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whether by Defcent, or Creation, deserve a Deference and Refpect extraordinary. Wisdom, or Knowledge of any Kind, as the wise Man obferves, raises Men above the common Level, and abundantly compenfates the Obfcurity of Birth: Exalt ber therefore, fays he, and fhe will promote thee; fhe will bring thee to Honour; she will give to thine Head an Ornament of Grace; and a Crown of Glory will fhe deliver to thee. Riches are fo univerfally courted, that every one fees what Refpect they demand, wherever they appear, and how they seem to atone for perfonal Defects, even when fallen into Hands, that make no laudable Use of them; but, when difpenfed in Acts of Beneficence and Generofity, how they attract the Eyes of all, and make the Man fhine with a distinguished Luftre.

But though thefe Excellencies create a Superiority, and fet the Poffeffors of them in an Elevation above others; yet will they by no Means countenance Pride, or give them a Licence to trample upon those that they thus furmount: For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what haft thou, that thou didst not receive? Thy Defcent from an ancient and honourable Family, thy great Proficiency in Arts and Sciences, thy immenfe Increase of Wealth and Riches, nay the very Power to eat thereof, and Heart to make use of them, now that thou haft them, are all from the Gift and Ordination of Providence, which might have fent thee into the World an Idiot, a Beggar, or (what is as ill) a Niggard of thy Wealth; and therefore, fince thou didst receive it from God, why doft thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

But, if even all thefe Accomplishments were our own, yet are they of fo precarious and uncertain a Texture, of fo imperfect and limited an Ufe, that they can, by no Means, be the proper Matter of eur Boalting. In relation to Wealth, which is

equally

equally applicable to Nobility and Learning, St Paul enjoins his Son Timothy to charge them that are rich in this World, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain Riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all Things to enjoy. The great Strength of the Argument, we may obferve, is couched in the Word uncertain; for as nothing is more fluctuating than Wealth, which every Element can deftroy; fo the Infatuation muft needs be great, to place a Truft on that, which is fo flitting and unsteady; or (in Solomon's Phrafe) to fet one's Eyes on that which is not; for Riches certainly make themfelves Wings, and fly away, as an Eagle towards Heaven.

But, admitting they were more permanent, yet ftill we may be allowed to ask, wherein are they to be accounted of? Since there are fo many Miferies incident to human Life, wherein they can give us no Aid or Relief. Is a Man, for Inftance, afflicted in his Body with Pain? The Indies are not a competent Price for a Minute's Eafe, for an Hour's Sleep. Is he perfecuted in his Name with Reproach? 'Tis not whole Ingots of Gold that can stop the Mouth of Fame: Nay, many Times the Obloquy itself is but the Progeny of Wealth, of Wealth breeding Envy, and Envy Detraction. But if the Sore lies deeper yet, and affects his immortal Part, he is ftill farther removed from the Poffibility of Relief. If he fuffers as a Slave under the Dominion of Vice, no Treasure can redeem him from that Vaffalage: If he groans under a Senfe of Guilt, and the Terrors of an accufing Confcience; alas! Gold is no Balm to a wounded Spirit: The Luxuries, which that has fupported, may help to pierce, but it has no Power to heal : Or lastly, if the Soul fall finally under the Punishment of Sin, there is no commuting that Penance, no buying off that Smart: Riches abused may in

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deed fwell the Account, and multiply the Stripes; but this is the Day of Wrath, wherein they will not, wherein they cannot bribe the Remiffion of one Pain. Since then the Accomplishments of Birth, Fortune, and Erudition, are not fufficient to fecure us in our most important Interefts; Thus faith the Lord, let not the wife Man glory in his Wifdom, neither let the mighty Man glory in his Strength; let not the rich Man glory in his Riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that be understandeth, and knoweth me.

II. Another Duty that Perfons of this Eminence owe to their Inferiors, is not to defpife them, upon the Account of their Poverty, Ignorance, or obfcure Parentage, fo long as they are honeft and harmless Men; but to be kind and condefcenfive, in relieving the Poor, inftructing the Ignorant, and fetting them at all Times a good Example. Think we never fo long, we cannot imagine any Thing that could poffibly induce God to create the World, and to stock this fublunary Part of it with Mankind, but either the Manifestation of his Glory, or the Communication of his Goodness. His Glory feems to come fecondary in View, as fubfequent to the Work, when finished; the prime impulfive Cause and Reason was certainly his Goodnefs. And, if Goodnefs was the great Motive of communicating Existence to Mankind, we cannot but conclude, that the fame Goodness attended the Confultations of his Wisdom, when he appointed them their different Stations and Conditions of Life: For with him there is no Refpect of Perfons; the Rich be regardeth no more than the Poor, the Prince than the Peafant; for they are all the Work of his Hands. And, if they be the Work of his Hands, we cannot but fuppofe that they are as excellent in their Kind as thofe that appear in the World in a brighter Figure. The Sun, Moon, and all the Hoft of Hea

ven, are, at the first Sight, mighty Demonstrations of the Creator's Power and Godhead; but those that look farther into the Works of Nature can fhew us the Traces of the fame Almighty Hand in the Texture of the smallest Infect, or on the Surface of the meanest Plant: They can behold and admire, I fay, the Wonders of creating Providence in an Ant as much as an Elephant; and in the loweft Shrub as much as in the tallest Cedar of Lebanon: For the smaller the Compound is, the more curious the Workmanship, and the more curious the Workmanship, the greater the Skill both in contriving and compleating it. And, in like Manner, the Condition that makes but a mean Appearance in the World is not without its Excellencies, and the Marks of God's Favour and Benignity abiding upon it.

The poor Man, rifing with the Sun, directeth his Prayers and Orifons to God, his chiefest Comfort and Support, befeeching him to bless his Family, to affift them with his Grace, and to protect them with his Providence. He goeth forth to bis Work and to his Labour until the Evening: On his Return home he is received with the Smiles and undiffembled Love of his Wife and Family, eats his Morfel with Contentment and Thankfulness, and lieth down to fleep, in full Assurance of his Protection who neither lumbereth nor fleepeth.

Where then are the Kings of the Earth, and the great Men, and the rich Men, and the chief Captains, and the mighty Men? Where is the Wife? Where is the Scribe? Where is the Difputer of this World? God hath chofen the foolish Things of this World to confound the wife; and God hath chosen the weak Things of the World to confound the Things which are mighty; and the bafe Things of the World, and Things which are defpifed, hath God chofen, yea, and Things

which

which are not, to bring to nought Things that are, that no Flefh fhould glory in his Prefence.

It is the Obfervation of the wife Man, and a very important one it is, whofo mocketh the Poor reproacheth bis Maker, i. e. finds Fault with the Difpenfations of Providence: For, fince the poor Man cannot help his Station in Life, the Reproach falls ultimately upon God; but he that honoureth his Maker, bath Mercy upon the Poor. The greatest Man living, therefore, muft not difdain to be told, that he who made him in the Womb made likewife the Poor, and fashioned them both alike; that human Nature, even the meaneft Guife, as being the Image of God, cannot be contemptible; that the Outfide and Trappings of the Man make no Part of his Species; and that, in the Sight of God Almighty, no Man is better looked upon for loading himself with thick Clay: He must not difdain to be told, that the Man of Thousands and ten Thousands is not properly the Owner of one Farthing; is but a Steward in God's Family, his Revenues confequently his Debts, and the larger his Eftate, the greater his Labour and Charge to give every one their Portion of Meat in due Seafon; which if he neglects to do, and begins to live luxuriously himself, and to beat and oppress his Fellow-Servants, his Lord will come in a Day when he looked not for him, and will cut him afunder, and appoint him his Portion with Unbelievers. Above all, let not great Men difdain to be reminded of the high but dangerous Station wherein Providence has placed them; of the Support of Parentage and Alliances, of the Accomplishment of Parts by a liberal Education, the Advantages of their Wealth and large Fortune, the Force of their Authority, and the Influence of their Example; and, from a Senfe and right Eftimate of these (as they would do Honour to the Families from whence they fpring, and improve the Talents committed to their Truft,

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