thyself; and our hearts cannot rest till they rest in thee: and reflect, that our great Creator has given us a noble soul, made to his own image, and like him spiritual and immortal; which therefore can never find its happiness in earthly and fading things. No, my soul, thou hast an understanding and a will capable of contemplating the sovereign beauty and sovereign truth, and of enjoying the one supreme infinite good; and whatever is less than He, is not worthy of thee. Ah! resolve then no longer to tire thyself, and waste away thy spirits in running like a child after these butterflies; but since thou canst not be without seeking for happiness, seek it in God's name, where it is to be found, that is, in the way of virtue and devotion; and not in the by-paths which lead to endless misery.
3. Consider the shortness of all worldly enjoyments. Man's days are very short: the longest life is less than one moment, if compared with eternity. A thousand years, in the sight of God, that is, in very truth, are but as yesterday that is past and gone: Psalm lxxxix. 4. Alas! does not daily experience shew us, that we are here to-day, and gone to-morrow, and no sooner out of sight, but out of mind too? For as soon as we are in the grave, those that we leave behind think no more of us. All flesh is grass, says the Prophet Isaiah, chap. xl. 6. and all the glory of it but like that of the flower of the field. And what is that, but flourishing in the morning, and fading in the evening? Oh! how truly is our life likened by St. James, chap. iv. to a vapour; a thin smoke, which is dispersed by the first puff of wind, and we see no more of it? How justly is it compared by Solomon, Wisdom, chap. v. to a shadow, or to the passing of a bird upon the wing, or an arrow from the bow, which leaves no mark behind it? Ah! how
