when they are dead it will be said of them, that they have left so many hundreds or thousands of pounds behind them; very probably, to ensnare their children, or their heirs, (for the vanity is not peculiar to those who have children of their own.) or else that they may lavish away their riches on their lusts, and drown themselves in a gulf of sensuality, in which, if reason be not lost, religion is soon swallowed up, and with it all the noblest pleasures which can enter into the heart of man. In this view, the generality of rich people appear to me objects of much greater compassion than the poor; especially as when both live (which is frequently the case) without any fear of God before their eyes: the rich abuse the greater variety and abundance of his favours, and therefore will probably feel, in that world of future ruin which awaits impenitent sinners, a more exquisite sense of their misery.

And let me observe to you, my dear reader, lest you should think yourself secure from any such danger, that we have great reason to apprehend, there are many now in a very wretched state, who once thought seriously of religion, when they were first setting out, in lower circumstances of life; but they have since forsaken God for Mammon; and are now priding themselves in those golden chains, which in all probability, before it be long, will leave them to remain in those of darkness. When therefore an attachment to the world may be followed with such fatal consequences, "let not thine heart envy sinners;" (Prov. xxiii. 17.) and do not, out of a desire of gaining what they have, be guilty of such folly as to expose vourself to this double danger of failing in the attempt, or of being undone by the success of it. Contract your desires; endeavour to be easy and content with a little : and if Providence call you out to act in a larger sphere, submit to it in obedience to Providence, but number it among the trials of life, which it will require a larger proportion of grace to bear well. For be assured, that as affairs and interests multiply, cares and duties will cer tainly increase, and probably disappointments and sorrows will increase in an equal proportion.

On the whole, learn by divine grace, to die to the present world; to look upon it as a low state of being, which God never intended for the final and complete happiness, or the supreme care of any one of his children: a world, where something is indeed to be enjoyed, but chiefly from himself; where a great deal is to be borne with patience and resignation; and where some important duties are to be performed, and a course of discipline to be passed through, by which you are to be formed for a better state; to which as a Christian you are near, and to which God will call you, perhaps on a sudden, but undoubtedly, if you hold on your way, in the fittest time and the most convenient manner. Refer therefore all this to him. Let your hopes and fears, your expectations and desires, with regard to this world, be kept as low as possible; and all your thoughts be united, as much as may be, in this one centre, what is it that God would, in present circumstances, have you to be; and what is that method of conduct, by which you may most effectually please and glorify him.

The Young Convert's PRAYER for Divine Protection, against the Danger of these Snures.

"BLESSED GOD! In the midst of ten thousand snares and dangers, which surround me from without and from within, permit me to look up unto thee with my humble entreaty, that thou wouldst "deliver me from them that rise up against me," (Psa. lix. 1.) and that "thine eyes may be upon me for good." (Jer. xxiv. 6.) When sloth and indolence are ready to seize me, awaken me from that idle dream, with lively and affectionate views of that invisible and eternal world, to which I am tending Remind me of what infinite importance it is, that ] diligently improve those transient moments, which thou hast allotted to me as the time of my preparation for it.

"When sinners entice me, may I not consent. (Prov. i. 10.) May holy converse with God give me a disrelish for the converse of those who are strangers to thee, and who would separate my soul from thee. May I "honour them that fear the Lord," (Psa. xv. 4.) and walking with

such wise and holy men, may I find that I am daily advancing in wisdom and holiness. (Prov. xiii. 20.) Quicken me, O Lord, by their means; that by me thou mayest also quicken others. Make me the happy instrument of enkindling and animating the flame of divine love in their breasts; and may it spread from heart to heart, and increase every moment in its progress.

"Guard me, O Lord, from the love of sensual pleasure. May I seriously remember, that "to be carnally minded is death." (Rom. viii. 6.) May it please thee, therefore, to purify and refine my soul by the influences of thine Holy Spirit, that I may always shun unlawful gratifications, more solicitously than others pursue them; and that those indulgences of animal nature, which thou hast allowed, and which the constitution of things render necessary, may be soberly and moderately used. May I still remember the superior dignity of my spiritual and intelligent nature, and may the pleasures of the man and the christian be sought as my noblest happiness. May my soul rise on the wings of holy contemplation, to the regions of invisible glory; and may I be endeavouring to form myself, under the influences of divine grace, for the enjoyments of those angelic spirits, that live in thy presence, in a happy incapacity of those gross delights, by which spirits dwelling in flesh are so often ensnared, and in which they so often lose the memory of their high original, and of those noble hopes, which alone are proportionable to it.

"Give me, O Lord, to know the station in which thou hast fixed me, and steadily to pursue the duties of it.. But deliver me from those excessive cares of this world, which would so engross my time and my thoughts, that the one thing needful should be forgotten. May my desires after worldly possessions be moderated, by considering their uncertain and unsatisfying nature; and while others are laying up treasures on earth, may I be "rich towards GOD." (Luke xii. 21.) May I never be too busy to attend to those great affairs which lie between thee and my soul; never be so engrossed with the concerns of time, as to neglect the interests of eternity.

May I pass through earth with my heart and hopes set upon heaven, and feel the attractive influence stronger and stronger as I approach still nearer and nearer to that desirable centre; till the happy moment come, when every earthly object shall disappear from my view, and the shining glories of the heavenly world shall fill my improved and strengthened sight, which shall then be cheered with that which would now overwhelm me. Amen."

CHAPTER XXII.

THE CASE OF SPIRITUAL DECAY AND LANGUOR IN

RELIGION.

IF I am so happy as to prevail upon you in the exhortations and cautions I have given, you will probably go on with pleasure and comfort in religion; and your path will generally be "like the morning light, which shineth more and more until the perfect day." (Prov. iv. 18.) Yet I dare not flatter myself with an expectation of such success as shall carry you above those varieties in temper, conduct, and state, which have been more or less the complaint of the best of men. Much do I fear, that how warmly soever your heart may now be impressed with the representation I have been making, though the great objects of your faith and hope continue unchangeable, your temper towards them will be changed. Much do I fear, that you will feel your mind languish and tire in the good ways of God, nay, that you may be prevailed upon to take some step out of them, and may thus fall a prey to some of those temptations, which you now look upon with a holy scorn. The probable consequence of this will be, that God will hide his face from you; that he will stretch forth his afflicting hand against you, and that you still will see your sorrowful moments, how cheerfully soever you may now be "rejoicing in the Lord, and joying in the GOD of your salvation." (Hab. iii. 18.) I hope, therefore, it may be of some service, if this too probable event should happen, to consider these cases a

little more particularly and I heartily pray, that God would make what I shall say concerning them, the means of restoring, comforting, and strengthening your soul, if he ever suffers you in any degree to deviate from him.

We will first consider the case of Spiritual Declensions, and Languor in Religion. And here I desire, that before I proceed any farther, you would observe that I do not comprehend under this head every abatement of that fervour which a young convert may find when he first becomes experimentally acquainted with divine things. Our natures are so framed, that the novelty of objects strikes them in something of a peculiar manner: not to urge, how much more easily our passions are impressed in the earlier years of life, that when we are more advanced in the journey of it. This, perhaps, is not sufficiently considered. Too great a stress is commonly laid on the flow of affections; and for want of this, a Christian who is ripened in grace, and greatly advanced in his preparation for glory, may sometimes be led to lament imaginary rather than real decays, and to say, without any just foundation, "O that it were with me as in months past!" (Job xxix. 2.) Therefore, you can hardly be too frequently told, that religion consists chiefly "in the resolution of the will for GOD, and in a constant care to avoid whatever we are persuaded he would disapprove, to despatch the work he has assigned us in life, and to promote his glory in the happiness of mankind." To this we are chiefly to attend, looking in all to the simplicity and purity of those motives from which we act, which we know are chiefly regarded by that God who searches the heart; humbling ourselves before him, at the same time, under a sense of our many imperfections, and flying to the blood of Christ and the grace of the gospel.

Having given this precaution, I will now a little more particularly describe the case, which I call the state of a Christian who is declining in religion; so far as it does not fall in with those, which I shall consider in the following chapters. And I must observe, that it chiefly consists in a forgetfulness of divine objects, and a remissness in