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joys of feasted sense, how bleft as the immortal Gods they would be!

AND truly, if man was but a more elegant fort of beast, and capable of no higher pleasures than thofe of fenfe, thefe Mahometan dreamers might be more than half in the right. In that cafe, health and competence might very well ferve our turn; as with the one we might purchase, and with the other enjoy, all the happiness of which we were capable. But fince God has been fo good as to raise us many degrees above mere animal nature; fince he has together with bodies, given us immortal minds, endowed with faculties and affections capable of angelic joys, it follows very delightfully, that another guefs bill of fare must be made out for us, than that which would ferve Epicurean hogs.

THOSE gentlemen who are fo fond of ftinting themselves to mere bodily pleafures,

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fures, would do well to remember, that every rank of animated nature must have its proper gratifications or be miferable. Furnish earth and water to a plant, and it shall look green, and flourifh like a cedar in Lebanon; but give nothing but this to a horfe, and he fhall presently perish for want of nutriment, Again, give grafs and water to a horse, and he shall look plump as pampered fpeculation; but confine a man to grafs and water, and you fhall foon write hic jacet on his tomb. Thus every link in the great chain of being has its respective capacities and enjoyments. Man is favoured with these in a degree of perfection above all the creatures that we have seen. He poffeffes, harmoniously blended in himself, the various excellencies of two different natures; together with a relish for all the pleasures of the most perfect animal, he can boaft capacities equal to the fublime delights

of celestial spirits; now to fuppofe that fo exalted, I had almost faid fo divine a creature as this, can be fatisfied with enjoyments that belong to the poorest and meanest part of his nature, were a far greater abfurdity, than to suppose that an animal of the most delicate tafte and fenfe, can be content with earth and water, the fimple nutriment of a plant.

ACCORDINGLY we find that experience has ever evinced the mistake of those, who have expected, that fenfual goods alone could make them happy. This is not a novel opinion, but seems to have been a favourite notion of fome in the days of King Solomon, who refolved to examine the truth or falfehood of it. Never man enjoyed equal opportunities; he had gold and filver as the stones in the vallies for abundance; and in wifdom he far exceeded all the fages of the Eaft. The whole force of this wisdom and wealth he determined to employ on the experiment.

experiment. "Behold (faid he) I will get me down and make me great works, and build me houses, and plant me vineyards, and make me gardens and pools of water. I will get me men fingers and women fingers, and all the delights of the fons of men; and whatever mine eyes defire, I will not keep from them." When every thing is thus planned by himself, and executed according to his direction, furely he is arrived to the accomplishment of his wishes, and has afcended to the fummit of all human happiness. The poor, who are taken with fine fhows, would conclude fo: Solomon certainly knows beft; let us afk him, What does he fay?

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"Lo! I looked on all the works that hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do, and behold all was vanity and vexation of Spirit, and there was no profit under the fun." Well, gentlemen, you, I mean who think that

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if you

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had but an abundance of riches, and health to enjoy them, you could not fail to be happy. What do you think of having against you fuch a formidable cafe in point as this? Are you not beginning to fufpect that you may have been under a mistake all this time? Supprefs not the friendly fufpicion: Instead of repining, you fhould rejoice to find you have been in an error. Have you not abundant caufe of joy, that riches and health with all their springs and streams of pleasure, are not alone fufficient to quench your thirft of happinefs, nor able to fill up the vast capacities of your nature? After conquering one world, Alexander fat down and wept, that he had not another into which he could push his victories: But, thank God, we have not his cause of complaint.

FOR after having pushed our conquests through all those regions of innocent enjoyment

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