man who has been employed on such services, and thrice made the tour of Europe with success ;·

That is, without breaking his own or his pu pil's neck; for if he is such as my eyes have seen! some broken Swiss valet de chambre,—some general undertaker, who will perform the journey in so many months, if God permit,—much knowledge will not accrue ;-some profit at least ;-he will learn the amount, to a halfpenny, of every stage from Calais to Rome ;-he will be carried to the best inns, -instructed where there is the best wine, and sup a livre cheaper than if the youth had been left to make the tour and the bargain himself.- -Look at our governor, I beceech you !-see, he is an inch taller as he relates the advantages!

And here endeth his pride, his knowledge,. and his use.

But, when your son gets abroad, he will be taken out of his hand, by his society with men of rank and letters, with whom he will pass the greatest part of his time.

Let me observe, in the first place, that company which is really good is very rare, and very shy; but you have surmounted this difficulty, and procured him the best letters of recommendation to the most eminent and respectable in every capital.

And I answer, that he will obtain all by them which courtesy strictly stands obliged to pay on such occasions, but no more.

There is nothing in which we are so much deceived as in the advantages proposed from our connections and discourse with the literati, &c. in foreign parts; especially if the experiment is made before we are matured by years or study.

Conversation is a traffick; and if you enter into it without some stock of knowledge to balance the account perpetually betwixt you,-the trade drops at once :—and this is the reason, however it may be boasted to the contrary, why travellers have so little (especially good) conversation with natives, owing to their suspicion, or, perhaps, conviction, that there is nothing to be extracted from the conversation of young itinerants worth the trouble of their bad language,-or the interruption of their visits.

The pain on these occasions is usually reciprocal; the consequence of which is, that the disappointed youth seeks an easier society; and as bad company is always ready, and ever lying in wait,-the career is soon finished; and the poor prodigal returns the same object of pity with the prodigal in the gospel.

SERMON XXI.

NATIONAL MERCIES CONSIDERED*.

DEUTERONOMY VI. 20, 21,

And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondsmen in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

THESE are the words which Moses left as a standing answer for the children of Israel to give their posterity, who in time to come might become ignorant, or unmindful of the many and great mer"cies which God had vouchsafed to their forefathers: all which had terminated in that one of their deliverance out of bondage.

Though they were directed to speak in this manner, each man to his son, yet one cannot suppose that the direction should be necessary for the next generation, for the children of those who had been eye-witnesses of God's providence : it does not seem likely that any of them should arrive to that age of reasoning which would put them upon asking the supposed question, and not be long beforehand instructed in the answer. Every parent would tell his child the hardships of his captivity, and the amazing particulars of his deliverance: the story was so uncommon,-so full of wonder, and withal,

* On the Inauguration of his present Majesty."

the recital of it would ever be a matter of such transport, it could not possibly be kept a secret :the piety and gratitude of one generation would anticipate the curiosity of another; their sons would learn the story with their language.

This probably might be the case with the first or second race of people; but in process of time, things might take a different turn: a long and disturbed possession of their liberties might blunt the sense of those providences of God which had procured them, and set the remembrance of all his mercies at too great a distance from their hearts. After they had for some years been eased of every real burden, an access of freedom might make them restless under every imaginary one, and, amongst others, that of their religion; from thence they might seek occasion to enquire into the foundation and fitness of its ceremonies, its statutes, and its judgments.

They might ask, What meant so many commands, in matters which to them appeared indifferent in their own natures? What policy in ordaining them? and, What obligation could there lie upon reasonable creatures, to comply with a multitude of such unaccountable injunctions, so unworthy the wisdom of God.

Hereafter, possibly, they might go further lengths; and though their natural bent was generally towards superstition; yet some adventurers, as is ever the case, might steer for the opposite coast, and as they advanced, might discover that all religions, of what denominations or complexions soever, were alike:— that the religion of their own country, in particular, was a contrivance of the priests and Levites,—a

phantom dressed out in a terrifying garb of their own making, to keep weak minds in fear :—that its rites and ceremonies, and numberless injunctions, were so many different wheels in the same political engine, put in, no doubt, to amuse the ignorant, and keep them in such a state of darkness as clerical juggling requires.

That as for the moral part of it, though it was unexceptionable in itself,-yet it was a piece of intelligence they did not stand in want of; men had natural reason always to have found it out, and wisdom to have practised it, without Moses's assist

ance.

Nay, possibly, in process of time, they might arrive at greater improvements in religious controversy; when they had given their system of infidelity all the strength it could admit of from reason, they might begin to embellish it with some more sprightly conceits and turns of ridicule.

Some wanton Israelite, when he had eaten and was full, might give free scope and indulgence to this talent. As arguments and sober reasoning fail'd, he might turn the edge of his wit against types and symbols, and treat all the mysteries of his religion, and every thing that could be said on so serious a subject, with raillery and mirth: he might give vent to a world of pleasantry upon many sacred passages of his law he might banter the golden calf, or the brazen serpent, with great courage, and confound himself in the distinctions of clean and unclean beasts, by the desperate sallies of his wit against them.

He could but possibly take one step farther: when the land which flowed with milk and honey,