:l8 The Exiftence of G 0 D. ,-.....A..r-. according to right R.eafon, we muO: efteem them but as l nftruments of1>is inv ifible Hand, ~~~~!f~;,'~~e~i~~h~~d~k ci~~u~~a~:~, ~~~~e:;~~~i~ 1~e:di~e~sti;:re;i~ta~e~d :~~~ formity of defires, to lay to our Maker, Thy Will be done. 4• TruO: and Reliance on God is our duty and priviledge. Every being has a necelfa- ry dependance onHim fur its fubGO:ence ; but Man of all the vifible Creatures is only capable ofaffiance in Him, by reflefring upon his own Impotence, and by confidering the Perfellions of the Creator, that render him the proper Objell of truO:. 'Tis the in- communicable honour of the D ' ity, to beacknowledged and r egarded as th e Supporter of all things. To put confidence in our Ielves, in the advantages ofBody or Mind or EO:ate, as if we were the ArchiteCts of our own felicity, is a facci legious u[urpation. Yet vain Man foments a fectt t pride and high opinion of himfelf, as if by h is own pru- dence and condull hemight acquire an happinefs, till experience confutes h is pleafing but perqicious error. The Truth is, were there no God, whofe powerful Provide nce governs ~~~fe~~bl~: ~~dt~=: b[KJ~:·~h':~ict~~~~~e~~fm~~n~k;;~y'~~f~o~~::~eCC~~~~~ ~~~}~ that deprives Man of his chiefe{\ Comfort at all times, an:! his only Comfort in the great- eO: exigencies. For in this mutable O:ate he is liable to fa many difaO:ers and wretched accidents, that none can have an affurance of profperiry one day. How fra il and un- certain is Life, the foundation of all temporal Enjoyments? h depends upo n fo many " things, that ' tis admirable it fubfift s for a little time. The leaO: velfcl in the Body that breaks or is fropt, interrupting the cour[e of the Blood and Humours, ruins its ccconomy. Sometimes in its vigorous con fifl:ence, when mofr diil:ant from Sickne[s '1is near tf\: ro D eath. A little eruption~ of Blood in the Brain is fufficient to O:op the pa!fages of the Spirits, and deprive it of motion and life. And the changes of things withou t us, are fa various and frequent, fo great and {udden, that 'tis an excefs of foJly, a dangerou s reft: to be fecure in the enjoyment of them. The fame Perfon fometimes affords an example of the greateO: Profperity, and of greater Mifery in the fpace of a few Hours. Henry the fourth of France, in the mid{): of the triumphs of Peace, was by a blow from a facrilegious hand difpatcht in his Coach, and his bloody Corps forfaken by his Servants, ex- i AfA<.""l• ~s'd to the view of all ; fa that as the \1 HiO:orian obferves, there was but a mome"t o/::e:,ntl~jt:.~:~1~'h:G~~~bli~oh~~~!~~f~~~r:s~~:"f~pc;1~c{'~Js~ ~f;;i:~di:hfu8ci~!, is but fuperficial, like the Colour and Ornament of a Flower, whofe matter is only a little DuO: and Water, and is as weak and fading. Who then can poflefsthefething s without a juO: jealoufie,leO: theyfhouldOip away, or be ravifht from him by violence! And in this refpe8: Man is moO: unhappy; for befides the aflliClion of prefent ev ils, R.eafon, that feparates him from other Creatures, and exalts him above them, is the fatal infl:r ument of his trouble by the previfion of future Evils. Ignorance o f future miferies is priviledge, when Knowledge is inetfellual to prevent them. Unfeen ev ils are [wallowed whole, but by anapprehenfiveimaginationaretaO:edin a\ltheirbitternefs. By forethoug hts we run to meet them before they arecome, and feel them before they are truly fen fib! e. This was 1 LM<"" ~f:,.~fto~rri~e~~at complaint in the 11 Poet, feeing the prognoilicks of mifery many years Sit fohitum quodcun'lue p~trtH, fit cttca fHt l(ri Mens hominisfati, liceatJPerare timenti. Let th~ evils thou prepareO:furptize us, let us not be tormented by an unhappy expeCra- tion of them, let the fuccefs of future things be concealed from our fight, let it be per- mitted to us to hope in the mid{): of our fears. Indeed God has mercifully bid the moO: of future events from humane curiof ity. For as on the ono fide by the view of great Profperity, Man would be tempted to an excefs of Pride and Joy, fa on the other (as we are more fenflbly touch'd with pain th anpleafure) ifwhen :he begins to ufe his Reafon and apprehenfive Faculty, by a fcc ret of Opticks he fhould have in one fi ght prefented all the Afllifrions that fhould befal him in theWorld, how !anguifhing would his Life be ? T his would 'keep him on a perpetual R.ack, and make him fuffer together and at all times, what fhall be endured feparately and but once. But though the moO: of future things lye in obfcurity, yet often we have fad intimat ions of ap- proaching Evils that awaken our fears. Nay, how many T empeO:s and Shi pwracks do Men futfer in Terra firm•, · from the fufpicion of Calamities that fhall never be ? Imagina- ry Evilsoperateasifreal, and producefubO:antial Griefs. fi[ow how can fuc h an infirm and jealous creature, in themid(lof things that are _every minute fubjell: to the Laws of Muta-
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