though they be not kept from storm. The greatest evils are from within us, and from ourselves also we must look for our greatest good; for God is the fountain of it, but reaches it to us by our own hand; and when all things look sadly round about us, then only we shall find how excellent a fortune it is to have God to our friend; and of all friendships that only is created to support us in our needs.

Consider that the universal providence of God hath so ordered it, that the good things of nature and fortune are divided, that we may know how to bear our own, and relieve each other's wants and imperfections. It is not

for a man, but for a God, to have all excellencies, and all felicities. He supports my poverty with his wealth; I counsel and instruct him with my learning and experience. He hath many friends, I many children; he hath no heir, I have no inheritance; and any one great blessing together with the common portions of nature and necessity is a fair fortune, if it be but health or strength, or the swiftness of Ahimaaz.

This consideration is to be enlarged by adding to it, that there are some instances of fortune and a fair condition that cannot stand with some others, but if you desire this, you must lose that, and unless you be content with one, you lose the comfort of both. If you covet learning, you must have leisure and a retired life; if to be a politician, you must go abroad and get experience, and do all businesses, and keep all company, and have no leisure at all. If you will be rich, you must be frugal; if you will be popular, you must be bountiful; if a philosopher, you must despise riches.

Jeremy Taylor.

The more

It is quite right there should be an Inquisition. It is quite right there should be autos-da-fé! the better, if they are but real ones. There should be an Inquisition and autos-da-fé in every country; yea, in every town; yea, on every hearth; yea, in every heart. The evil hitherto has been that they have been far too few. Every man ought to be an inquisitor; every man ought to perform autos-da-fé, often accompanied by death,

not seldom by torture. Only his inquisition should be over himself; only his autos-da-fé should consist in the slaying of his own lusts and passions, in the fiery sacrifice of his own stubborn, unbelieving will.

This inquisition should be set up in every soul. In some, indeed, it may at times be in abeyance. The happiest spirits are those by whom the will of God is done without effort or struggle. To this angelic nature, however, humanity can only approximate; and that, too, not at once, but by divers steps and stages, at every one of which new autos-da-fé are required. Guesses at Truth.

There is no part of a plant which may not become a tendril. There is no part of the character which may not by excess or weakness, lose its independence, and become a burden or a snare to the rest.

In what state is thy heart as concerning Sin? Hast thou a firm resolution never to commit any whatsoever which shall happen? Hath this resolution continued since thy last protestation till this time? In this resolution consisteth the Foundation of a Spiritual Life.

How is thy heart affected towards Spiritual Exercises? dost thou love them and esteem them? art thou not out of humor with them? to which of them dost thou find thyself least or most inclined? And if thou find anything to which thy heart has less inclination, examine from whence that dislike ariseth and what causes it.

How is thy heart toward God himself? takes it pleas