as inhuman as the priests by whom they are administered, who are continually learning every art but the art of being happy. The earth every where produces abundance for man, while thoughtless, thankless man, every where waters that same earth with the tears. and blood of man, unhappy man! It is not nature, but man that is to be impeached with the miseries and ills of life. O that I could convince the unfortunate man, who sickens at the gloomy spectacle which this wicked world presents to his view, that his heavenly Father and his Friend is always ready to alleviate his sorrows, and that he only afflicts him to-day, to reward him to-morrow. The rich and affluent think all are miserable who live out of the circumference of fashionable life; but they themselves are the most miserable, because they counteract the laws of `nature, and live in opposition, and not in subordination to her dictates; such persons have no relish but for vain delights, no sight but for shadows, no pleasure but in sensuality; while they have no relish for God, they are total strangers to true pleasure, and their whole life is a miserable dream. They are in the midst of the superb works of God, and yet admire only their own grandeur. They are continually fed (like the swine feeding upon acorns, who never know nor care from whence they fall) by the liberal hand of the Creator, and yet they infringe his rights, and counteract his excellent laws. Surely the oppressor thus acts; and the just re-action of Providence repays him in his own coin. With the same measure he metes, it is measured unto him again. The more men are oppressed, the more feeble and wretched are their oppressors; for they produce misery, and misery produces murders, robberies, prostitution, rebellion and civil wars, which end in their ruin. This re-action of evil is observable in the governments of modern, as well as of ancient times. We see even in the present day, governments judicially infatuated, which with long and steady strides, approach the brink of political T annihilation. They do not remember, that the cause must be removed before the effects will cease. The world is filled with wretchedness and misery, which are the offspring of cruelty and oppression, and not the produce of nature. Man, who is weak, man, who stands on the brink of the grave, man, who is poor, who is nothing, has the temerity to impeach God with the fruits and effects of his own folly; to shew the inconsistency of which, I will beg leave to transcribe a few verses applicable to the present subject, from my tragical poem entitled "Avenia," first edition, page 244: In the second edition, they have been left out by the ingenious and respectable doctor, who revised and corrected it. "The hosts on high, With gazing saints, lean forward from the sky, From clouds all fring'd with gold, their bodies bent, With eager eyes they view the sad event; They view the hero's wrongs, the foe's delight, With their white wings, all tipp'd with downy gold; E Like mighty thunders, lo, his voice he rear'd, With awe, they see the chequer'd lightnings play, Hide fraud in smiles, while death is harbour'd there: They swear by heav'n, then spill their brother's gore Shall heav'n be false, because revenge is slow! And pulls reluctant vengeance from the skies; Inflame their souls to slaughter, blood, and arms. Most assuredly all the works of God bespeak his goodness, as well as his power: who can look up to the golden skies above him, or the spacious landscapes around him, and dare to deny this assertion? Who can view the trees, loaded with delicious fruit within the reach of man, and deny the providential care and impartial beneficence of Jehovah? In order to be convinced |