thee, yet thinkest thou to sustain no loss? Art thou so unexperienced in the Christian war, to think thy magazine safe upon so strong a siege? Thou storest thy heart with plenty of the bread of life, and canst thou hope to keep it from the ravenous hand of thy own corruptions Thou sowest thy ground with liberal seed, and thinkest thou that the fowls of the air (being Lucifer's own regiment) will not rob thee of a share? Thou fillest thy treasury with sums of wealth, and canst thou hope the troops within thee will not plunder thee? Vex not thyself, my soul; what is taken frorn thee with too strong an arm, shall be no loss to thee; consent not, but continue loyal, and thy compulsions shall never wrong thee. If thy domestic rebels sequester thy whole estate, thy loyalty shall preserve thee. Cheer thee, then, O my soul; the Comforter will come, and then thy faith shall be repaid,

thy wrongs shall be repaired; till then, thy sufferings shall be remembered, and then thy petitions shall be regarded.

His Prayer.

O God, without whose special blessing and success, Paul plants in vain, and Apollos waters to no purpose; that, with the influence of thy holy Spirit, enrichest all those hearts from whom thy patience shall expect increase-I, the worst piece of all thy husbandry, do here acknowledge and confess my own barrenness as most unworthy of thy pains. Lord, thou hast often ploughed my heart with trials and afflictions, manured it with the presence of thy heavenly grace, and sowed it with thy pure seed; yet such is the base condition of my unfruitful heart, that either the coldness of the soil starves it, or the cares of the world choke it, or the malice of the devil rahs

it, that it cannot bring forth increase worthy of thy pains or expectation. Lord, I am thy husbandry; continue thy careful hand upon me, and supply my weakness with thy strength, and make me fruitful for thy glory. And thou, O God, that hast given thy word for a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths, so open mine eyes that I may behold the frailty of my flesh; so clear my sight that I may avoid the vanities of the world, and the snares of Satan. Be thou my screen to preserve this lamp; be thou my lantern to protect this light, that the corruptions of my flesh may not obscure it, that the vanities of the world may not eclipse it, that the suggestions of Satan may not consume it. Unlock mine ears, that I may hear what thou commandest; lock thou my memory, that I that I may retain what I hear; enlarge my heart, that I may practise what I retain; and open

thou my lips, that I may praise thee in my practice. Consider, O God, how I love thy precepts, and quicken me according to thy loving kindness. Hide thy word in my heart, that my ways may be directed to keep thy statutes. Remember thy word to thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Behold I am weak, be thou my helper; behold I am comfortless, be thou my comforter. Restrain his malice that steals thy word from out thy ground, that when the time cometh thy harvest may be fruitful, and I, thy servant, being found faithful, may enter into my Master's joy, and be received into eternal glory.

207

THE WIDOW.

Her Distress.

So vain, so momentary are the pleasures of this world; so transitory is the happiness of mankind, that what with the expectation that goes before it, and the cares that go with it, and the griefs that follow it, we are not more unhappy in the wanting it, than miserable in the enjoying it. The greatest of all worldly joys are but bubbles full of air, that break with the fulness of their own vanity, and but, at best, like Jonah's gourd, which please us while they last, and vex us in the loss. Past and future happiness are the miseries of the time present; and present happiness is but the passage to approaching misery; which being transitory, and meeting