Humility, that was in JESUS found,

And Divine Patience, that his Martyrs crown'd,
Are all the Friends, of Love; and great his Gain,
Whoe'er this Love fhall kindly entertain.

O Foes to Friendship and to Love, draw near!
✪ frozen Hearts diffolve Fly flavish Fear !
First, you that Pains do take with Heads and Hands,
And to large Kingdoms fwell your little Lands;
How happier you than Swains who fpare their Brutes
To fatten you, and feed themselves on Roots
A great Eftate by Industry acquir'd,

And a fair Character, you live retir'd:

Says Conference fo? If the acquits 'tis well:
If not, your Confcience is to you an Hell.
O! ftrive for Heav'n! 'tis eafily obtain'd,
By Blood 'tis purchas'd, and by Love 'tis gain'd.
Shall Love Divine, (moft acceptable Gueft)

O tender Fair! be banish'd from your Breaft?
All outward Charms you have; have Charms within,

And you the Love of GoD, and Man will win.
What! fhall a Parrot, Dog, or fome vain Toy,

Engrofs all your Affections? till they 'cloy.
Leave all thefe vain Delights; may you aspire

To Joys refin'd, and Happiness entire.

O Mifers, who fo oft do tell your Gold,
And starve amidst the Heaps that you behold;
How can ye fee your Wealth lie idle by,

For want of which ten thousand starve and die?
No poor Relation, or a Friend reduc'd,

Or CHRIST's poor Members by the World ill us'd;
The Fatherless, or Families decay'd,

No falling Church; can none of these perfwade?
Religion you love cheap, and fooner spare

Pounds to build Prifons, than an Houfe of Pray'r.
All Times, all Perfons curfe the Niggard's Hand,
For oft he fees a Fun'ral of his Land,
Non-payments, Quarrels, put the Law in force,
And wrangling Lawyers plead away his Purse.
You deem them mad, or GOD Almighty's Fools,
Who erect Churches, or found pious Schools:
But you, too headftrong to be fav'd, go on,
And mourn your Folly, when you are undone.

If thou, O Love, fhalt deign with me to live,
I tafte of Heav'n, ere I to Heaven arrive.
Thou from Defpair can't keep the dying Saint,
And with thy Hopes relieve the Heart that's faint :
Yet num'rous are thy Foes, and all Mankind
'Gainft Thee with their confed'rate Vices join'd.

G

As Wolves the Lambs, for love of Prey purfue;

As Snakes eat Toads, Toads Snails, and Snails the Dew:
So are the fev'ral Ranks of human Kind

To eat each other barb'rously inclin❜d.

The Merchant's Truft, and fine Words fwallow down

The Gentleman; the Gentleman, the Clown:
Critics on Scholars, Scholars feed on Books;

And Knaves catch honeft Men with artful Hooks:
A Rogue, a Whore; foul Word, or hidden Flaw
Supply the Common and the Civil Law.

Some Hundred Thousands that in Wars are flain

Cannot Ambition's hungry Gut maintain.

And yet 'tis just one's Country to defend

From an infulting Pow'r, or flatt'ring Friend.
Heav'n crowns the Man, that loves his Country's Good,

And for its Peace delights to spill his Blood.

How are we fall'n from Love! O wretched State

Between the nearest is the greatest Hate.

As Crocodiles, no fooner hatch't but fight,

So Infants quarrel when they walk upright.

How frequent are domeftic Wars, and how

Death Calls, while we moft horrid Vengeance Vow !
Prudence and Love your Guides I recommend,
Who will your Souls convey, where Jefus did afcend.
៩៩ ៩៩

4

DIVINE LOVE.

In PROS E.

JOHN iv. 8.

He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. OF all the Virtues that adorn the Mind, the

Wings of Divine Love must convey the Soul to her eternal Reft. All other Virtues do aid and affift, but the Love of GOD only can fill the Defires and fatisfy the Expectations of inquiring Souls. We are bound to love Him above all Things, with all our Hearts, with all our Souls, and with all our Strength, purely for the Love of himself, and for the Love of his Goodnefs. He hath endowed our Souls with innumerable Prerogatives, and hath prepared Life everlasting for us, without any preceding Merit of ours, and we do not, nor ever can deferve it. The Skies, the Earth, the Air, the Water, and all Things contained in them, cry aloud daily unto us for Praise; and Wo be to us that are filent concerning him: He hath created all Things for our Ufe and Service: to feek for Happiness out of him is a fruitless Search. We fee this by Experience, that when Men have attained to what they have defired, there is fomething ftill wanting; and when that fomething is obtained, there is fomething more, and fomething again. This is the

Cafe of the Ambitious, the Covetous, and the Luftfal: When each hath obtained his Defire, the Ambitious more Kingdoms, the Covetous more Money, the Luftful more pleafing Objects, they are not yet, nor ever will be fatisfied: And what a miferable Thing it is, that these fenfual and boundless Defires remain in the Soul after Death, for ever. Therefore, let the Garden of the Soul be kept free from these nauseous and destructive Weeds, which hinder the Love of God from taking Root and fpringing up unto everlafting Life. When unexpected Misfortunes happen, this Love prepares their Minds to bear them; as, the Lofs of a Wife or a darling Child; the Lofs of an Eftate, or all their Dependence to fupport a large Family in this World; yet the divine Affistance pours fuch Comforts into their Hearts, as the World is a Stranger to, bidding them prepare for another, for their Time fhall not be long in this; when no Enemy fhall dare to approach them. He that hath a strong Hope of the future Joys and Riches of Paradise, doth not feel the Miferies of this Life. This Love of GOD teacheth us especially, not to despise the Poor, but to help them chearfully and readily. Caft up your Accounts, and fee what Portion or Share thou haft in Heaven, and what thou doft poffefs in this World, of all that thou doft poffefs in this Life, nothing will remain thine when Death comes, but ouly that which thou haft fent beforehand into Heaven by the Hands of the Poor. What Hopes can Men have of eternal Life if they do no good? GOD declares they never fhall enjoy his Prefence. All the

Holy