SERM. about to pass away; and in the midst of

I.

wishes and defires, of hopes and fears
which all refpect futurity, we may be faid
to dwell. As on these the life of man is
fo much fufpended, it becomes a very [ma-
terial part both of wifdom and of duty to
attend to any regulations by which they
may be properly conducted.
For if ex-

pectations and hopes on one hand, and
fears and alarms on the other, are suffered
to arise with groundless precipitancy, and
to acquire an undue afcendant, it is evi-
dent that they will produce much delufion
in conduct, and often will engender much
vice and guilt. As there is a hope of the
Righteous which shall be gladness, so there
is an expectation of the Wicked which shall
perish. The anticipations of the former,
conducted by prudence and regulated by
piety, miflead him not from his duty, and
afford him fatisfaction in the end. While
the expectations of the latter, arifing from
fantastic imaginary profpects, delude him
for a while with vanity, and terminate in
mifery. It will therefore be an useful sub-
ject of meditation, to confider, in a few
inftances, of what we may, and of what we

may

may not, reasonably expect from the world SER M. when we look forward to what is moft

likely to happen, in the ordinary course of human affairs.

I. We are not to expect the uninterrupted continuance of any measure of health, profperity, or comfort which we now enjoy. There is the greater reason for beginning with this admonition, as there is a strong propenfity in human nature to imagine that what we at prefent poffefs is always to remain. When no warnings. of any approaching change appear, we are all inclined to look forward to futurity with a fmile; and to indulge the hope that to-morrow shall be as this day and even more abundantly. Hence, in the lives of thoughtless men, there breaks forth fo much folly and prefumption, fo much pride and levity, and often fo much impiety and contempt of religion. What is the Almighty that we should ferve him? Or what profit shall we have, if we pray unto him? Our moun tain ftands ftrong; and shall never be moved.

On the lot of fome men Providence is pleased to beftow a longer continuance of B 2 prosperity

I.

SERM. profperity than on that of others.

But

I.

as the term of that continuance is hidden from us, all flattering and confident expectations are without foundation. At one period or another, it is certain that the calm is to be troubled, and the dark cloud is to arife; and how foon that period is to come, you cannot tell. In your health, or your fortune, or among your connections and friends, be affured that fome trial awaits you. For human life never ftands ftill for any long time. It is by no means a fixed and steady object, like the mountain or the rock which you always find in the fame fituation; it is a river continually moving and flowing. Neither is it the ftill and smooth stream which glides along with the fame conftant tenor; but a river which for a time may hold a regular course within its banks, till, being interrupted by rocks, it foams into a torrent, or, fwoln by foreign currents, it lays wafte the neighbouring plains. Amidst fuch viciffitudes of time and life, who has any title to reckon upon the future?-To faults, all are fubject; to troubles, all are expofed. As that man is the moft virtuous who can be

charged

charged with the feweft faults, fo that life is the happieft which fuffers the fewest troubles. To look for entire exemption from them is to court difappointment.

SER M.

At the fame time, I do not mean to hold it forth as any precept of religion or wifdom, that we ought always to fadden the prefent hour by dwelling on the thoughts of future disappointment. What is given us, let us cheerfully enjoy, and render thanks to Him who beftows it. Virtue, conjoined with prudence, may reasonably afford the profpect of good days to come. For God giveth to a man that is good in his fight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy. Such a profpect therefore he may innocently indulge, if he preferve always that temperance and moderation, that modesty and humility, which become one who knows that his ftate is ever in hazard of changing. But I mean to warn thofe who, giving way to the elation of giddy hopes, lose the command of themselves, that by this intoxication of mind they are preparing the way for an alteration of ftate; they are

I.

SERM. pufhing forward the wheels of advancing

change; they are accelerating their own downfall. To them belongs that admonition of the wife man, would they ferioufly liften to it; If a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they fi.all be many: all that cometh is vanity*.

II. We are not to expect, from our intercourse with others, all that fatisfaction which we fondly with. What the individual either enjoys or fuffers by himself, exhibits only an imperfect view of his condition. In the prefent ftate of human affairs, we are all fo clofely interwoven. with one another, that a very material part of our happiness or misery arifes from the connections which we have with those who are around us, and the relations in which we ftand to them. Thefe, therefore, open

a

field within which our wifhes and expectations find an ample range. One of the firft objects of wish to every one, is to maintain a proper place and rank in fociety;

Ecclef. xi. 8.

not