ported from place to place, as it were, at a word? that your minutest wishes are anticipated-your most difficult orders obeyed? Are you the chosen subjects for a happier dispensation, that you possess all these advantages? I am induced to believe not, and I think I have some warrant for what I am affirming; I have words ringing in my ears at this present moment, pronounced by a very extraordinary person, on a very remarkable occasion-" It is easier," declared that wonderful being, and with sorrow and heaviness of heart was the sentiment delivered, "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven." I hold, from these expressions, I may safely draw a conclusion which hundreds have drawn before me, that, frequently as it may be overlooked by those who make it their business to investigate the operations of Providence,

there is, in the diversity of trials of one sort or other, to which the rich are more peculiarly exposed, a perfect counterpoise, even in this world, to the numerous advantages which they undoubtedly possess; and one, not the least perilous of these trials, arises immediately out of the relation of the master to his servant. To have around one persons ever ready to perform the most menial offices-to know, when you summon them, they must appear, at what unseasonable hour soever the summons may be given-to receive, in the low bent form and uncovered head, the eager homage paid to accidental elevation, is a fruitful source of error, of delusion, and frequently of guilt. How joyously will fallen nature glut upon this spectacle! with what rapture will pride and anger, and jealousy and hatred, and all uncharitableness, seek and find an outlet here! How often will passion, that is provoked abroad,

and dare not show itself where it is provoked, when it come within the circle of its own immediate authority, break out in all its violence! How thoughtlessly will they, who really do esteem reputation above every thing that is held in value among men, talk away, on the slightest possible grounds, the reputation of those who have nothing else in the world wherewith to bless the lot of humiliation and indigence! When there exists, as there repeatedly does exist, an anxious desire to please, a sincere disposition to overcome every the most disheartening opposition; this, too, as is frequently the case, growing out of one of the most amiable feelings of which our nature is susceptible, an attachment to the person, or the family of the master. When such a disposition as this exists, how often shall we find all its best meant exertions defeated, in chilling and supercilious indifference! They who thus,

whether intentionally or not, embitter the lives of their fellow creatures, think not of the sword of divine justice, which hangs so fearfully above their heads; they know not, or one would imagine they would act far otherwise, they know not that every the minutest sin against the helplessness of man, is written down in characters terrible enough to affright the boldest of them all-in the dreadful book of eternal retribution; and yet, from carelessness, from inattention, from some foolish prejudice in favour of this or that class of persons, generally speaking, much more than from any settled purpose of malignity, do these too little regarded offences arise.

The ground we have gone over, will, I hope, serve to show, that when I spoke of the relation between the master and the servant, as giving rise to a very dangerous trial, I did not speak unadvisedly; but, difficult as may appear the sea we

have to navigate, there are two simple reflections, which, properly considered, will ensure us against all hazard of shipwreck, at least as regards the point on which we are at present treating: first, look into your own hearts, examine narrowly what are the springs upon which most of your actions depend; see by what impulses you are most frequently governed; consider, in your intercourse with others, whence have arisen the feelings of annoyance, and vexation, and uneasiness, and the sense of ill-requited attentions, that have sometimes, I dare say, burdened and oppressed you; forget a moment the indulgence of the pleader, and assume the severity of the judge; do this once, do it twice, do it a third time, and you are furnished with a standard to regulate your conduct, which will almost infallibly preserve you from mistake or error on this head. Would you give this standard the highest possible authority,