,· . 276 01z the Nativity. the confcioufi1efs of our iincerity in his f-ervice; though w.e are not to refufe d ie af-· fill :u1ce of innocent aets to raife and recruit our natural fi)irits when they faint and fail within us. Finally, that our chearful– nefs and joy may -be allo-vvable, it 1nufi be rightly tempered. Which leads me to the fecond part of the' text; whic.h if it do not check, it doth at leafi n1ix· and qualify ou~ ,joy; rejoice we n1ay, b-ut it mufi be with trembling: ,Tren1bling is a patural effect and fign of fear; and is here put for the · thing fignified. Ncrw, fear tnay fcen1 to be the moft ufclefs and _unprofitable paffion in the mind, it is that which prefages mifchief and anticip~tes our n1iferies, giving them a being before they had any, and troubl1ng us with the apprehenfion of thofe evils which may never befal us, and hindering · us to guard againfl: n1any which we might have prevented; betraying thofe fuccours which reafon qffereth, as the wife fon -of David tells us. The hifl:orian, [peaking of the Perftans, who in their flight flung a– way their weapons of defence, addeth this obfervation, Adeo timor i'pfiJ auxilia refir– midat: SL1ch is the nature 'of fear, that it not only makes us flee fron1 danger, but fron1 thofe helps and fuccours wl1ich ihould , keep
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