391 MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHT$. an uncultivated world; but if this world be so mad and sa- vage as never to be tamed, then I do but teach an ass Latin, and wash an .Etliiop. " Union of hearts, and impotence to bear " Thy sorrows, friend, transported me thus far " With sympathetic fury, not my own ; " But now my reason re- assumes the throne, " And strikes my passion dumb." Were I a heathen philosopher, perhaps I might thus loosely philosophise ; if I were a mere orator, or a poet,. I would chide and flourish at this rate ; but as 1 pretend to be a chris- tian, I must recant it all, and put these cooler thoughts in the place of it. When our sovereign Creator formed our souls; and sent them to inhabit these two engines of flesh, which were then a framing for you and me, he knew well what a world he sent us into, and designed our converse to be with men, shall I say, of like infirmities with ourselves : For if they are perverse and untractable, perhaps we are proud, imperious and disdainful ; and perhaps too, we are seldom so much in the right as we think ourselves to be ; it is probable that minds released from flesh, and the Genii of a higher region, may smile at some of the fooleries and airy shapes of reason which we hug and embrace, as much as we do at the senseless notions and obstinate practices of our fellow - mortals, whom we have the vanity to think so much be- neath ourselves. Poor weak reasoners are we and they, when compared with the worlds above us ! But to drop this thought : I say still, God designed us to dwell here in such a wretched world, and I grant it is no small part of our state of trial; but to alleviate our unhappiness, he has mingled in the mass of mankind some finer veins, some more intellectual and unprejudiced spirits, in whose conversation we may find suitable delight, and pleasures worthy of the rational nature. Why should not we suppose there are many other minds as happily turned as our 'own, and of superior size and more divine temper ? All men have not been blessed with our advantages, yet their native felicity of thought may transcend ours. And as for the rest, God has ordained it our duty to asso- ciate with them for valuable ends and purposes in his providence, with regard both to them and us., It is our business to endeavour to persuade them to lay aside their mistaken notions, to remove all the biasses of error from their judgment, to quench their indignation against men of different opinions, and to enlarge their narrow souls, though we find it a difficult work. I have often seen what you complain of, and have been ready to con- clude that when we have to do With vulgar souls, we should not lavish away our labour to convince them of innocent mistakes in matters of small importance, but only lay out our thoughts to
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