the Fruits of Wifdom. 157 or declared rule of proceeding with his fer- SERYr. vants and followers ; there is therefore no VI. neceffary connexion between virtue and `' riches, which are not always to men of un- derflanding, as Solomon obferveth, Ecclef. ix. I i. nor indeed to the belt men ; fometimes the ungodly profper in the world, and in- creafe in riches, as the Pfalmift faith, and maketh it the fubje t of a grievous com- plaint, Pfal. lxxiii. 7. Their eyes Rand out withfatnefs, they have more than their heart could with; yet, generally fpeaking, and in the ordinary courfe of things, virtue is the fureft way of thriving in this world, which may be thus accounted for. We find by experience that men ordina . rily acquire riches by their parfimony, their indufiry, and their credit ; now, to all thefe the moral virtues comprehended in wifdom are eminently ferviceable. Firft, men grow rich by fparing, by avoiding extravagant and confuming expences, by living within their eftates, fo as their incomes or ordinary ac- quifitions, the fruits of their induftry, ex- ceed their confumption ; for the contrary muff tend to poverty. But the natural ef- fedf of temperance, chaftity, humility, is to retrench a great many exorbitancies : When men, by ,the direction of thefe virtues, have formed
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