between the Guilty and the Innocent; and call both to account hereafter; however I may think fit to try them in the mean while, and keep thofe Things in the Dark at prefent, which then fhall be notorious to all the World. And what Miftakes foever may prevail now, my Judgment will be according to Equity and Truth; and my Sentence, once pronounced, can never be revers'd. Few indeed are capable of difcerning the Justice of my Providence, in fuffering Innocent Men to be traduced, and their honest Actions misunderstood. But I do nothing without wife Reafons, and neither am, nor can be, miftaken in my Methods, how much foever fhort-fighted and inconfiderate Men are confounded about them.

Appeal then in all thefe Cafes to my Determination, and let thy Matters reft fo fully there, as not only to difregard what others think concerning thee, but even in fome measure to diftruft thy own Judgment concerning thy felf. Confider, that I think many Things fit for my Servants, which they can by no means imagine convenient for themfelves. This very Reflection preferves a good Man's Temper, in every Accident of Life; becaufe he knows, that every Accident falls out thus by my Direction. This buoys his Spirits up against the Infults and Injuries of Calumny and Detraction; and keeps them from fwelling into Pride and immoderate Joy, when his Innocence is cleared, and his Virtue commended. He knows that God fees not as Man fees; for Man judges according to outward and fallible Appearances, but God fearches the Reins and the Heart, and judges righteous Judgment.

Pfal. vii.

Difciple.] O Lord, thou righteous Judge, ftrong and patient, who understandeft the Frailty and the Wickednefs of Men, be thou my ftrong Rock, my Truft and Defence. For even in my own Confcience I dare not be too confident; fince

many

many things which to me are either unknown or forgotten, thou haft a perfect Knowledge, and exact Remembrance of. I ought therefore in all Reproofs and Reproaches to fubmit with Patience, even though my Heart condemn me not; because thou, who

permitteft these things, art greater than my 1 John iii. Heart, and knoweft all things. Thus, Reafon and Religion both convince me, I ought to behave my felf; but, if at any time Paffion and Frailty have exceeded in too nice and tender a Senfe of thefe Things, pardon, I beseech thee, what is past, and enable me to be more refigned for the time to come. Thy Mercy alone will avail me more than all my laboured Excuses; and Pardon is what I rather chufe, than the most confident Teftimony of my own Confcience. For, though, I Should know nothing by my felf, yet am I not bereby juftified; for he that judgeth me is the Lord: The Lord, who will one Day bring to light the bidden things of dishonesty, even thofe, which have efcaped the Committer's own Obfervation. And there

1 Cor. iv.

fore, if thou, Lord, should't be extreme to Pfal.cxxx.3. mark what is done amifs, no Flefb living Pfal. cxliii.z. could be juftified in thy fight.

CHA P. LII.

Nothing too much to fuffer for Eternal Life.

Chriftings for Me and thy Duty, or any other L

ET not, my Son, thy Labours or Suffer

fort of Hardship or Tribulation in this World, fo far damp thy Courage, but that my Promise ftill fhould be a fure Anchor-hold of Hope; and this Reflection ever minifter Comfort, that I am able to recompence thee not only beyond what is reasonable to

expect,

expect, but even impoffible for thee to wifh or ima gine. Thy Toils will not continue very long, nor will thy Pain and Trouble always torment thee, Wait but a little longer, and look forward, and fee how glorious a Profpect opens it felf: How swiftly the End of all thy Sufferings approaches; and how fuddenly Sorrow and Tumult vanish away. Even Time it felf is not of everlasting Continuance; but that which is bounded within fo very narrow a Space, as this fhort Span of Life, cannot in any fair Computation be counted long, or great. Proceed then in thy Duty with Vigor and undaunted Refolution; ply thy Work hard in my Vineyard, and fill the Station I have appointed thee to; thy Wages are certain and valuable, for I my felf will be thy exceeding Gen. xvii. great Reward.

Perfift in Writing, in Reading, in finging my Prai fes, in Lamenting thy own Sins, in filent Meditation, in Devout Prayer, in Fortitude and Patience. For the things prepar'd for them that love God, are richly worth thefe and greater Conflicts; all thou must do, all thou canft fuffer, are in no degree worthy to be compared with them. The Day is coming, and fix'd in my unalterable Decree, adorn'd with the Triumphs of Joy and Peace; That mighty Revolution, when thefe alternate Succeffions of Day and Night fhall ceafe; and everlasting uninterrupted Light fhall fhine for ever. There shall be Luftre infinite, Satisfactions unbroken,unconceivable, Reft eternal,and above thePower of any future Danger. There fhall be then noPlace left for that melancholy Wifh; O that thou would't deliver me from the Body of this Death! no Occcafion for that Complaint, Wois me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mefech, and to have my Habitation in this barren Wilderness, For even the last Enemy fhall be fubdued, and Death it self destroyed. Salvation then and

Rom. vii.

Pfal. cxx.

1 Car, XV,

and Life fhall Reign for ever; Sorrow and Anguish, Sighs and Tears fhall flee away; a Crown of Rejoycing put upon every Head, and thou shalt be happy in the fweet Society of Saints and Angels, the Spirits of fuft Men made perfect, and the Affembly of the Firft-born.

Heb. xii.

Oh! could'ft thou now but fee the Heavens open, and with the Ken of Mortal Eye behold the bright and everlasting Crowns of my Chofen; Were thy Heart large enough to admit a juft Idea of their Tro phies and Glories, whom once the World defpifed, and thought not worthy to live upon the Earth; thou then would'st gladly embrace their Sufferings and Reproaches, abandon all thy vain Defires of Worldly Greatnefs, and difdain the perishing Pleasures of the prefent Life. Humility and Patience would then appear in all their native Beauties; and even Affliction and Ignominy difplay fuch Charms, as must attract thy Love, and make thee efteem the Reproaches of Chrift greater Treasures and Gain, than all the Majefty and Honour, and most celebrated Reputation, that a mortal State is capable of..

Attend then seriously to thefe important Truths. For they, if confidered and believed in good earnest, will stop thy Mouth, and effectually filence all thy Complaints. For fure the Sufferings of a Moment cannot be thought too dear a Price for Eternal Happinefs in exchange. Surely the Kingdom of God is no trifling Concern. And when the lofing or attaining this lies before thee, nothing can be too much to prevent that Lofs; nothing a hard Bargain for that infinite Advantage. Grovel then upon the Earth no longer, but ftand Erect, and lift thy Eyes and Heart to Hea ven. See there the bleffed Effects, the mighty Succefs, of all those sharp Conflicts, which my Saints, while in the Body, underwent; the End of all their Tryals and Adversities, their painful Severities and pious La

a

bours,

1 Cor. iv.

bours. Thefe mortify'd afflicted Men once reputed the Filth of the World, and the Off-fcouring of all Things, the common Mark of Infolence and Malice, are now in perfect Joy; their Sorrows fwallowed up in tranfporting Blifs and Comfort; their Dangers changed into fecure Peace; their Labours into Eafe and fweet Repofe; their Perfecutions and wrongful Accufations before the Bar of Men, into Thrones of Glory, where they fit and judge the World, and live, and rejoice, and reign with me for

ever.

CHA P. LIII.

The Joys of Eternity, and Miferies of this prefent Life.

Difcipley bright and glorious Day of E

Bleffed Manfions of the Heavenly Ci

O

ternal Light and Blifs! A Day that never declines; a Sun that never fets, nor is obfcured by any fucceeding Night; but a State always chearful, always fixed, and fecured from Change and Sorrow, from Danger and Decay. How do I pant and thirst after that happy Hour, when this Bleffed Morning fhall dawn and fhed its Beams, and with a wondrous Luftre put an end to all the Darkness and Miseries of Mortality? It does indeed already fhine in the Hearts and Hopes of thofe good Men, whofe Converfation is even now in Heaven: But even theirs is but a diftant Profpect, and fuch as, while they fojourn here, prefents things only in a Glafs. The Citizens and Inhabitants of thofe Bleffed Regions fee it with their naked Eye; they feel and enjoy its Sweetness, and are all en lightned with its Rays; while the diftreffed Sons of