MEDITATION LXV.

AN HIGH WIND PREFERABLE TO A CALM.

Under sail, Feb. 15, 1759.

AMONG the wonders of navigation, this is one, that through opposing waves which dash on every side, and amidst winds so strong that they seem rather a tempest than a moderate gale, the ship should pursue her voyage with more expedition, and reach her port sooner, than in a profound calm. Indeed he that never had his foot on salt water before, and adventures only on the glassy surface to take his pleasure, will bless the serenity, and congratulate the calm ; but the spirited sailor who minds his business, and has other climes in view, will rather wish a brisk gale to waft him to the distant shore, than to roll about in a dead calm till his vessel be eaten with worms, or grow rotten in the water, and perish.

Even so, Christian, it fares with thee. Believe it, the best weather does not make the best voyage heavenward. It is better for thee to proceed on thy course through the rolling waves of affliction, attended by the ruffling winds of adversity, than to be becalmed by affluence, ease, and prosperity. The one, through seeming difficulty and threatened danger, shall at last let thee arrive at thy desired haven, while the other detains thee to thy eternal ruin. God, that sits as king on the swelling flood, rules also all the afflictions of his people. Though sometimes they complain, " All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me," yet not one can attack them, but by his permission, nor swell beyond the given bounds. Covenant-mercy has established the kind decree, "Hitherto shalt thou come,

but no further, and here shall thy perplexing waves be stayed." Why then should the Christian mariner on the flood of time, cry out so against the boisterous wind, afflictive wave, and foaming billow, which hasten the out-bound sail to the pacific shore? Have not some, by the thorny cross, been startled out of their delusive dreams, and awakened to the concerns of a world to come? by the loss of a child, found the Son of God? and by the death of an earthly father, been brought into subjection to the Father of spirits, and so made to live? And have not some, while unjustly deprived of a small part, and petty inheritance in this world, been made to look out for an inheritance in the better country, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ? To say no more, will not the experience of the saints agree in this, that he knows their souls in adversity; and that while their outward man seemeth to decay through the lashes of daily affliction, their inward man is renewed day by day, so that in the year of drought their soul is as a watered garden?

MEDITATION LXVI.

ON SAILING NEAR DIFFERENT NATIONS.

Feb. 20, 1759.

THERE is a great pleasure in sailing to different parts of the world, to see the divine wisdom, and profuse bounty every where displayed, of him that made the whole; but there is a great pain in this, that wherever we go, we see the terrible devastation of sin. If we look to one shore, there superstition reign; if to another, there cruelty rages. These pretend to be Christians, those avow themselves Musselmen, while

a third are mere infidels. All worship some God, but how few the true God, how very few, the true God in truth! O, then, that God would have respect to his covenant, because the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of horrid cruelty! When shall the darkness that covers the nations, the gross darkness that covers the people, be dispelled by the light of the glorious gospel of the Son of God? When shall Jehovah, as his special and spiritual inheritance, take all nations? Shall satan continue to take kingdoms captive at his will? Shall the destroyer of the Gentiles ruin precious souls without number? Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations? Let not the curse devour the earth, and them that dwell thereon. When shall the name of Jew and Gentile be lost in that of Christian, and Christians become the true worshippers of the Father, the followers of the Lamb? When shall that reviving acclamation charm the ears of all the expectants, of the sacred conquest, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever?" Hasten the time when the Lord of universal nature shall bestow this general benediction, saying, Blessed be Asia and Africa, my people, America, the work of mine hands, and Europe, with her Isles, mine inheritance.

T2

MEDITATION LXVII.

ON REACHING A PORT AFTER BEING LONG AT SEA.

Gibraltar Bay, Feb. 21, 1759.

NOW we have reached the desired haven, when patience was almost worn out, and we had been long sported with by the unfavourable gale. Among the baffling winds we spent at least thrice the time that might have brought us hither; but now, when safely moored, the dark reflections fly, and the disagreeableness of our passage decreases, through joy that we are come so safe to an anchor: the very difficulties that overtook us on the ocean make our coming to harbour afford us greater pleasure, than if a favourable wind in a few days had wafted us hither.

Even so, when the saints of God reach the happy shore, it shall, as it were, heighten the joys of the higher house, that they dwelt in the house of mourn ing; soften their rest, that they were tossedon a stormy ocean; brighten the heavenly vision, that they have seen scenes of affliction; swell their delight and complacency, that their life was full of disappointment and pain; and sweeten these rivers of pleasures, that they have drank the waters of Mara. Here the troubled sailor in a storm is afraid of shipwreck every moment; but the saint may be assured, (why then, O saints! so much doubting ?) that he shall safely arrive at Immanuel's coast, in spite of all the storms that attack, and tempests that attend him by the way. Courage, then, my soul, and weather out the squalls, and endure the bitterest blasts that can blow against thee, triumphing in this one consideration, that eternal veracity is engaged for thy security. The storms that now beset

thee are but transient, and also bounded; but the rest and peace, the felicity and joys, that are reserved for thee, are eternal, immense, and passing all understanding.

MEDITATION LXVIII.

ON A MAN THAT DIED BY LIQUOR.

Under sail, Mediterranean, March 6, 1759.

IN how many things is it possible for man to transgress? Not a blessing but he can turn into a curse; not a mercy but he can suck misery from it, and, by excess, the means of life become the occasion of death. How sad an use make we of the creature, when it renders us incapable of serving our Creator; which is the case, not only with the drunkard and glutton, but with the carnal-minded man, who surfeits on the cares and riches of this world!

This demented wretch, this poor fellow-creature, tried his strength to his own destruction, and was a more cruel suicide or self-murderer, than if he had given himself a mortal wound; for then he might have died awake, and with the exercise of his reason, but now he undergoes the last, the most tremendous change asleep, and totally deprived of the use of reason! He drank till he dropped down in a dead sleep, out of which it was impossible to awake him (for death was in it) till plunged into the world of spirits. But how terrible to die in such a condition! If any dreams, reflection, or remembrance of former things, could penetrate his profound slumber, his deep sleep, he would believe himself to be still among his companions, drinking the other glass, and quaffing it out merrily among his mess-mates. But O how inconceivably