No. 145.] [FRIDAY. INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY (continued). Prophecy had been for some time withdrawn from the Jews, which must make them at first more shy and suspicious of any new pretences to inspiration. Oracles began to cease among the Gentiles, by being despised, and generally neglected; and divination of all kinds was brought ïnto contempt. Thus men were guarded against any new imposition, though ever so well supported by wit, policy, or learning; nor would they, surely, be less averse to one appearing in such a mean form, and with such slender recommendation as the Christian; so destitute of aid from human wisdom;-so seemingly below what they had hitherto been entertained with by their teachers;-stripped of all that pomp and covenant which attended the Jewish institution;-that art and eloquence which adorned each system of philosophy. [SATURDAY. No. 146.] A SCHEME, advanced without all these, and against them;-consisting of a few plain rules of life, and these so strictly pure and perfect, as equally to strike at the corrupt Scribe, and haughty Philosopher :-delivered for the most part occasionally and incidentally;-without any set formal method;-in the most simple, unaffected manner;-by mean, unlettered, obscure persons; in full opposition to all the reigning passions and prejudices of the learned and great. How fully therefore may each impartial inquirer satisfy himself that such a system of religion must have a divine origin, and that the whole is nothing less than the power of God, and the wisdom of God. No. 147.] THE PSALMS. [SUNDAY. THE Psalms have been valued and esteemed by the church of God in all ages, as an excellent store-house of devotion: they are composed in the genuine spirit of piety, and contain such an agreeable and extensive variety of subjects, that every devout person may find passages applicable to his particular circumstances and state of mind. The 8th, 19th, 104th, and 111th, celebrate the creation. The 33rd, 46th, 48th, 78th, 106th, 107th, and 147th, shew the constant administration of Providence. The 1st, 15th, 19th, 112th, and 119th, declare the excellency of the divine laws, and the solid comfort and happiness which spring from the sincere observance of them. The 13th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 31st, 37th, 86th, 88th, 142nd, and 146th are applicable to public grievances or private calamities. The penitential psalms are 6th, 32nd, 38th, 51st, and 130th. The Psalms are full of thanksgiving to the Father of Mercies, more especially the 18th, 30th, 96th, 98th, 100th, 103rd, 116th, 118th, and 145th. No. 148.] YOUTH AND AGE. [MONDAY. Youth has a sprightliness and fire to boast, The fruits of age, less fair, and yet more sound No. 149.] APHORISMS. [TUESDAY. THOUGH the ways of life are uneven, yet are they not all painful.-Accommodate thyself to all and where there is least appearance of evil, suspect the greatest danger. When thy bed is straw, thou sleepest in security; but when thou stretchest thyself on roses, beware of the thorns. -It is not abundance that maketh rich but economy.-The wise continueth to live from his first period, the fool is always beginning.-Be virtuous while thou art young, so shall thine age be honoured. No. 150.] ENGLISH PROVERBS. [WEDNESDAY. "WHEN the steed's stolen, shut the stable door!" This proverb intimates that it is highly imprudent to neglect weighing all the circumstances of an action, both as to time and place, before we venture upon doing what perhaps we may repent of afterwards. When the event is over, we are as wise as experience can make us. Almost all the miscarriages of mankind are for want of thinking; after-wit is commonly dear bought, and we pay for it either with misfortune, anxiety, or sorrow; after a misfortune has happened to us for want of precaution and foresight; an afterthought may enhance our trouble, but cannot relieve our distress; it may prevent like inconvenience for the future, but cannot make any satisfaction for what is past. No. 151.] [THURSDAY. REVERENCE DUE TO SACRED THINGS, your IMPRESS minds with reverence for every thing that is sacred. Let no wantonness of youth ful spirits, no compliance with the intemperate mirth of others, ever betray you into profane sallies. Beside the guilt which is hereby incurred, nothing gives a more odious appearance of petulance and presumption to youth, than the affectation of treating religion with levity. Instead of being an evidence of superior understanding, it discovers a pert and shallow mind, which, vain of the first smatterings of knowledge, presumes to make light of what the rest of mankind revere. No. 152.] THE SLAVE TRADE. [FRIDAY. Ah! what wish can prosper, or what prayer, He feels his body's bondage in his mind; |