is for ever leading us beyond the bounds of truth; and, by raising up before us certain visionary scenes of happiness, so excites our expectations, and inflames our desires, that we wait with impatience for an opportunity of gratifying them, and are very easily induced to pursue, and to seize with eagerness, what we have been accustomed to contemplate with so much pleasure.

We must therefore keep a steady eye on this licentious wanderer, and never suffer it to fix our attention so long on improper objects, as to delude us into a false opinion of their excellence, and an insatiable desire to attain them, as indispensably necessary to our happiness.

Had the wretched Ahab, when he was struck with the beauty and the convenience of Naboth's vineyard, called in a little timely reflection, and a little common sense to his aid; had he for one moment represented to himself the folly of supposing, that the acquisition of a few acres of land could add any thing to the real comfort of a man who was already in possession of a kingdom, and of every enjoyment that regal power

could command, he might, in this instance at least, have escaped that heavy load of guilt and misery which he and the vile partner of his throne and of his crimes brought down upon their own heads. But the proximity of this vineyard to his own house had, among other circumstances, captivated his fancy; and, instead of resisting the first impression, and bringing his silly passion to the bar of reason, he indulged and cherished it, till he began to think it absolutely impossible for him to live without that favourite spot which he wanted, it seems, for a garden of herbs.* Unable to accomplish this important purpose," he laid him down “ on his bed, and turned away his face, and "would eat no bread." This heavy affliction, however, was soon removed. His wife gave him, as she had promised, the vineyard, which she purchased by a murder, and he went down with joy to take possession of it. But his joy, as is commonly the case with such triumphant sinners, was of very short duration. He was met on the very spot with that severe rebuke, to which his own * 1 Kings xxi. 2. † Ib. ver. 4.

conscience must have given irresistible force. "Hast thou killed, and also taken posses"sion?-Thus saith the Lord, In the place "where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, "shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.”*

Let this memorable example teach us, as well it may, not to allow our imaginations to overbear our judgments; not to give more importance to the objects of our wishes than their real intrinsic worth deserves; not to persuade ourselves, in short, as we are but too apt to do, that the whole happiness of our lives depends on the possession of the merest trifles. To secure ourselves against this fatal error, let us learn to look on things in that true unerring light in which the Gospel of Christ holds them out to us; and in estimating the value of earthly enjoyments, let us be careful to consider, not merely the present pleasure or profit attending them, but every diminishing or debasing circumstance which naturally belongs to them; the shortness of their duration, the pains it generally costs us to obtain them, the substantial happiness of which they frequently deprive us; and the shame, ignominy, remorse, and

ous light of Revelation, breaks in upon the soul. And it is never to be enough lamented, that they who have the first care of our persons, and who ought to train up the soul to habits of self-government, by seasonable denials and well-judged severities; that these, I say, through ignorance, inattention, or illtimed tenderness, too often betray that most important trust. By indulging every froward wish, every wayward humour of the infant mind, they frequently sow deep in our hearts the seeds of vice; and cherish, instead of checking, those turbulent desires, which first trying their strength in trifling, and therefore disregarded instances, afterwards break out into the most mischievous excesses, to the disturbance of our own happiness and the peace of mankind. It will therefore require some assiduity and address to correct this unhappy defect, of our constitution, and the still more unhappy consequences of our education. We must watch the first motions, and suppress the first risings of our irregular desires. We must, from the moment that reason takes the reins into her hands, assert her natural sovereignty over the soul, and,

by a timely and vigorous display of her power, strike a terror into her seditious subjects, and awe them at once into submission. We must be daily confirming her superiority, by exerting it on all occasions, and making use even of the slightest advantages over the passions. For every victory of reason over appetite, however inconsiderable in itself, yet by animating the one, and dispiriting the other, adds new strength to the mind; and insensibly habituates it to resist the strongest solicitations that can assail our virtue.

It is with this view, and this only, that the Gospel of Christ so warmly and so wisely recommends to us the much-neglected duties of voluntary mortification and selfdenial. Christianity is of too tender and compassionate a turn to delight in the misery of its disciples, or to take an illnatured pleasure in thwarting our inclinations, and counteracting our nature. never enjoins a hardship merely to see how well we can bear it, but in order to prepare us for some greater trial which we must necessarily undergo. Our blessed Lord well

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