383 CnattTIAN Mot5AtITi. foresees" the evil, and hideth hiiùself; but the simple pass on; and are punished ; Prov. xxii. 3. that is, They suffer for their want of prudence and foresight. And besides all these, he should be a man of firm and steady resolution to go through difficulties, and to put in practice what his judgment has deter- mined. Rash and ungoverned passions aregreat enemies ofthis virtue. Both these push a man onward to a hasty and irregular conduct. His lips multiply folly, and his handspractise it through the im- patience of his spirit. His unguarded talk, and precipitant ac- tions plunge himself into snares, and sometimes involve his ac- quaintance in the same mischief. There are other characters also inconsistent with prudence, such as an unthinking andan unsteady temper. Thethoughtless person lives at a venture, walks always atrandom, and seems to aim at nothing. He enjoys the present hour indeed, talking andacting according to the mere appearances ofthings. He is con- tent with a slight sudden view of any thing without recollection or forethought ; and in a most literal sense takes no thought for the morrow. The fickle and inconstant man, lie may aim at something indeed, and have honest designs in his head, but is ever changing the means to attain them, and pursues nothing with that steadiness that prudence requires, or that the necessity of human affairs demands of every man that would be wise and happy. Suchmen may be pitied as weak and silly, but they are seldom esteemed, or much beloved in the world, while prudence is so much wanting. There is no necessity that I should cite special parts of the word of God, to encourage us to seek this most amiable quality, since the recommendations of true wisdom, both , human and divine, are scatteredup and down through all the sacred writings : And the Spiritof God has given us one or two books on purpose to teach us prudence ; these are Ecclesiastes and the Proverbs of Solomon. Nor can I propose anybetter direction to gain uni- versal wisdom, that to read the book of Proverbs often with diligence and humble prayer. H. Moderation is another lovely quality. It teaches us to maintain a medium between those wild extremes, intowhich hu- man nature is ready to run upon every occasion. When a warm and imprudent talker adorns some common character with excessive praises, and carries it up to the stars; the moderateman puts in a cautious word, and thinks it is suffi- cient to raise it half so high. Or when he hears a vast and un- reasonable loadof accusation and infamy thrown upon some lesser mistakes in life, the moderate man puts in a soft word of excuse, lightens the burden of reproach, and relieves the good name of
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