Though with our bodily eyes we could see Jesus expiring on the cross in deepest agony and pain, which were better than a thousand crucifixes, and lively pictures, it could only move pity in us to him as a tortured man, but could not beget in us the faith of his divinity; hence so many uncon verted spectators of the awful scene, and hence still the lifeless devotions of the blinded Papists.

O! then, that days of the Son of man would beam on the Christian Churches, such as Rome enjoyed when first obedient to the faith; that they might cast off the yoke of the imperious whore that sits on many a hill, and deliver their souls that dwell in spiritual Babylon! O! then, that the Son of Righteousness would arise with healing in his wings and with his glorious beams dispel the darkness from the nations, and the gross darkness from the people, that Rome, with the lesser Asia, may return to their former purity, to their first love, and over the revived universe there may be but one Lord, and his name one.

MEDITATION XXXVE

THE MASTS.

At sea, June 25, 1758

How do the stately masts thrust their head into the sky, and see the breaking billows far beneath them! Even so, sovereigns and princes are exalted far above their subjects. But, for as high as the mast is raised above the hall, yet its safety is only by being sunk into the very body of the ship; so is the king's honour, and the prince's safety, in the multitude of their subjects.

Of what service could a ship without masts, or masts without a ship, be? So in the body, political, spiritual, and natural, Infinite Wisdom has made every member subservient to another, that there may be no schism.

Without masts, which support the tackle, and expanded sails, a ship could move no where, but would lie like a wreck on the waters; so without rulers, and subordina tion, must a people perish in tumult and confusion

If the masts are exalted in the view of all, they are exposed to tempests from every quarter; so fares it with men of station and power, they are hated by one, and envied by another, reproached by a third, and undermined by a fourth.

In a storm, or tempest, it is sometimes necessary, in order to save the ship, to cut the masts by the board; so, sometimes to save a state, or nation, it is necessary to dethrone a cruel, an obstinate oppressor, and chase away a tyrant.

If the hull is rotten, and leaky, though the masts be ever so strong and fresh, yet the vessel may perish in the deep waters; so, if the people be irreligious, and licenti. ous, the prudent conduct and probity of the best kings cannot prevent their rushing into ruin.

It is only when a ship goes to sea, with her masts and top-masts in order, and all her sails unfurled, and filled by the gentle breeze, that she makes so grand an appearance to the peopled shore; for, stretching into the boundless ocean, she lessens gradually till she can be seen no more: Even so, the men who now are famed over half the globe, shall in a little be lost to human eye, on the ocean of eternity, and have no more concern with time.

When the ship is grown old, and accounted no more fit for service, she is brought ashore, and broken up, and then the stately masts lie equally humble on the ground with the meaner planks, or very keel; even so, in death, shall all flesh return to dust, and the distinctions of a few days shall no more avail them, shall take place no more. May a belief of this influence me while I live below.

MEDITATION XXXVII.

UPON ONE BEING PUT UNDER CONFINEMENT ABOARD.

Under sail, June 26, 1758.

TRULY we might be surprised to think that one could be closer confined in a ship at sea, than only to be in it; for, what is the vessel but a floating prison, where the

closest confinement can only deprive a man of a few pa ces? Where can the man go, who has nothing over him but the canopy of the sky, or around him but the liquid ocean? Yet to be forbid to walk the very deck, to be locked in the cumbrous irons, and put under the care of the sentinel, and his naked sword, are marks of anger and restraint.

Even so a man may be straitened in himself, a prisoner at home, though he might range the whole globe, and find himself fettered with grief, and manacled with sorrow, pensive amidst his pleasures, and dejected among his friends.

Wherever these prisoners are permitted to go, they are always attended with the sentinels in arms; so the man whose conscience is awakened, shall find a constant companion, and unwearied reprover, who will either reprove to purpose, or reproach for ever.

When a man has transgressed the martial law, neither money nor friends sometimes can prevent punishment; so nothing in the world can preserve from, or enable to support a wounded spirit. If the stroke comes from above, so must the relief. How poor are all possessions to a person that has not peace within!

One of these prisoners mutters and complains, is peevish, and displeased at the sentence of his superior, but it avails him nothing; just so, to repine at affliction, and complain on Providence, is the mark of an unsanctified heart, and cannot shorten our trials, or alleviate our trou. bles, but must sharpen our sorrows, and heighten our sufferings.

But another of them enjoys himself in his confinement, is cheerful and composed, knowing that a very short time shall restore him to liberty; even so, the saint, amidst his afflictions, can be happy and serene, knowing that the period is not far distant that shall translate him into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Paul and Silas could sing praises in a prison, because when God giveth quiet, ness, none can cause trouble.

In a word, what are all the people in the ship, but prisoners, whether they approve or disapprove the expression? Even so, what is the body but a clog, what the whole world but a confinement to heirs of immortality, and expectants of heaven? In this we earnestly groan for the better state, and long to be unclothed, not that we would peevishly drop our existence, be turned out of

house and home, but only change our prison for a palace, and this corruption put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality, and we walk at perfect liberty through everlasting day!

MEDITATION XXXVIII.

THE PROPHET'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WICKED.

HOW just, how adequate, how expressive the divine description," The wicked are like the troubled ocean, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast forth mire and dirt!" When the tides have teemed their wrecks on the inmost shores, and in the ebb have left the smoothed sand, all looks gay, and one would think the bottom of the ocean is swept, and washed of all its wrecks and weeds; but the next tide proves my conjecture false, and spreads a fresh proof of my deception on the shore: Just so it is with the wicked; when I think they might have emptied themselves of oaths, imprecations, and filthy communications, accomplished their wickedness, brought forth all their vileness, and wearied themselves in committing sin, yet, without intermission, they proceed from evil to worse,

As there is a continual growth of weeds and succession of other wrecks, every tide, therefore, spues out mire and dirt; so, out of the evil treasure of the heart, evil things continually proceed. But the civilized sinner has nothing to boast; for, though his words may not be so vile as those abandoned wretches, yet, as they pour from the carnal mind and the carnal mind being enmity against God, can produce nothing pleasing in his sight, as they are vile before God: Therefore, though not so disagreeable in a sober ear, as the profane swearer, obscene talker, or unprofitable jester, yet, not coming from a sanctified heart, are accounted sin in his eye, who is purity itself, and with a pleasant countenance beholdeth the upright.

Sometimes the raging seas ebb, and leave their shores clean and comely, but, all of a sudden, they return with fresh defilement, and scatter over them mire and dirt. Even so have I seen some persons, by a temporary repenLancé, appear to forsake their former courses, and to lead a new life, but, all of a sudden, like a spring-tide, their

wickedness breaks out with greater violence than ever, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

As nothing else than the voice of the Almighty can calm the restless ocean, and say to the raging sea, Peace, be still; so nothing less than infinite power (let not mortals presume, let not sinners despair) can convert transgressors, and make their heart precious as a spring shut up, pleasant as a fountain sealed.

MEDITATION XXXIX.

ON THE PATIENCE OF GOD WITH SINNERS.

Off France, June 27, 1758.

VERILY thou art God, that thus bearest with the wickedness of men, though of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Did our superior officers meet with equal disobedience to their mandates, the same irreverence, contumely and reproach to their very face, from these abandoned wretches, would they put up therewith? No; death, or some dreadful punishment, would suddenly be inflicted on the daring transgressors. God will be glorified in the bright display of all his divine perfections; and the desperate madness of sinners against the heavens, and their blasphemous talk against the Most High, cannot prevail with him to change his purpose, and punish them before the time appointed, because he is God: Nor shall their miseries and bemoaning, their anguish and their intreaties make him spare them a moinent longer, when the appointed day comes, or mitigate their torments, because he is God. A thousand years are with God but as one day, seeing all eternity is his immoveable NOW. Now, what are the few unhappy years of a thoughtless desperado's life, but as a few moments to a criminal betwixt his sentence and execution? So God will fill up the measure of his patience; and if they fill up the measure of their sin, in the time of God's patience, his justice shall fill up the measure of their punishment in the day that his thundering right hand shall cast the strength of his fury and fiery indignation on them