but entirely and altogether God's; agreeably to what is to be found in Saturday, Jan. 12th. Jan. 12th, 1723.

44. That no other end but religion shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan. 12, 1723.

45. Never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps Religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.

46. Never to allow the least measure of any fretting or uneasiness at my father or mother. To suffer no effects of it so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye; and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.

47. To endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving and sincere, temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly at the end of every week whether I have so done. Sabbath morning, May 5, 1723.

48. Constantly with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723. 49. That this never shall be, if I can help it.

50. That I will act so as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.

51. That I will act so in every respect as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again. That I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

53. To improve every opportunity when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

54. Whenever I hear anything spoken in commendation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, that I will endeavor to imitate it. July 8, 1723.

55. To endeavor to my utmost so to act as I can think I should do if I had already seen the happiness of Heaven, and Hell torments. July 8, 1723.

56. Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

57. When I fear misfortunes and adversity, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it, and let the event be just as Providence orders it. I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9, and July 13, 1723.

58. Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.

59. When I am most conscious of provocations to ill-nature and anger that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.

60. Whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4 and 13, 1723. 61. That I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do is best to be done, &c. May 21, and July 13, 1723.

62. Never to do anything but my duty, and then according to Eph. vi. 6-8, to do it willingly and cheerfully, as unto the Lord and not to man; knowing that whatever good thing any man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord. June 25, and July 13, 1723.

63. On the supposition that there never was to be but one individual in the world at any one time who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely from whatever part and under whatever charac

ter viewed: To act just as I would do if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. Jan. 14, and July 13, 1723.

64. When I find those "groanings which cannot be uttered," of which the Apostle speaks, and those "breakings of soul for the longing it hath," of which the Psalmist speaks, Psalm, cxix. 20, That I will promote them to the utmost of my power, and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

65. Very much to exercise myself in this all my life long, viz., With the greatest openness of which I am capable to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him, all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and everything, and every circumstance, according to Dr. Manton's Sermon on the 119th Psalm. July 26, and Aug. 10, 1723.

66. That I will endeavor always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happeň that duty requires otherwise.

67. After afflictions to enquire, What I am the better for them; What good I have got by them; and, What I might have got by them.

68. To confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and Aug. 10, 1723.

69. Always to do that which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.

70. Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak. Aug. 17, 1723. . His biographer remarks: "Those who have read the preceding Resolutions will not need to be apprised that they discover in the writer a knowledge of his own heart, of the human character, and of the secret springs of human action, as well as a purity, conscientiousness and evangelical integrity, very rarely found in an individual. His obvious intention and rule was, to refer every voluntary action, and every course of conduct, habitually and immediately to the eye of Omniscience; to live as always surrounded by His presence; and to value nothing in comparison with His approbation, and, what of course accompanied it, that of his own conscience. At this early period he had begun to remember that he was immortal, that he was soon to enter on a stage of existence and action incomparably more expanded and dignified than the present, and that nothing here had any ultimate importance, except as it had a bearing on his own welfare and that of others in that nobler state of being. These Resolutions are, perhaps, to persons of every age, but especially to the young, the best uninspired summary of Christian duty, the best directory to high attainments in evangelical virtue, which the mind of man has hitherto been able to form. They are, also, in the highest degree interesting, as disclosing the writer's own character; and no one will wonder that the youth, who, in his nineteenth year, could, in the presence of God, deliberately and solemnly form the first Resolution:-Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory and my own good, profit and pleasure, ON THE WHOLE; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence; to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general-whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever;'-should have attained to an elevation and energy of virtue rarely witnessed in this fallen world."

STEAL NOT THE TIME AND PROPERTY OF OTHERS.

There are many ways in which persons may unjustly usurp their neighbor's property, by withholding what is his due; but I shall particularize only two: 1. Their unfaithfulness in not fulfilling engagements. Ordinarily, when men promise anything to their neighbor, or enter into engagements, by undertaking any business with which their neighbor instrusts them, their engagements invest that neighbor with a right to that which is engaged; so that if they withhold it, they usurp that which belongs to their neighbor. So it is when men break their promises, because they find them to be inconvenient, and they

can not fulfill them without difficulty and trouble; or merely because they have altered their minds since they promised. They think they have not consulted their own interests in the promise which they have made, and that if they had considered the matter as much before they promised, as they have since, they should not have promised. Therefore they take the liberty to set their own promises aside. Besides, sometimes persons violate this command, by neglect. ing to fulfill their engagements, through a careless, negligent spirit.

They violate this command, in withholding what belongs to their neighbor, when they are not faithful in any business which they have undertaken to do for their neighbor. If their neighbor has hired them to labor for him for a cer tain time, and they be not careful well to husband the time; if they be hired to day's labor, and be not careful to improve the day, as they have reason to think he who hired them justly expected of them; or if they be hired to accomplish such a piece of work, and be not careful to do it well, but do it slightly, do it not as if it were for themselves, or as they would have others do for them, when they in like manner intrust them with any business of theirs; or if they be intrusted with any particular affair, which they undertake, but use not that care, contrivance, and diligence, to manage it so as will be to the advantage of him who intrusts them, and as they would manage it, or would insist that it should be managed, if the affair were their own; in all these cases they unjust. ly withhold what belongs to their neighbor.

2. Another way in which men unjustly withhold what is their neighbor's, is in neglecting to pay their debts. Sometimes this happens, because they run so far into debt that they can not reasonably hope to be able to pay their debts; and this they do, either through pride and affectation of living above their circumstances; or through a grasping, covetous disposition, or some other corrupt principle. Sometimes they neglect to pay their debts from carelessness of spirit about it, little concerning themselves whether they are paid or not, taking no care to go to their creditors, or to send to him; and if they see him from time to time, they say and do nothing about their debts, because it would put them to some inconvenience. The reason why they do it not, is not because they can not do it, but because they can not do it so conveniently as they desire; and so they rather choose to put their creditor to inconvenience by being without what properly belongs to him, than to put themselves to inconvenience by being without what doth not belong to them, and what they have no right to detain. In any of these cases, they unjustly usurp the property of their neighbor.

Sometimes persons have that by them with which they could pay their debts if they would; but they want to lay out their money for something else, to buy gay clothing for their children, or to advance their estates, or for some such end. They have other designs in hand, which must fail, if they pay their debts. When men thus withhold what is due, they unjustly usurp what is not their own. Sometimes they neglect to pay their debts, and their excuse for it is, that their creditor doth not need it; that he hath a plentiful estate, and can well bear to lie out of his money. But if the creditor be ever so rich, that gives no right to the debtor to withhold from him that which belongs to him. If it be due, it ought to be paid; for that is the very notion of its being due. It is no more lawful to withhold from a man what is his due, without his consent, because he is rich and able to do without it, than it is lawful to steal from a man because he is rich and able to bear the loss.-Edwards' Sermons.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1562–1618..*

INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS SON AND TO POSTERITY.

1. Choice of Friends.

There is nothing more becoming any wise man than to make choice of friends; for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art. Let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of them who follow after thee for gain; but make choice of thy betters than thy inferiors, shunning always such as are poor and needy; for if thou givest twenty gifts, and refuse to do the like but once, all that thou hast done will be lost, and such men will become thy mortal enemies. . . . If thy friends be of better quality than thyself, thou mayest be sure of two things: the first, that they will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because they have more to lose than thou hast; the second, they will esteem thee for thyself, and not for that which thou dost possess; but if thou be subject to any great vanity or ill (from which I hope God will bless thee), then therein trust no man; for any man's folly ought to be his greatest secret. . . . Let thy love be to the best, as long as they do well; but take heed that thou love God, thy country, thy prince, and thine own estate before all others; for the fancies of men change, and he that loves to-day, hateth to-morrow; but let reason be thy schoolmistress.

II. Choice of a Wife.

The next and greatest care ought to be in the choice of a wife, and the only danger therein is beauty, by which all men, in all ages, wise and foolish, have been betrayed. And though I know it vain to use reasons or arguments to dissuade thee from being captivated therewith, there being few or none that ever resisted that witchery, yet I can not omit to warn thee, as of other things, which may be thy ruin and destruction. For the present time, it is true, that man prefers his fantasy in that appetite before all other worldly desires, leaving the care of honor, credit, and safety, in respect thereof: but remember, that if thou marry for beauty, thou bindest thyself all thy life for that which perchance

* Walter Raleigh was born in Hayes, in Devonshire, in 1562, and was for a short time at Oriel' College, Oxford, but left it to join a military expedition to France in aid of the Huguenots, and a few years later (1758) to serve in the Low Counties with the Dutch against the Spaniards. In the year following he sailed with Sir Humphrey Gilbert to found a colony in North America; and in 1580 served with a captain's commission in Ireland, where, in the absence of Lord Ormond, he was associated with the government of Munster. On his return to England he became a favorite at Court by his gallantry to the Queen. In 1583, he sailed again with his half-brother Gilbert in an expedition to Newfoundland, and in 1584, under letters-patent to take possession of newly discovered land; he occupied Wigandacoa, which he called Virginia, in honor of the Virgin Queen. In the same year he was returned to Parliament for Devonshire; knighted, and appointed Seneschal for Cornwall, and Lord Warden of the Stannaries. But his ruling passion was maritime discovery and colonization. Another expedition was fitted out for Virginia, and a few years later to Panama, and Guiana—and to give variety to his employments, he helped destroy the Spanish Armada, restore Don Antonio to the throne of Portugal, led an attack on Cadiz, with occasional service in the House of Commons. In the network of foreign and domestic politics, he became entangled, and was condemned, for he could hardly be said to be tried, for high treason so called, and confined for several years in the Tower. Here his activity spent itself in scientific speculation and the composition of the History of the World. By solicitations of friends and bribing of court favorites, the grand old man was released to make another voyage of discovery, which, ending disastrously, only precipitated another trial and his death on the scaffold in 1618.

will neither last nor please thee one year; and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no price at all, for the degree dieth when it is attained, and the affection perisheth when it is satisfied. Remember, when thou wert a sucking child, that then thou didst love thy nurse, and that thou wert fond of her; after a while thou didst love thy dry-nurse, and didst forget the other; after that, thou didst also despise her; so will it be with thee in thy liking in elder years; and, therefore, though thou canst not forbear to love, yet forbear to link, and after a while thou shalt find an alteration in thyself, and see another far more pleasing than the first, second, or third love; yet I wish thee, above all the rest, have a care thou dost not marry an uncomely woman for any respect; for comeliness in children is riches, if nothing else be left them. And if thou have care for thy races of horses and other beasts, value the shape and comeliness of thy children before alliances or riches: have care, therefore, of both together, for if thou have a fair wife and a poor one, if thine own estate be not great, assure thyself that love abideth not with want, for she is the companion of plenty and honor: for I never yet knew a poor woman, exceeding fair, that was not made dishonest by one or other in the end. This Bathsheba taught her son Solomon: Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vanity: she saith further, That a wise woman overseeth the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Have, therefore, ever more care that thou be beloved of thy wife, rather than thyself besotted on her, and thou shalt judge of her love by these two observations: first, if thou perceive she have a care of thy estate and exercise herself therein; the other, if she study to please thee, and be sweet unto thee in con. versation, without thy instruction, for love needs no teaching nor precept. On the other side, be not sour or stern to thy wife, for cruelty engendereth no other thing than hatred: let her have equal part of thy estate whilst thou livest, if thou find her sparing and honest; but what thou givest after thy death, remember that thou givest it to a stranger, and most times to an enemy; for he that shall marry thy wife will despise thee, thy memory, and thine, and shall possess the quiet of thy labors, the fruit which thou has planted, enjoy thy love, and spend with joy and ease what thou hast spared, and gotten with care and travel. Yet always remember, that thou leave not thy wife to be a shame unto thee after thou art dead, but that she may live according to thy estate; especially if thou hast few children, and them provided for. But howsoever it be, or whatsoever thou find, leave thy wife no more than of necessity thou must, but only during her widowhood; for if she love again, let her not enjoy her second love in the same bed wherein she loved thee, nor fly to future pleasures with those feathers which death hath pulled from thy wings; but leave thy estate to thy house and children, in which thou livest upon earth whilst it lasteth.

III. Beware of Flatterers.

Take care that thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies as thou shalt never, by their will, discern evil from good, or vice from virtue. And because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of other men's praises is most perilous. It is said by Isaiah: 'My people, they that praise thee, seduce thee, and disorder the paths of thy feet.