lamity, be it ever so bitter and hard to be borne, leads in some shape or other to succeeding good.

Whatever reverse of fortune you may experience, it must never deprive you of that invaluable blessing, rectitude of conscience; it is the very foundation of human happiness.

Consider, that while the principles of virtue remain, they will always afford alleviation, even in the most unfavourable situations. It seldom happens that a person is entirely forsaken.

If you are deprived of some friends

whom you greatly respected, there are generally some few remaining, in whose friendship you may still find consolation.

If the infirmities of age exclude you from the enjoyments of an active life, the gratification which leisure and reflection afford still remains. If fortune is lost, and you suffer embarrassment from the pressure of poverty, there are many of the simple and natural pleasures of social life that can still be enjoyed.

The mind of a good person is, as it were, a kingdom of itself; even though

confined within the walls of a prison, or upon a bed of sickness. The pleasures of imagination and inward satisfaction will often arise to cheer the drooping heart.

Distress of some kind is experienced by every person in the course of human life, but for many calamities there are remedies which it is within your own power to administer. With the greatest sorrows there are generally some comforting gleams of hope, some reviving prospects of happier days. Experience will convince you that real contentment in any station, is only to be found in the self-satisfaction of

an upright mind. It will support you under many discouragements and trials in life.

Ca

The irretrievable loss of friends by death may cause you to mourn. lumny and reproach may unjustly attack your character, Those circumstances irritate some people and make them fretful and discontented. Persons who are sensible of the pleasure result. ing from a life of conscious rectitude, are possessed of a resource unknown to the generality of the world. Prudence and firmness will enable you to remain undisturbed by many trifling

perplexities to which life is subject.

Do not be readily inclined to impute the unhappiness you may experience to the injustice of the world. It may originate in your own imprudence and erroneous judgment.

To preserve yourself from discontent, examine your situation with attention. Consider how little you deserve, and how much you enjoy. Observe how many there are of equal merit with yourself, whose condition perhaps is worse, who make no complaints, whose discontents, if any, are unknown.

Recollect how often splendid genius