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is the most effectual battery against the artillery of the gospel.

He that has a blind conscience, that sees nothing; a dead conscience, that feels nothing; and a dumb conscience, that says nothing,-is in as miserable a condition as a man can be on this side of hell.

OF SIN AND SINNERS.

Sin is like a bee, with honey in its mouth, but a sting in its tail.

Every sin is an imitation of the devil, and creates a kind of hell in the soul.

Sin may be in the heart of a saint, but the heart of a saint cannot be in sin.

He who has low thoughts of sin never had high thoughts of God.

There are no little sins, as some suppose; for all the evil which hath existed in the world was comprehended in the first sin of the first man.

Sin is like a river, which begins in a spring, and ends in a sea.

It is a fearful thing to sin, fearful to delight in sin, more fearful to defend it, but most fearful of all to boast of it.

Sickness should teach us what a vile thing sin is, what a poor thing man is, and what a precious thing an interest in Christ is.

All the angels in heaven cannot subdue the heart of one sinner; heart-work is God's work; the great heart-maker must be the great heartbreaker.

Let guilty sinners build for themselves a place of strength like Cain, yet will the voice of conscience open the gates and terrify them. In vain shall sinners at the last day call upon the mountains and the rocks to hide them; for nature will not interpose to screen the enemies of her God.

OF EDUCATION AND LEARNING.

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul.

The first and great object of education is to cultivate the mind, which is justly and strikingly compared to the wild ass's colt.

Education is generally the worse, in proportion to the wealth and grandeur of the parents. There is no such a fop as my young master, who is a fool of his mother's making.

He that is taught to live upon little, owes more to his father's wisdom than he who has a great deal left him does to his father's care. He that gives his children a habit of industry provides better for them than by giving them a stock of money.

To be prudent, honest, and good, are much higher accomplishments than to be nice, learned, or all that the world calls "great scholars, and fine gentlemen."

A man may be a great scholar, and yet a great sinner: Judas the preacher was Judas the traitor.

It is better to be affected with a penitent

sense of sin, than to be able to resolve the most difficult cases about it.

Though a man may become learned by the learning of others, yet he can never be wise but by his own wisdom.

To be proud of learning is a proof of great ignorance.

It happens to men as to the ears of corn: they raise their heads when they are empty, but when they are full they droop.

He who wants good sense is unfortunate in having learning; for he has thereby only the more ways of making himself a fool.

Ability without principle is a snare to the possessor, and a curse to all connected with him. The truly learned are not they who read most, but they who read to profit.

Take care what you read, for some books are only dross, and your time is gold; therefore, do not give your gold for their dross; for you may read much, and be nothing the better for it. A few books, well chosen and well read, will be more profitable than a great library.

At the day of judgment, thou wilt not be asked what proficiency thou hast made in the sciences; but whether thou hast lived like a man possessed of reason and religion, or not. Science may raise you to eminence, but religion alone can guide you to heaven.

OF WISDOM.

The most valuable properties of true wisdom are, to be mindful of things past, careful of

things present, and provident for things to

come.

There is as much difference between wit and wisdom, as between a buffoon and a statesman. There are but two classes of really wise men: those who serve God, because they have found him; and those who seek him, because they have found him not.

The truest wisdom is to prepare for eternity; and to be a good man is the best philosopher. Wisdom is the grey hairs to a man, and an unspotted life the most venerable old age.

Honours, monuments, and all the works of vanity, are demolished by time; but the reputation of true wisdom is venerable to eternity.

OF THE WORLD.

The world is full of distracted men, hurrying from place to place, and bartering their souls for less than nothing.

As you love your souls, beware of the world, for it has slain its thousands. What ruined Lot's wife? the world; what ruined Judas? the world; what ruined Simon Magus? the world; what ruined Demas? the world. Then "What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

It is a good thing to have a portion of the world, but a sad thing to have the world for our portion.

If the world be our portion here, hell will be our portion hereafter.

He who does not live above the world while

he is in it, shall never live above the world when he is out of it.

The sign of vanity is hung at the door of all earthly enjoyments, having that significant inscription, "This is not your rest."

If we would remember that the world is but an inn, and that we are strangers passing through it, this would fashion us to more temperate desires and better composed affections.

The way to bring ourselves to a holy contempt of the world is duly to consider how soon we must leave it.

OF RETIREMENT.

It is an extraordinary attainment, and shows a well-disposed mind, when a man loves to keep company with himself.

The man that lives retired lives quiet; he fears nobody, and of him nobody is afraid.

A first minister of state has no such important business in public, as a good and wise man has in private.

Princes and their grandees are of all men the most miserable, because they are least by themselves.

Solitude relieves us when we are sick of company, and conversation when we are weary of being alone.

Since it is certain that our hearts deceive in the love of the world, let us disengage ourselves from its allurements while we are in the midst of them.

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