BOOK III. CHAP. VI. 545 



nnd Intolerable. The heathen inoralifls called it, for this reafbii, 

 " partus miftrianan; the afyliiin of mileries:" but C/j/-//?/^/; patience 

 brings infinitely more comfort and fupport. This inllrn6is us to be- 

 lieve, that nothing befals us, except by the permiffion, or the direilion, 

 of Divine Providence; it attrads our dependence upon that B;ing, 

 who can enable us to bear wj-at, otherwife, the frailty of our nature 

 muft (i.ik under; it informs us, that difcafes, pain, lofs of friends, in- 

 gratitude, difippointments in our affairs, and all the various ills that 

 lief) is heir to, fall to the lot of the good, as well as the wicked: the 

 Divine Being exercifes our virtue with fuch trials ; corre6ls our vices 

 and miftakes by thefe examples; leads us to foberer purfuits and coun- 

 cils; and excites us to repofe our future thoughts on his care for our 

 happinefs, by fubmitting to his wife and provident difpenfations, with 

 ferenity and fortitude. Thefe trials, in a greater or lefs degree, every 

 mortal muft expeft to meet with, in the courfe of his life ; he fees con- 

 tinual inftances of them, if he will but turn his eyes to view what befals 

 the reft of mankind ; he ought then to prepare to meet them himfelf; 

 never to be too confident under good fortune, nor too defpondinp- un- 

 der the common mifchnnces to which all are equally liable. Inftead 

 of giving way to thofc corroding thoughts, which keen fcnfibility, 

 when too much indulged, is fure to aggravate with frefh tortures every 

 moment, he fhould apply himfelf to meditate on the means of leflen- 

 ing his torment, by fubmiflion to the Father of all men, and frequent 

 fupplications to him for affiftance and relief: books, exercife, bufinef?, 

 chcarful fociety, any innocent amufements, fhould be reforted to, for 

 unbending the mind, and breaking the iron chain of forrowful reflec- 

 tion. Too many have flown to the bottle, or to laudanum, to quaff 

 the fweet oblivion [/J; fuch men are cowards, who have neither cou- 

 i-agc to bear up againft their misfortunes, nor to end a painful cxift- 



ence 



[/] I cannot avoid taking feme notice of the abufe committed by many perfons here, male as 

 well as female, in their dally potations of this banetiil mixture; feveral of both fexes love to be- 

 come inebriated with it, and make their boaft, that, of all liquors, it is not only the fpcL-dicft arid 

 cheapen, but the pleafanteft, to get drunk with. This vice (for a notorious vice it is) has ruined, 

 and llill ruins, the beauty of many a fine woman in this illand, both in complexion and conllitu- 

 tion ; for it fo poifons the whole coiporeal mafs, as to render the lips of a deadly pale or livid hue, 

 and the face cadaverous. After frequent repetitions of it, fo importunate and flrong are its folici- 

 tations, as to admit of no denial, till, in the end, it conftrains even its debauchees to abufe it. One 

 morning I paid a \ifit to an elderly gentleman, whom I had liccjucutly feen, and talked with be« 

 Vo L. II. ^ A fore, 



