lific Warmth of the Sun; that fix'd the Ordinances of Heaven, and fet the Dominion thereof in the Earth? Did not the firft Principles of Nature, the Seeds of all Fruits, and Plants, and Herbs fpring from him? Doth not He continue to vifit the Earth with his Goodness, and enrich it with Rivers which are full of Water, to foften its Furrows with the Drops of Rain, and to blefs it with the Encrease of Plenty? Weak and ridiculous would be our Attempts to bring forth Food from the Earth, unless the Almighty was to fuccour our Endeavours; we could not form the Seeds, if the Plant itself should once ceafe to yield them, nor cherish them with vital Heat, if the Sun fhould withdraw its fhining; we could not of ourfelves call down Fatnefs from the Clouds of Heaven, nor cause the Bud of the tender Herb to fpring forth; fo far are we from any Ability to produce them, that we are perfectly ignorant of the Nature of the Production; the most common Blade of Grafs puzzles our niceft Enquiries; and however fome fecond Caufes do not efcape our UnderVOL I, standing,

G 2

ftanding, certain it is, that the Nature of these Caufes we can never find, and the Methods of their Operations are utterly out of our Sight: All our Business is to make ufe of the beft Means that Experience has taught us, for a plentiful Produce, but we muft depend on God for the Succefs of them; we may plant and water, but God alone giveth the Encrease. Let him therefore who cafteth his Seed upon the Ground, with modeft Dependance upon the good Providence of the Almighty, fleep and rife Night and Day, his Seed will neverthelefs fpring up he knows not how; the Earth will bring forth Fruit of itself, firft the Blade, then the Ear, then the full Corn in the Ear; and when the Corn is thus brought forth, thus ripened, then let him with joyful Thankfulness put in his Sickle, because the Harveft is come. And this brings me naturally to confider the Second Head of this Difcourfe; viz. the Tempers of Mind which thefe Reflections ought regularly to raise up in us.

1, THEN, Doth God alone crown the Year with his Goodnefs? ought not

we

we in continual Thankfulness to look up to Him on whom we depend for our daily Bread, and ufe thofe Bleffings to his Glory, by which He largely provides for our Happiness? Every Meal we feed upon is an Entertainment fent from Heaven; and to abufe the Riches of God's Goodness is ungrateful: Luxury and Wantonnefs, Riots and Intemperances in the Ufe of this Bounty are the highest Indignities we can offer to the Almighty, who is a God of Purity and Holiness; a chearful Singleness of Heart, a thankful Enjoyment of whatever is given, and a modest Dependance upon Him for the Continuance of well-accepted Favours, are the Tempers of Mind which God's Benefactions ought to infpire. But moreover, the Largenefs of the Provifion which is here made for us, ought to carry up our Thoughts higher than the perishing Food of this Life: We are at present only upon our Journey, Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth, haftening towards our native Country, and if the Providence of God hath made our Accommodations upon this Road of Sorrow

in this Vale of Mifery thus bountiful, comfortable and delightful, how much more fhall we enjoy the Abundance of his Loving kindness, and the Riches of his Goodness, when we have arrived at those joyful Manfions of Eternity prepared for us in the highest Heavens ? These Thoughts will teach us the true Ufe of the good Things of this Life, Thankfulness in receiving, and Modesty in using them, and will particularly serve to excite that fecond Temper of Mind which I fhall choofe to infift upon, namely Charity.

THE Almighty, who is fo liberal a Difpofer of the good Things of this Life, certainly never intended to confine the abundant Encrease of vaft Poffeffions to the fole Enjoyment of one Perfon, and exclude feveral others from the comfortable Supports of Nature, His Blef fings are in common, and a free Communication of them is entirely expected from us. The Divifion of the World into Rich and Poor is highly providential, and feveral Gofpel-Duties are grafted upon the Relation of them to one

another,

another, but none is fo much infifted upon as that of Charity: The Products of the Fruit of the Earth arise yearly, wherefore then fhould the rich Mammonist busy himself in laying up Fruits for many Years; is not this a Diftruft of God's Providence to ourselves, and an unjuft Encroachment upon what is our Neighbour's? Whatever exceeds the Measure of our own comfortable Subfiftence, and the neceffary Provision for our Families, becomes due to the Poor, who are deftitute of the Bleffings which we fo largely enjoy; for the Riches of God's Goodness are not to be hoarded up, but we ought to imitate the Almighty Benefactor, in freely and liberally difpensing the Overflowings of God's Bleffings among our néceffitous Brethren, and imparting thofe Comforts to others, which we abound in the Poffeffion of; and this Enlargement of our Souls will be a much greater Security to us for the Countenance of thofe Bleffings, than the Enlargement of our Barns: He that trufts in the Multitude of his Riches, depends upon a Treafure where Ruft and Moth

G 4