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 BV 4501 .S42 1860 
 Seeker, William, d. 1681? 
 A string of pearls from an 
 old casket 
 
3TKING OP PEARLS, 
 
 AN OLD CASKET; 
 
 WITH AN IITTRODUCTION BY 
 
 EEV. EICHARD NEWTON, D.D., 
 
 AUTHOR OP "rills FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE," 
 
 "the best THINGS," "THE KING'S HIGH- 
 WAY," — "the giants and how to 
 
 FIGHT THEM," ETC. 
 
 Kt\:. W(M.,6Q(iK(^r 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL BOOK SOCIETY, 
 
 IN 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 1224 Chestnut Street. 
 
Eutered accordiug to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by the 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL BOOK SOCIETY IN 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 S. D. Wyeth, Stereotyper. 
 
 Collins, Printbr. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction, - - - - v 
 
 Christian Characteristics, - - 11 
 
 Sin, 34 
 
 Liberality, - - - - - 37 
 
 Humility, - - - - - 41 
 
 Hypocrisy, - - - - - 47 
 
 Forgiveness, - - - - - 49 
 
 Reproof, - - - - - 50 
 
 Duties, - - - - - - 51 
 
 Prosperity, - - - - 56 
 
 Contentment, - - - - - 58 
 
 Self knowledge, - .. - . 59 
 
 Youthful Piety, - . - . 62 
 
 Perseverance, - - - - 64 
 
 The Christian's present possession and fu- 
 ture expectations, - - - - 67 
 
 God's cognizance of men. - - 69 
 
 Heart service, - - - - 75 
 
 The fruits of sin, - - - 79 
 
 iii 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Creature vaiiity, - - - - 81 
 
 Good works, - - - . . 84 
 
 Sin when hateful not hurtful, - - 90 
 
 Watchfulness, - - - _ . 93 
 
 The right use of mercies, - - - 97 
 
 The design of affliction, _ - _ loo 
 
 No arguing a man's spiritual state from his 
 
 temporal experience, - - 103 
 
 Prayer, - - - - - . 107 
 
 Love, - - - - - - 109 
 
 Miscellaneous, - - - - 112 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 The Author, from whose writings these 
 extracts are made, is the Eev. Wm. 
 Seeker. The only work of his which 
 it has been my privilege to meet with, 
 is a volume of Sermons, on the words — 
 "What do ye more than others?" This 
 volume was first published in London, 
 in the year 1660. In accordance with 
 the fondness for quaint titles, then pre- 
 vailing, it was called "The Non-Such 
 Professor in his meridian splendor ; or, 
 The Singular actions of Sanctified Chris- 
 tians laid open." I have been unable 
 to find any definite, or satisfactory in- 
 formation respecting the author in ques- 
 tion. Nothing more than his name 
 occurs in any of the biographical dic- 
 tionaries that I have been able to con- 
 sult. ■ I suppose him to have been a 
 Non- Conformist, or Independent mini- 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ster, living and laboring about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. He 
 is spoken of as a preacher of the gospel 
 at Tewksbury, Gloucestershire. But 
 though so little known to fame he was 
 evidently " a workman that needed not 
 to be ashamed; — a good steward of 
 the manifold grace of God,— bringing 
 forth out of his treasures things new and 
 old." 
 
 In his own Preface to his work, he 
 says : "The design of this piece is not 
 the ostentation of the author, but the 
 edification of the reader. In this sub- 
 ject you have a breviary of religion ; 
 the works enjoined in it are weighty, 
 and the blessings annexed to it are 
 many. Christianity is here dressed in 
 the white linen of purity. As grace 
 begins in God's love to us, so it ends in 
 our love to Him. It makes our com- 
 forts greater and our crowns brighter. 
 Those children who are found moving 
 
INTBODUCTION". Vll 
 
 in tlie orbits of obedience, sball enjoy 
 the clearest sunshine of their Father's 
 countenance." 
 
 ''Remember, reader, that we can call 
 no time our own, but the present. How 
 carefully should we shoot, who have but 
 one arrow to direct at the mark ! The 
 enjoyment of the world is neither an 
 evidence of the divine favor, nor anger. 
 Judge not yourselves therefore, by the 
 gold in your bags, but by the grace of God 
 in your heart ; not by your wealth, but 
 by your works. If religion be your 
 vineyard to labor in, eternity shall be 
 your bed to rest upon. Every grace 
 that is exercised here, shall be glorified 
 there." 
 
 Here we have a fair specimen of the 
 author's style, both of thought and ex- 
 pression. This is such as to justify the 
 criticism of one who characterized his 
 volume as — " A beautiful little work, 
 W(5tth its weight in gold." 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There are two things which specially 
 characterize these extracts, viz.; eminent 
 spirituality; and great concentration of 
 thought. 
 
 They are eminently spiritual. They 
 contain the very, marrow of the 
 gospel. The circle in which they move 
 lies directly round the cross. They 
 pertain altogether to "the things which 
 accompany salvation." Christ in his 
 fulness ; his grace in its preciousness ; 
 and christian experience in the diversi- 
 fied forms of its developments are the 
 topics here referred to. The views of 
 gospel truth presented, are peculiarly 
 clear, and discriminating. The author 
 of these sweet sayings, was " a master in 
 Israel;" at whose feet all may sit with 
 profit, and receive instruction. 
 
 His thoughts are as remarkable for 
 their concentration, as for their spirit- 
 uality. He throws out the pure gold 
 of gospel truth in great ingots. His 
 
INTRODUCTION". IX 
 
 sentences are often like compressed 
 volumes. You may digest one of them ; 
 and then, like Elijah, when he had 
 eaten of the food which the angel 
 brought, you will feel as if you could 
 ''go in the strength of it many days." 
 
 May it please God to bless this 
 ^'' String of Pearls,''^ to the enriching of 
 the souls of all who possess themselves 
 of it, for Christ's sake ! 
 
 Richard Newton. 
 
 Philadelphia, October, 1860. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 This little book of Extracts was prepared for 
 publication a year ago. The Publishers in New 
 York, to whom it was entrusted, were unable, 
 from a pressure of business, to take it in hand 
 till last spring. Then, just as they were about 
 commencing it, an edition of the work from which 
 the extracts are made, was brought out by 
 Sheldon & Co., of N. Y., with a preface by the Rev. 
 Dr. Krauth of this city. This led to the abandon- 
 ment of the publication of these extracts, at that 
 time. But now, after a fair opportunity has been 
 allowed to the publishers of the volume in ques- 
 tion to circulate their work ; and knowing that 
 many persons, though possessed of the "Old 
 Casket," from which these Pearls have been se- 
 lected, may prefer to have them ready strung for 
 use, as more convenient, than having to search 
 through the Casket for them, I have concluded 
 to send out "The String of Pearls " for the use 
 of such. 
 
 "The Non-Such Professor in his Meridian 
 Splendor ; ' ' can now be had at any of the reli- 
 gious book stores. R. N. 
 
CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Believers are among others, as 
 Saul was among tlie Israelites, the tallest 
 by the head and shoulders. Their birth 
 is truly low, who are not born from 
 above. What are such earthly shrubs 
 compared with heavenly cedars; or 
 such thorns of the world's brake, to the 
 willows of God's brook ? These trees, 
 which have their top branches of hope 
 in heaven, will have their lower boughs 
 of activity on earth. Those who look 
 for a heaven, made ready, will live as 
 though they were already in heaven. 
 
 The juice, which distils into a rose, 
 is returned into a SAveet perfimie, but 
 that which drops upon a nettle is re- 
 turned in an ill savor. If the mercies 
 of God be not load- stones to draw us to 
 
12 
 
 heaven, they will be mill-stones to sink 
 us to perdition. The blessings we enjoy 
 are not the fruit of our merit, but the 
 fruit of God's mercy. 
 
 What are carnal men to Christian 
 men ? The power of God appears in 
 ihQ formation of one, but the stupendous 
 grace of God shines, illustriously in the 
 transformation of the other. In creation, 
 God has given the productions of the 
 earth, for our bodies ; but in redemption, 
 he has given himself for our souls. 
 Thus it appears to be a greater favor to 
 be converted, than to be created ; yea, it 
 were better for us to have no being, than 
 not to have a new being. 
 
 Though there be many professors, 
 who are not true believers, yet there are 
 no true believers, but what are profes- 
 sors. As trees are known by its fruits, 
 so believers are known by their works. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 13 
 
 Such as have received Christ's boTinty, 
 are unwilling to fight under Satan^s 
 banner. 
 
 Ah ! how intolerable will the punish- 
 ment of those professors be, who have 
 appeared as burnished gold to men, and 
 are found only base metal in the sight 
 of God ! What will it profit, to put 
 off the old manners, and not put off the 
 old man ? A snake may change its 
 skin, and yet preserve its sting. The 
 gospel professed, may lift a man unto 
 heaven, but it is only the gospel pos- 
 sessed, that brings a man into heaven. 
 To possess piety, and yet practice im- 
 piety, will be so far from advancing a 
 man's commendation, that it will as- 
 suredly heighten his condemnation. 
 
 A holy calling will be attended with 
 a holy carriage. Many may be found 
 who can talk of grace; but very few can 
 
14 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 be found who taste of grace. It is not 
 every one, who looks like a Christian, 
 that lives like a Christian. 
 
 It is unnatural for a Christian's tongue 
 to be larsfer than his hand. It is 
 lamentable for him to hold a lamp for 
 others, and yet to walk in darkness 
 himself. He that gives proper precepts, 
 and then sets improper examples, re- 
 sembles that foolish person, who labors 
 hard to kindle a fire, and when he has 
 done it, throws cold water upon it, to 
 quench it. Though such a physician 
 may administer the reviving cordial to 
 some fainting disciple, yet he is in danger 
 himself of dying in a swoon. 
 
 Many people are offended with the 
 profession of religion, because all are 
 not religious who make a profession. A 
 little consideration will correct this 
 error. Does the sheep despise its fleece; 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 15 
 
 because the wolf lias worn it ? Who 
 blames a crystal river because some 
 melancholy men have drowned them- 
 selves in its streams? The best drugs 
 have their adulterates. And will you 
 refuse an opiate, because some have wan- 
 tonly poisoned themselves with it. 
 Though you have been cozened with 
 false colours, yet you should not dis- 
 esteem that which is dyed in grain. He 
 is a bad economist who, having a spot 
 in his garments, cuts off" the cloth, in- 
 stead of rubbing off the dirt. God 
 rejects all religion but his own. 
 
 As Jesus Christ is the fountain of 
 excellency, to which all must come ; so 
 he is the pattern of excellency, to which 
 all must conform. As he is the root 
 on which a saint grows, so he is the rule 
 by which a saint walks. God has made 
 one Son in the image of us all that he 
 might make all his sons, in the image 
 
16 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 of that one. Jesus Christ lived to teach, 
 us how to live, and died to teach ns how 
 to die. Ah! reader, if the life of Christ 
 be not your pattern, the death of Christ 
 "wtlII never be your pardon. Though 
 the Lord Jesus was a man of many sor- 
 rows, yet he was not a man of the least 
 sin. No man can equal him in holiness ; 
 yet every man ought to imitate him in 
 holiness. 
 
 A truly religious life is a crystal 
 glass wherein Christ sees his own like- 
 ness. In our sacramental participations 
 we show forth the death of Christ ; but 
 in our evangelical conversation, we show 
 forth the life of Christ. An excellent 
 Christ calls for excellent Christians. 
 As he was never unemployed, so he 
 was never ill employed; for "he went 
 about doing good." As our happiness 
 lay near his heart, so his honor should 
 lie near our hearts. 
 
FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 17 
 
 All tliose who are conformed to the 
 image of the Eedeemer, are as willing 
 to be ruled bj Christ, as they are to be 
 esteemed by H;m. He that deems his 
 yoke heavy, will not find his crown 
 easy. 
 
 How blessed would it be for us, to 
 have that blessed Scripture fulfilled in 
 us; — "As he was, so are we, in this 
 world." Now, if we are, in this world, 
 as he was, we shall be in heaven, as he 
 is. If there be no likeness between 
 Christ and you, on earth, there can be 
 no friendship between Christ and you 
 in heaven. 
 
 If the sun be eclipsed but one day, 
 it attracts more spectators than if it 
 shone a whole year. So, if you commit 
 one sin it will cause you many sor- 
 rows, and the world many triumphs. 
 Dr. Whitaker, on reading the 5th of 
 2 
 
18 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 Matthew, brake out saying, ''Either 
 this is not the Gospel, or we are not of 
 the Gospel." The cruelty of the 
 Spaniards to the IndiaQS, made them 
 refuse Christian baptism. " For," said 
 they, "he must be a wicked God, who 
 has such wicked servants." Oh! that 
 God's jewels did but sparkle more, in 
 this benighted world. 
 
 As there is no man so vicious, but 
 some relative good may be performed 
 by him to man, so there is no one so 
 religious, but some evil may be com- 
 mitted by him against God. As one 
 swallow does not prove the approach of 
 summer, neither does one good action, 
 prove a man, a believer. There is, in 
 every being, a natural tendency to some 
 centre. God is the centre of the saints, 
 and glory is the centre of grace. Now, 
 where we do not discover that bias, we 
 may deny the being. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 19 
 
 There is no ascertaining tlie quality 
 of a tree, but by its fruits. When the 
 wheels of a clock move within, the hand 
 on the dial will move without. When 
 the heart of a man, is sound in conver- 
 sion, then the life will be fair in profes- 
 sion. When the conduit is walled in, 
 how shall we judge of the spring, but 
 by the waters, which run through the 
 pipes. 
 
 As a sinner will discover the good 
 he wants, so a saint will show the good 
 he enjoj^s. When the sun dawns upon 
 the earth, it is presently known, and 
 v/hen the Sun of Kighteousness arises 
 upon the heart, it cannot be hid. It is 
 said of the Saviour that ''he could not 
 be hid." As it is with the head, so it 
 is with the members. ''Ye are the 
 light of the world." Let your light, so 
 shine, among men that they may see 
 your good works. 
 
20 A STRING OF PEA ELS, 
 
 Were the sun to give no more light 
 than a star, you could not believe he 
 was the regent of the day ; were he to 
 transmit no more heat than a glow- 
 worm, 3^ou would question his being the 
 source of elementary heat. Were God 
 to do no more than a creature, where 
 would his Godhead be? Were man to 
 do no more than a brute, where would 
 his manhood be ? Were not the saint 
 to excel the sinner, where would his 
 sanctity be ? 
 
 If men debase themselves as beasts, 
 the Lord will nominate them, beasts ; 
 and if Christians walk as men, God will 
 call them men. There is no passing for 
 current coin in heaven, without the 
 stamp and signature of heaven. 
 
 " Hear, oh heavens, and be astonished 
 oh earth." Why, ^hat is the matter ? 
 ''The ox knoweth its owner, and the 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 21 
 
 ass his master's crib; but Israel doth 
 not know, my people dotli not consider." 
 God dotli not call in a jury of angels to 
 condemn tliem; but lie empanels a jury 
 of oxen, and asses, to pass sentence upon 
 them. Alas ! that oxen, and asses, should 
 be more religious than men, who profess 
 religion! In their kind, they are more 
 kind. If their owners feed them, they 
 readily own their owners. 
 
 Men commonly season the vessel with 
 water, before they trust it with costly 
 wine. Thus God will season the vessel 
 of your heart with his grace, before he 
 pours into it the wine of his glory. It 
 is hard to say whether God discovers 
 more love in preparing heavenly man- 
 sions for the soul, than in preparing the 
 soul for heavenly mansions. 
 
 The soul of man is the Lord's Casket, 
 and grace the jewel ; now, wherever the 
 
22 A stri:n'g of pearls, 
 
 jewel is not found, tlie casket will be 
 thrown away. Though the wheat be 
 for the garner, yet the chaff is for the fire. 
 The Scripture presents you, not only, 
 with an account of what God will do 
 for a christian, but also what achristia-n 
 will do for Grod. 
 
 Some people say much, and do nothing; 
 but christians do much, and say nothing. 
 To deserve praise, where none is ob- 
 tained, is better than to obtain it where 
 none is deserved. The old maxim is 
 worthy to be revived — he that desires 
 honor is not worthy of honor. 
 
 A saint may be seen doing more works 
 than any, and yet he does not desire to 
 do any of his works, to be seen. An 
 alms, which is seen, is by no means un- 
 pleasant to God, provided it be not given 
 with a design to have it seen. Though 
 good ends make not bad actions lawful, 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 23 
 
 yet, bad ends make good actions sinful. 
 The harp sounds sweetly, yet it hears 
 not its own melody. Moses had more 
 glory by his veil, than by his face. It 
 is truly pleasant to behold those living 
 in the dust of humility, who have raised 
 others, from the dust by their liberality. 
 
 It is both meat and drink to a form- 
 alist to fast, if others do but see it. It 
 is reported that the nightingale never 
 sings so sweetly, as when others stand 
 by to hear its melody. " Come see my 
 zeal for the Lord of Hosts," when there 
 was no zeal for the Lord of Hosts to be 
 seen. Jehu only made religion a stir- 
 rup, to mount upon the saddle of popu- 
 larity. Sounding souls are seldom souls 
 that are sound. The vote of a Jehu is 
 always linked to the heart of a Judas. 
 Some persons are like hens, which no 
 sooner drop their eggs than they begin 
 to chatter. If such bestow a little money 
 
24 
 
 on a cburcli's repairs, it must be recorded 
 upon glazed windows. Where self is 
 the end of our actions, Satan is the re- 
 warder of them. 
 
 Where the river is the deepest, the 
 water glides the smoothest. Empty 
 casks sound most ; whereas the well- 
 fraught vessel silences its own sound. 
 As the shadow of the sun is largest 
 when his beams are lowest, so we are 
 always least, when we make ourselves 
 the greatest. 
 
 He that trafl&cs in God's service, to 
 fraught himself with man's praises, 
 suffers shipwreck in the haven, and 
 loses his wages, when he comes to re- 
 ceive pay for his works. It is storied 
 of Alexander's footman, that he ran so 
 swift upon the sand, that the print of 
 his footsteps were not seen. Thus 
 should it be with Christians ; nothing 
 
FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 25 
 
 is more pleasing unto God, tlian a hand 
 that is largely opened, and a mouth that 
 is straightly closed. 
 
 Saints should resemble a spire steeple, 
 which is smallest where it is highest ; 
 or those orient stars, which the higher 
 they are seated, the less they are viewed. 
 Usually, the greatest boasters are the 
 smallest workers. 
 
 "Without grace there may be seeming 
 knowledge; but, without grace there 
 can be no saving knowledge. Satan 
 may as well put out our eyes, that we 
 should not see the truth ; as cut off our 
 feet, that we should not walk in the 
 truth. Naked knowledge may make 
 the head giddy ; but it will never make 
 the heart holy. 
 
 How many professors are there who 
 have light enough to know what should 
 
26 A STRING OF PEAELS, 
 
 be done, but have not love enough to 
 do, what they know ! Such people have 
 no advantage from carrjnng a bright 
 candle in a dark lantern. Give me the 
 professor, who perfectly sees tlie way 
 he should go, and readily goes the way 
 he sees. That sinner's darkness will be 
 the greatest in hell, whose light was the 
 clearest on earth. 
 
 I have read of a painter, who, being 
 warmly reprehended, by a cardinal, for 
 putting too much red into the faces of 
 St. Paul and St. Peter, answered ; — ^'It is 
 to show, how much they blush at the 
 conduct of many who style themselves 
 their successors." Were Abraham, the 
 father of the faithful, now on earth, how 
 would he disclaim all relation to many 
 who call themselves his offspring! 
 Though there was less grace discovered 
 to the saints of old, yet there was more 
 grace discovered in them. They knew 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 27 
 
 little, and did much ; we know much, and 
 do little. 
 
 '^My righteousness I hold fast, and 
 will not let it go." Poor Job could 
 hold nothing fast, but his integrity; 
 grace kept his heart, when he could not 
 keep his gold. Uprightness is of so 
 fair a complexion as not to be subject to 
 any alteration, from the scorching beams 
 of persecution. The laurel preserves 
 its verdure, amidst the severest blasts 
 of winter. Times of trouble have often 
 been times of triumph to a believer. 
 Suffering seasons have, generally, been 
 sifting seasons, in which the Christian 
 has lost his chaflP, and the hypocrite his 
 
 "Wicked men stumble at every straw, 
 in the way to heaven, but they climb 
 over hills, in the way to destruction. 
 Hang heavy weights on rotten boughs 
 
28 A STRIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 and they will suddenly break. If sin- 
 ners take up religion, in a fair day, they 
 will eagerly, lay it down in a foul one. 
 The language of such is, " Lord, we are 
 willing to serve thee, but unwilling to 
 suffer for thee. We will go to sea, with 
 thee, but on condition, we have no 
 storms. We have no objection to enter 
 into the war, but upon this promise, 
 that we have no blows." Such would 
 fain be wafted to the port of felicity, in 
 such vessels as would not be tossed in 
 the sea of calamity. They think too 
 much of wearing a thorn, though it be 
 borrowed from Christ's crown. 
 
 A true Christian will lay down his 
 lusts, at the command of Christ, and his 
 life, for the cause of Christ. The more 
 a tree of righteousness is shaken by the 
 wind, the more it is rooted in the ground. 
 What, art thou a member of Christ, and 
 afraid to be a martyr for Christ? If 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 29 
 
 those be blessed, wlio die in Christ; 
 what must they be who die /or Christ. 
 
 "Should such a man as I flee?" 
 saith Nehemiah ; a man so much owned 
 and honored of God ! It is better to die 
 a conquerer in religion, than to live a 
 coward in reliofion. Those who are 
 
 o 
 
 willing to be combatants for God, shall 
 also, be more than conquerors through 
 God. None are so truly courageous; as 
 those who are truly religious. 
 
 If a righteous cause bring you into 
 sufferings, a righteous God will bring 
 you out of sufferings. A Christian is 
 as much indebted to his enemies, as to 
 friends. The malicious crucifixion of 
 Christ wrought out the glorious exalta- 
 tion of Christ. The worst that men can 
 do against believers, is the best that they 
 can do for believers. The worst they 
 can do to them, is to send them out of 
 
30 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 the eartli; and the best they can do /or 
 them is to send them into heaven. That 
 was a Christian expression, of one of the 
 martyrs to his persecutors ; — ''You take 
 a life from me, that I cannot keep, and 
 bestow a life upon me that I cannot 
 lose ; which is as if you should rob me 
 of counters, and furnish me with gold." 
 He that is assured of a life, that has no 
 end, need not care how soon this life 
 shall end. 
 
 "Seekest thou great things for thyself ? 
 seek them not." For saints to set their 
 hearts upon that, whereon beasts set 
 their feet, is as if a king should abdicate 
 his throne, to follow the plough ; or, as 
 if a man should desert a golden mine, 
 to dig in a pit of gravel. Where we 
 search ourselves it denotes that we are 
 virtuous; but when we seek ourselves it 
 denotes that we are covetous. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 31 
 
 There is a proverb, but none of Solo- 
 mon's ; — " Every man for himself, and 
 God for ns all." But where every man 
 is for himself the devil will have all. 
 Whosoever is a seeker of himself is not 
 found of God. Though he may find 
 himself in this life, he will lose himself 
 in death. 
 
 Though the eagle be the queen of 
 birds, as the lion is the king of beasts, 
 yet she was not offered up, in sacrifice, 
 because she lived upon the spoils of 
 others. Grace teaches a Christian not 
 only to act like a man to God, but also 
 like a God to man. 
 
 Our Lord Jesas Christ pleased not 
 himself, that thereby he might eternally 
 profit us. '' For ye know the grace of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ ; that though he 
 was rich, yet for our sakes, he became 
 poor; that ye through his poverty might 
 
32 
 
 become rich." A drop of his blood, is 
 worth more than a sea of ours ; and yet 
 he died our death that we might live his 
 life ; and suffered our hell, to bring us 
 to his heaven. He lay in the feeble 
 arms of his mother, that we might lie 
 in the tender bosom of his Father. His 
 love began in his eternal purpose of 
 grace, and ends in our eternal possession 
 of glory. 
 
 Every gracious spirit is public ; but 
 every public spirit is not gracious. God 
 may use the midwifery of the Egyptians 
 to bring forth the children of Israel. 
 An iron key may open a golden trea- 
 sury ; and leaden pipes convey pleasant 
 waters. Though earthly blessings may 
 be communicated to a spiritual man, yet 
 spiritual blessings will not be commu 
 nicated to a carnal man 
 
 Such was the public spirit of Moses, 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 33 
 
 that wTien tlie Lord proposed to him to 
 destroy Israel, and to make a great na- 
 tion of him, he became intercessor for 
 them ; yea, even when they were ready 
 to stone him. His affection as a ruler 
 was stronger, than his affection as a 
 father. Thus Joshua, his honorable 
 successor, so far imitated him that he 
 first divided Canaan, into several allot- 
 ments and portions, for the tribes of 
 Israel, before he made any provision for 
 his own family. Give me such carvers, 
 as lay not all the meat upon their own 
 dishes. 
 
 A religious man, in the company of 
 wicked men, is like a green branch, 
 among dry and burning brands; they can 
 sooner kindle him, than he can quench 
 them. 
 
34 A STRIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 SIN. 
 
 Above every evil, we sliould consider 
 iin as the greatest evil. Sin is the only 
 butt, at which all the arrows of divine 
 vengeance are shot. Sinners are those 
 spiders, which weave their own webs, 
 and are, afterwards, entangled in them. 
 Our own destruction is but the fruit of 
 our own trangression. 
 
 To see a saint and sinner maintain- 
 ing familiar intercourse with each other, 
 is to behold the living and the dead 
 keeping house together. The godly are 
 more frequently corrupted by the evil 
 deportment of the worldling, than the 
 worldling is refined by the chaste con- 
 versation of the godly. You may ob- 
 serve that in the oven, the fine bread 
 frequently hangs upon the coarse, but 
 the coarse very seldom adheres to the 
 fine. If you mix an equal proportion 
 
FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 35 
 
 of sour vinegar, and sweet wine to- 
 gether, you will find that the vinegar 
 will sooner sour the wine, than the wine 
 sweeten the vinegar. The Lord's peo- 
 ple, by keeping evil company, are like 
 persons, who are much exposed to the 
 sun, insensibly tanned. 
 
 The wicked prefer the greatest sins, 
 to the least suffering. This is to leap 
 out of the burning pan, into the con- 
 suming flame. By seeking to shun an 
 external calamity, they rush into eter- 
 nal misery. This is, as if a man should 
 lose his head, to preserve his hat; or, as 
 if the mariner should sink the. sailing 
 vessel, to avoid the rising storm. 
 
 Sin has every evil subjoined to it. 
 When man have no evil ivithia him, 
 he had no evil vpon him. He began to 
 be sorrowful when he began to be sin- 
 ful. When the soul shall be fully re- 
 
36 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 leased from the guilt of iniquity, the 
 body shall be wholly delivered from the 
 burden of infirmity. Sorrow shall never 
 be a visitant, where sin is not an inhabi- 
 tant. The former would be a foreigner, 
 if the latter was not a sojourner. 
 
 God is as far from beating his chil- 
 dren/or nothing, as he is from beating 
 them to nothing, A hole in the ship 
 will sink it to the bottom. A small 
 bite from a serpent, will affect the whole 
 body. If the root be killed, the branches 
 will soon be withered. If the spring be 
 diminished, there is no doubt, but the 
 streams will soon fail. Where the fuel 
 of corruption is removed, there the fire 
 of affliction is extinguished. 
 
 The water without the ship may toss 
 it, but it is the water within the ship, 
 which sinks it. 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 37 
 
 A certain person, on seeing a Chris- 
 tian woman go clieerfiilly to prison, 
 said to her, "Ah you have not yet 
 tasted of the bitterness of death." She 
 cheerfully answered, "N'o, nor ever 
 shall ; for Christ hath promised that 
 those who keep his sayings, shall never 
 see death." A believer may feel the 
 stroke of death, but he shall never feel 
 the sting of death. 
 
 LIBERALITY. 
 
 The rich man's superfluity was or- 
 dained, to relieve the poor man's neces- 
 sity. A lady on giving sixpence to a 
 beggar, accosted him thus; — "I have 
 now given you more than ever God 
 gave me." To whom he replied, " No 
 madam, God hath given you, all your 
 abundance." "That is your mistake," 
 said she, " for he hath but lent it to me, 
 that I might bestow it on such as you." 
 
38 A STRING OF PEAELS, 
 
 He is not a covetous man, avIio lays 
 up sometliing providentiallj^, but he is a 
 covetous man, wlio gives out notliing 
 willingly. He is as prudent a man who 
 sometimes distributes discreetly, as he 
 who accumulates hastily. Men, fre- 
 quently, discover more wisdom in laying 
 07//j than in laying ^ip. 
 
 Seneca, the heathen, inculcates a prin- 
 ciple worthy of the credence of every 
 christian: "I believe I truly enjoy no 
 more of the world's affluence than what 
 I willingly distribute to the necessitous." 
 
 Some observe that the most barren 
 grounds, are nearest to the richest mines. 
 It is too often true, in a spiritual sense, 
 that those whom God hath made the 
 most fruitful in estates, are most barren 
 in good works. It is too generally true, 
 that the rich spend their substance wan- 
 tonly, while the poor give theix alms 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 39 
 
 willingly. A penny comes with moj-e 
 difficulty out of a bag that is pressing 
 full, tlian a shilling out of a purse that 
 is half empty. Wherefore doth the 
 Lord make your cup run over, but that 
 other men's lips might taste the liquor ? 
 The showers that fall upon the highest 
 mountains should glide in the lowest 
 valleys. "Give, and it shall be given, 
 you," is a maxim little believed. 
 
 God, who might have made all men 
 wealthy, has made most men poor, that 
 the poor might have Christ for an ex- 
 ample of patience, and the rich for an 
 example of goodness. Cruelty is one 
 of the highest scandals to I3iety. God 
 looks, not so much on the merits of the 
 beggar, as upon the mercy of the giver. 
 
 It is reported of one of the dukes of 
 Savoy, that being asked by certain am- 
 bassadors at his court, what hounds he 
 
40 A STKING OF PEARLS, 
 
 kept, be conducted them into a large 
 room, where there were a number of 
 poor people sitting at table. " These," 
 said he, ''are all the hounds I have upon 
 earth, and with whom I am in pursuit 
 of the kingdom of heaven." It is counted 
 an honor to live like princes, but it is a 
 greater honor to give like princes. 
 
 I know no better way to preserve 
 your meal, than by parting with your 
 cake. Large springs should send forth 
 their waters without pumping. Your 
 benevolence should seek the poor, before 
 the poor seek your benevolence. " Put 
 on therefore, (as the elect of God,) bowels 
 of mercy." He that hath put off the 
 bowels of compassion, hath put off the 
 badge of election. Many can love at 
 their tongue's end, but the godly love 
 at their finger's ends. If a man be 
 naked, it is easy for the miser to bid him 
 to be clothed ; or if he be empty he can 
 
FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 41 
 
 easily bid liim be filled ; as if poor Chris- 
 tians, were like cliameleoHs, able to live 
 upon tlie air. Liberality does not con- 
 sist in good wishes, but in good works. 
 The doubtful are to be relieved by our 
 counsel, but the necessitous are to be 
 relieved by our morsels. '^ HosiDitality 
 is seed, and the husbandman does not 
 become wealthy by saving, but by sow- 
 ing of his seed." 
 
 HUMILITY. 
 
 Our first fall was by rising against 
 God, but our best rise, is by falling 
 down before him. The acknowledg- 
 ment of our own impotence is the only 
 stock upon which the Lord ingrafts 
 divine assistance. He is the most lovely 
 professor, who is the most lowly profes- 
 sor. As incense smells the sweetest, 
 when it is beaten smallest, so saints look 
 fairest, when they lie lowest. Arro- 
 
42 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 gance in the soul resembles the spleen 
 in the body, which grows most while 
 other parts are decaying. God will not 
 suffer such a weed to grow in his garden, 
 without taking some course to root it 
 up. A believer ""is like a vessel cast 
 into the sea, the more it fills, the more 
 it sinks. '^ Pride goeth before destruc- 
 tion, and a haughty spirit, before a fall." 
 The flowing river quickly turns to an 
 ebbing water. It is not all the world 
 that can pull an humble man down, be- 
 cause God will exalt him ; nor is it all 
 the world that can keep a proud man 
 up, because God will debase him. 
 
 The first Adam was for self-advance- 
 ment, but the second Adam is for self- 
 abasement ; the former was for having 
 self deified, the latter is for having self 
 crucified. 
 
 God resisteth the proud, but giveth 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 43 
 
 grace -unto the humble. Give me the 
 homely vessel of humility, which God 
 shall preserve and fill with the wine of 
 his grace, rather than the varnished cup 
 of pride, which he will dash in pieces 
 like a potter's vessel. Where humility 
 is the corner-stone, there glory shall be 
 the top-stone. 
 
 Though repentance be the act of man, 
 yet it is the gift of God ; it requires the 
 same power to melt the heart as to make 
 it. Though repentance be not a par- 
 don's obtainer, yet it is a pardon's fore- 
 runner. There is no coming to the fair 
 haven of glory, without sailing through 
 the narrow straits of repentance. Christ 
 Jesus rejoiceth over those as blessed, 
 who mourn over themselves as cursed. 
 " Blessed are they that mourn, for they 
 shall be comforted." Out of the saltest 
 water, God can brew the sweetest li- 
 quor. The skilful bee gathers the best 
 
44 A STEING 
 
 honey, from the bitterest herbs. When 
 the cloud has been dissolved into a 
 shower, there presently follows a glori- 
 ous sunshine. .The more a stone is 
 wounded by the hand of the engraver, 
 the greater beauty is superinduced there- 
 on. By groans unutterable, the Lord 
 ushers in, joys unspeakable. 
 
 There are two things in our sins, the 
 devilishness of them, and the dangerous- 
 ness of them, Now take a saint and a 
 sinner ; the first says, — " What have I 
 done?" the last says, — ^' What must I 
 suffer?" One morns for the active evil, 
 the other for the passive evil. The 
 former grieves because his soul is de- 
 filed; the latter because his soul is con- 
 demned. Water may gush from a rock, 
 when it is smitten with a rod, but all 
 such streams are lost, for they neither 
 quench the flames of hell, nor fill God's 
 bottles in heaven. 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 45 
 
 Sinful arrogance usually attends crea- 
 ture confidence. Worldly wealtbiness 
 is a quill to swell tlie bladder of liigh- 
 mindedness; for when men's estates 
 are lifted up, it is but too common for 
 men's hearts to be puffed up. Ah ! liow 
 fond is thin dust of thick clay. Pride 
 breeds in o-reat estates, as worms do in 
 in sweet fruits. 
 
 Remember Christian, if you be poor 
 in world, you should be rich in faith ; 
 and if you be rich in this world, you 
 should be poor in spirit. The way 
 to ascend is to descend; the deeper a 
 tree roots, the wider do its branches 
 spread. The sun of prosperity shines 
 the clearest in the sphere of humility. 
 The true nobility of the mind consists 
 in the humbleness of the mind. Con- 
 sider that as none have so little, but 
 they have great cause to bless God, so 
 
46 A STRING OF TEARLS, 
 
 none have so mucTi, as to have the least 
 cause to boast before God. 
 
 Shall the theatrical vagrant be proud 
 of his borrowed robes^ or the mud wall 
 swell because the beams of a beautiful 
 sun shine upon it ? Gold in your bags, 
 may make you great, but it is grace in 
 your hearts, which makes you good. 
 Goodness without greatness, shall be 
 esteemed, when greatness without good- 
 ness, shall be confounded. Proud sin- 
 ners are the fittest companions for proud 
 devils. The more prosperity man en- 
 joys, the more humility God enjoiDs. 
 Nature teaches us that those trees bend 
 the most freely, which bear the most 
 fully. As a proud heart loves none 
 but itself, so it is beloved by none but 
 itself. 
 
 It is a difficult matter to be grand in 
 the estimation of others, and base in our 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 47 
 
 own. The face of no mere man ever 
 shone so illustriously, as that of the an- 
 cient Jewish lawgiver's, and, yet it is 
 affirmed that no man's heart was ever 
 so meek ; but most men resemble chame- 
 leons, which no sooner take in the air, 
 than they begin to swell. 
 
 Under the Levitical law, the lamb 
 and dove were offered in sacrifice, when 
 the lion and the eagle were rejected. 
 
 A proud person thinks every thing 
 too much, that is done hy him, and 
 every thing too little, that is done for 
 him. God is as far from pleasing him 
 with his gifts, as he is from pleasing- 
 God with his works. I will not say a 
 good man is never proud, but I will 
 say, a proud man is never good. 
 
 HYPOCRISY 
 
 A hyprocrite may be both the fairest 
 and the foulest creature in the world ; 
 
48 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 he may be fairest, outwardly, in the 
 sight of men, and foulest, inwardly, in 
 the sight of God. The dial of our faces, 
 does not infallibly show the time of day 
 in our hearts. Unclean spirits may in- 
 habit the chamber, when they look not 
 out of the window. Hypocrites resemble 
 looking-glasses, Avhich present the faces, 
 that are not in them. None are so 
 black in the eyes of the Deity, as those 
 who paint for spiritual beauty. 
 
 Some persons are better in show than 
 in substance, but not so with true Chris- 
 tians ; they are not like painted tombs 
 which enclose decayed bones. " The 
 king's daughter is all glorious within." 
 She is all glorious within, though with- 
 in is not all her glory. 
 
 A false friend is worse than an open 
 enemy. A painted harlot is less dan- 
 gerous, than a painted hypocrite. A 
 treacherous Judas, is more abhorred of 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 49 
 
 (rod than a bloody Pilate. The blazing 
 lamps of foolish virgins may light them 
 to the bridegroom's gate, but not into his 
 chamber. Either get the nature of 
 Christ within you^ or take not the 
 honours of Christians upon you. 
 
 FOKGIVENE SS. 
 
 " Let not the sun go down upon your 
 wrath, neither give place to the devil." 
 He that carries passions to bed with 
 him, will find the devil creep between 
 the sheets; and why should we give 
 place to him, who crowds in, so fast 
 himself. 
 
 How many are there, who profess to 
 forgive, but cannot forget an injury ! 
 Such are like persons who sweep the 
 chamber, but leave the dust behind the 
 door. Whenever we grant our offend- 
 ing brethren a discharge, our hearts 
 
 4 
 
60 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 also should set their hands to the ac- 
 quittance. We should not only break 
 the teeth of malice by forgiveness, but 
 pluck out its sting by forgetfulness. 
 To store our memories with a sense of 
 injuries, is to fill that chest with rusty 
 iron, which was made for refined gold. 
 
 To do evil for good, is human cor- 
 ruption; to do good for good, is civil 
 retribution ; but to do good for evil, is 
 Christian perfection. Though this be 
 not the grace of nature, yet it is the na- 
 ture of grace. 
 
 REPROOF. 
 
 There is much discretion to be ob- 
 served in reprehension ; a word will do 
 more with some, than a blow with others. 
 A Venice glass is not to be rubbed so 
 hard as a brazen kettle. Dashing 
 storms do but destroy the seed, while 
 gentle showers nourish it. In repre- 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 51 
 
 hension we should always beware of 
 carrying our teeth in our tongues, and 
 of biting while we are speaking. We 
 should do with others' sins as we do 
 with our own sores; which if a gentle 
 scar will produce a sufficient discharge, 
 we avoid cutlery and slashing. If 
 ravenous birds can be frayed away by 
 a look, we need not expend powder and 
 shot. 
 
 Flatterers may be termed the devil's 
 upholsterers, who no sooner see men 
 troubled at their lusts, than they are for 
 laying pillows under their elbows ; but 
 let such know, that their want of the 
 fire of zeal, will be punished with the 
 fire of hell. 
 
 DUTIES. 
 
 When the purest duties have been 
 performed, the purest mercies should 
 
52 A STEIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 be implored. Many have passed tlie 
 rocks of gross sins, wlio have suficred 
 shipwreck upon the sands of self-righte- 
 ousness. Some people live more upon 
 their customs, than they do upon Christ; 
 more upon the prayers they make to 
 God, than upon the God to whom they 
 make their prayers. This is for the 
 redeemed captive to reverence the sword 
 instead of the hand, which wrought his 
 rescue. 
 
 Duties are like dry pits, though never 
 so curiously wrought, till Christ fill 
 them. If you be found in your own 
 righteousness, you will be lost by your 
 own righteousness. The garment, which 
 was worn to shreds on AdamrCs hack 
 loill never make a complete covering for 
 mine. 
 
 Duties may be good crutches to go 
 upon, but they are bad Christ s to lean 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 53 
 
 upon. It is tlie greatest disparagement 
 that Christians can offer to Christ to 
 put their services in equipage with his 
 sufferings. The beggarly rags of the 
 first Adam must never be put on with 
 the princely robe of the second Adam. 
 
 To undertake every duty, and yet to 
 overlook every duty^ is a lesson none 
 can learn but Christ's scholars. Our 
 obedience at best, is like good wine 
 which relishes of a bad cask. The law 
 of God will not take ninety-nine for a 
 hundred. It will not accept the coin of 
 our obedience, either short in quantity, 
 or bas3 in quality. The duty it exacts 
 is as impossible to be performed in this, 
 our fallen state, as the penalty it in- 
 flicts, is intolerable to be endured in 
 our eternal state. 
 
 "We do not sail to glory in the salt 
 sea of our own tears, but in the red sea 
 
54 A STRING OF PEAELS, 
 
 of a Redeemer's blood. The cross of 
 Christ is the key of Paradise. We owe 
 the life of our souls, to the death of our 
 Saviour. It was his going into the fur- 
 nace, which keeps us from the flames. 
 Man lives by death ; his natural life 
 is preserved, by the death of the crea- 
 ture, his spiritual life by the death of 
 the Redeemer. 
 
 As God has none the less, for the 
 mercy he gives, so he has none the 
 more, for the duty he receives. Man is 
 such a debtor to God that he can never 
 pay his due to God ; yea, the more we 
 pay him, the more we owe him, for our 
 payments. It is Christ only, who is the 
 righteousness of God to man, and man 
 to God. We are so far from paying the 
 utmost farthing, that at the utmost we 
 have not a farthing to pay. That man 
 will be a miserable spectacle of vanity, 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 55 
 
 who stands upon the lame feet of his 
 own ability. 
 
 As many do the things which God 
 dislikes, so they dislike the things which 
 God does. If the children of Israel ob- 
 tain no meat for their lusts, then they 
 are weary of their lives. They are de- 
 lighted with thei^ burning corruptions, 
 but are enraged with their trying con- 
 ditions ; which is nothing less than to 
 be in love with their malady, and out 
 of love with their remedy. They studied 
 more how to gratify their humours, than 
 to satisfy their hunger. They com- 
 plained of the shoe, but the disease lay 
 in the foot. 
 
 It is hard to carry a full cup without 
 shedding, or to stand under a heavy load 
 without bowing. It is dif&cult to walk 
 in the clear day of prosperity without 
 wandering, or in the dark night of ad- 
 
56 A STEING OF PEARLS, 
 
 versity, Avithout stumbling; but, from 
 whatsoever point the wind blows, the 
 skilful mariner knows how to meet it 
 with his sails. 
 
 PROSPERITY. 
 
 Outward prosperity cannot create in- 
 ward tranquillity. Hearts-ease is a 
 flower that never grew in the world's 
 garden. The ground of a wicked man's 
 trouble is not because he has not enough 
 of the creature, but because he cannot 
 find enough in the creature. Some are 
 satisfied under the hand of God, because 
 they are not sensible of the hand of 
 God. They never fret^ because they 
 never /ee?. 
 
 Believers should be like sheep, which 
 change their pastures at the will of the 
 shepherd; or like vessels in a house, 
 which stand to be filled or emptied, at 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 57 
 
 the pleasure of tlie owner. He that 
 sails upon the sea of this world, on his 
 own bottom, will sink at last into a bot- 
 tomless ocean. Never were any their 
 own carvers, but they were sure to cut 
 their own fingers. 
 
 A covetous man is fretful, because he 
 has not so much as he desires, — but a 
 gracious man is thankful, because he has 
 more than he deserves. It is true, I 
 have not the sauce, but then I merit not 
 the meat. I have not the lace^ but then 
 I deserve not the coat. I want that 
 which may support my dignity, but I 
 have that which supplies my necessity. 
 
 There is no gathering a rose without 
 a thorn, till we come to Immanuel's 
 land. If there was nothing but showers, 
 we should conclude the world would be 
 drowned ; if nothing but sunshine, we 
 should fear the earth would be burned. 
 
58 A STKING OF PEAELS, 
 
 Our worldly comforts would be a sea to 
 drown us, if our crosses were not a 
 plank to save us. 
 
 CONTENTMENT. 
 
 A contented heart is an even sea in 
 the midst of all storms. It is like a 
 tree in autumn, which secures its life 
 when it has lost its leaves. Content- 
 ment is the best food to preserve a sound 
 man, and the best medicine to restore a 
 sick man. He is not a poor man that 
 hath but little, but he is a poor man 
 that wants much. In this sense, the 
 poorest are often the richest, and the 
 richest the poorest. Though every 
 godly man may not always be contented, 
 yet every truly contented man is godly. 
 
 As Seneca said to Polybius; — "Never 
 complain of thy hard fortune, so long as 
 Caesar is thy friend," so say I to thee. 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 59 
 
 " Never complain of thy hard fortune, 
 Christian, so long as Jesus is thy friend. 
 Let your condition be never so flour- 
 ishing, it is a hell without him ; let it 
 be never so fluctuating, it is a heaven 
 with him. Can that man want any 
 thing who enjoys Christ ? or can he be 
 said to enjoy any thing who is without 
 Christ? AYhy should Hagar lament 
 the loss of the water in her bottle, while 
 there is a well so near?" 
 
 SELF-KKOWLEDGE. 
 
 " Censorious men commonly take up 
 magnifying glasses to look at other peo- 
 ple's imperfections, and diminishing 
 glasses to look at their own enormities." 
 " They are fittest to find fault, in whom 
 there is no fault to be found. There is 
 no removing blots from the paper, by 
 laying upon them a blurred finger. 
 " Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam 
 
60 A STRI^^G OF PEARLS, 
 
 out of thine own eye, and then -shalt 
 thou see clearly to cast out the mote out 
 of thy brother's eye." Eeader, what do 
 you get by throwing stones at your 
 enemies' windows, while your own chil- 
 dren look out at the casements ? He 
 that blows into a heap of dust, is in 
 danger of putting out his own eyes. 
 
 Reader, are there not the same lusts 
 lodging in your heart, that are reigning 
 in other men's lives ? The reason why 
 there is so little self-condemnation, is 
 because there is so little self-examina- 
 tion. For want of this, many persons 
 are like travellers, skilled in other coun- 
 tries, but ignorant of their own. As it 
 is an evidence, that those tradesmen are 
 embarrassed in their estates, who are 
 afraid to look into their books, so it is 
 plain that there is something wrong 
 within, among all those who are afraid 
 to look within. The trial of ourselves, 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 61 
 
 is the ready road to the knowledge of 
 ourselves. He that buys a jewel in a 
 case, deserves to be cozened with a 
 Bristol stone." 
 
 Eeader^ wliy will you search another 
 man's wound, while your own is bleed- 
 ing ? Take heed that your own vesture 
 be not full of dust, when you are brush- 
 ing your neighbours. Complain not of 
 dirty streets, when heaps lie at your 
 own doors. Many peoj)le are no longer 
 well, than while they are holding their 
 fingers, upon another person's sores ; 
 such are no better in their conduct, than 
 crows which prey only upon carrion. 
 " But let every man prove his own work 
 and then he shall have rejoicing in 
 himself alone, and not in another." For 
 want of self-examination, men have their 
 accounts to cast tip, when they should 
 have them to deliver up. They have 
 their evidences of grace to seek, when 
 
62 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 they should have them to show. They 
 lie down, with such hopes, in their beds 
 of rest, with which they dare not lie 
 down in their beds of dust. If you 
 must needs be a judge, then pray sit 
 upon your own bench. I shall ever 
 esteem such to be but religious lepers, 
 who care not for Scripture looking 
 glasses. Self-examination is the beaten 
 path to perfection ; it is like fire, which 
 not only trie^ the gold, but^9//r?^es it 
 also. The sight of yourself in grace, 
 will bring you to the sight of God in 
 glory. The plague of the body is not 
 every man's plague, but the plague of 
 the soul is. 
 
 YOUTHFTTL PIETY. 
 
 In the distillation of strong waters, 
 the first drawn is fullest of spirits. ' ' The 
 first, of the first fruits of thy land thou 
 shalt bring into the house of the Lord 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 63 
 
 thy God." God prizes a Christian in 
 the bud, and delights in the blossoms of 
 youth, above the sheddings of old age. 
 Naturalists inform us that the most 
 orient pearls are generated of the morn- 
 ino: dew. 
 
 To discover grace in an old sinner is 
 well, but to view it in vigorous youth, 
 is better. All the beasts of sacrifice 
 were offered to God in their prime. 
 Jesus was carried in triumph upon a 
 colt, the foal of an ass. When the 
 snow drops of youth appear in the gar- 
 den of the church, it evinces that there 
 is a glorious summer approaching. 
 
 If youth be sich of the ivill-nots^ old 
 age is in danger of dying of the shall- 
 nots. It is hard to cast off the devil's 
 yoke, when we have worn it long upon 
 our necks. " Can a man be born again 
 when he is old ?" Grace seldom grafts 
 
64 A STKIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 upon siicli withered stocks. An old 
 sinner is nearer to tlie second death, 
 than he is to the second birth. If God's 
 to-day be too soon for thy repentance, 
 thy to-morrow may be too late for his 
 acceptance. Mercy's clock does not al- 
 ways strike at our back. 
 
 PERSEVERANCE. 
 
 I am Alpha and Omega, the begin- 
 ning and the ending ; the first and the 
 last. He that is the first and the last, 
 should be served, from the first to the 
 last. For what is setting out, without 
 holding out. Mutability is, at best, but 
 the badge of infirmity. God hath a 
 crown for the runner, but a curse for the 
 runaway. God accounts not himself 
 served at all, if he be not always served. 
 
 The devil would soon put out our can- 
 dles, if Christ did not carry them in his 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 65 
 
 lantern. ''Be not weary in well doing, 
 for in due time, we sliall reap, if we 
 faint not." To see a ship sink in tlie 
 liarbour of profession, is more grievous, 
 than if it had perished in the open sea 
 of profaneness. 
 
 Some have beat Jehu's march ; they 
 have driven furiously in religion, but 
 within a few years they have knocked 
 off their chariot wheels. After they 
 have lifted up their hands to God, they 
 have lifted up their heels against him. 
 That man's beginning was in hypocrisy, 
 whose ending is in apostasy. Eeader, 
 you look for happiness, so long as God 
 hath a being in heaven ; and God looks 
 for holiness so long as you have a being 
 on earth. He that draius hack from his 
 ])rofession in earth, shall be kept hack 
 from his possession in heaven. 
 
 When once that fire which is laid on 
 
 6 
 
QQ A STEING OF PEARLS, 
 
 God's altar is kindled, it shall no more 
 be quenched. Grace may be shaken in 
 the soul, but it cannot be shaken out of 
 the soul. It may be a bruised reed, 
 but it shall never be a broken reed. 
 
 Jesus Christ is never a father to abor- 
 tive children. Where he gives strength 
 to conceive, he gives strength to bring 
 forth. He turns the bruised reed into 
 a brazen pillar, and the smoking flax 
 into a prevailing flame. 
 
 The enemies of the church may toss 
 her as waves ; but they shall not split 
 her as rocks. She may be dipped in 
 water as a feather ; but shall not sink 
 therein as lead. He that is a well of 
 water within her, to keep her from 
 fainting, will, also, prove a wall of lire 
 about her, to preserve her from falling. 
 Tried she may be, but destroyed she can- 
 not be. Her foundation is the rock of 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 67 
 
 ages, and lier defence the everlasting 
 arms. 
 
 It is dangerous to smite tliose with 
 our tongues, whom God has smitten with, 
 his hand. His right to correct is not 
 ours. 
 
 THE christian's PRESENT 
 POSSESSION AND FUTURE 
 EXPECTATION. 
 
 Some say that a bird in the hand, is 
 worth two in the bush ; but surely such 
 a bird in the bush, is worth two in the 
 hand. If others dote upon the streams^ 
 let us admire the fountain. 
 
 When the Gauls had tasted the wino 
 of Italy, they asked where the grapes 
 grew ; and would not be satisfied till 
 they came there. Thus may you cry^ 
 ''Ah that I had the wings of a dove, 
 that I might fly away and be at rest.'' 
 
68 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 A believer is willing to lose the luorld, 
 for the enjoyment of grace; and \iq is 
 willing to leave the world for the frui- 
 tion of glory. 
 
 That which makes hell so full of hor- 
 ror, is that it is below all hopes ; that 
 which makes heaven so full of splendour, 
 is that it is above all fears. The one is 
 a night without the return of day, the 
 other is a day free from the approach 
 of nipcht. 
 
 If there be so much delight in heliev- 
 ing, ah, how much more is there in be- 
 holding! What is wooing day to the 
 wedding day! What is the sealing of 
 the conveyance, to the enjoyment of the 
 inheritance, or the foretastes of glory to 
 the fulfilment of glory! The good 
 things of that life, are so great as not to 
 be measured ; so many as not to be enu- 
 merated ; and so precious as not to be 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 69 
 
 estimated. If the picture of holiness be 
 so comely in its rough drcfft, how lovely 
 a piece will it be in all its perfections. 
 Every grace, which is here seen in its 
 minority, shall be seen there in its ma- 
 turity. 
 
 god's cognizance of men. 
 
 A man may hide God from himself, 
 and yet he cannot hide himself from 
 God. When a man wishes God to be 
 like himself, it argues that he is vicious ; 
 but when he desires to be like God, it 
 indicates that he is virtuous. 
 
 "We cannot always see God's will in 
 his works, but he can always discover 
 our works in our will. To him, the 
 most hidden roots are as visible as the 
 uppermost branches. Though the place 
 where we sin, be to men as dark as 
 Egypt, yet to God it is as light as Goshen. 
 
70 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 The Lord sees faults, where men see 
 none. Atoms which are invisible in the 
 candle light of reason, are all made to 
 dance naked, in the sunshine of om- 
 niscience. Cato was so grave and so 
 good a man, that none would behave 
 unseemly in his presence; whence it 
 grew to be a proverbial caveat; — "Take 
 heed what you do, for Cato sees you." 
 How reproachful is it to us, that the 
 eyes of a man should have more effect 
 upon our manners, than the penetrating 
 eyes of God. 
 
 God hath a glazed window in the 
 darkest houses of clay ; He sees what is 
 done in them when none other can. To 
 God's omnipotence there is nothing im- 
 possible ; and to God's omniscience there 
 is nothino^ invisible. 
 
 Because sin hath put out out eyes, we 
 vainly imagine that it hath put out 
 
FEOM AN" OLD CASKET. 71 
 
 God's. Because we beliolcl not what lie 
 does in lieaven for us, we think that he 
 sees not, what we do on earth against 
 him. 
 
 Thus the rich man dealt with his 
 steward ; " Give an account of thy 
 stewardship, for thou mayest be no 
 longer steward." Man's enjoyment of 
 outward blessings, is not a lordship, but a 
 stewardship. God communicates those 
 good things of life to men, not that they 
 should lay them up for their own vanity, 
 but that they should lay them out for 
 his glory. 
 
 This is the day of GocVs long suffer- 
 ings ; but the judgment day, will be the 
 day of the sinner'' s long-suffering. Here 
 the cords of patience do, as it were, tie 
 the hands of vengeance ; but our Samson 
 may at last be roused, and break all 
 these cords, and then woe be to all the 
 
72 
 
 Philistines. Sinners nicay have sparing 
 patience exercised toward them, and 
 yet not have converting grace revealed 
 in them. 
 
 In the awful storm of death, if out 
 vessel be wrecked there will be no plank 
 to swim to shore upon. All they who 
 refuse and reject Christ as a refining 
 fire, must be obliged to meet and feel 
 him as a consuming fire. How can they 
 endure the wrath of the Lamb, who have 
 uniformly disregarded the death of the 
 Lamb ? If the night of death find them 
 graceless^ the day of judgment will find 
 them speechless. 
 
 By the words thou shalt be justified, 
 and by thy words thou shalt be con- 
 demned." Though the arrows of idle 
 words may be shot out of sight for a 
 season, yet they will certainly hereafter 
 fall down upon the heads of those who 
 
FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 73 
 
 discliar2:ed tliem, "Out of the same 
 moutli proceedetli blessing and cursing." 
 Than a good tongue there is nothing 
 better ; than an evil tongue there is 
 nothing worse. Jesus Christ will in 
 the great day, pass sentence upon every 
 sentence that has passed. There is in 
 the same rose honey for the bee, and 
 poison for the spider. 
 
 The same person who shall say " Come 
 ye blessed," will also say^ ''Gro ye 
 cursed." As blessing and cursing pro- 
 ceed out of the mouth of the same man, 
 so they will out of the mouth of Christ. 
 Man's is a curse of wicked execration, 
 Christ's is a curse of righteous execu- 
 tion. As the same wind may send one 
 vessel into the haven, and sink another 
 in the ocean, so shall the same voice of 
 Christ doom the sinner to eternal death, 
 and welcome the saint to eternal life. 
 That gate which is opened for a citizen 
 
74 A STRING OF PEABLS, 
 
 to go abroad for recreation, may also be 
 opened for a malefactor to go out to 
 execution. 
 
 On the stage of eternity the rich 
 man's bags will be emptied to see how 
 the poor man's box has been filled. 
 Then the charge of the pilgrim's journey 
 will be examined in the steward's ac- 
 counts. There will not be a sinner in 
 heaven to interrupt the joys of saints, 
 nor a saint in hell to soften or soothe 
 the anguish of sinners. Those who have 
 the ear-mark of election, and those who 
 have the hand-mark of transgression 
 shall be put into separate folds. The 
 black hand must then part with its white 
 glove. That solemn day will be too 
 critical for the hypocritical. All those 
 who now colour for show, will then be 
 shown in their own colours. 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 75 
 
 HEART-S ERVICE. 
 
 The God of lieaven and earth sues 
 from heaven to earth. He who is all in 
 all, to ns, calls for that which is all in 
 all, in us. We may commit onr estates 
 into the hands of men, but we must not 
 commit our hearts into the hands of any 
 but God. There are none of our spirits 
 so good but he deserves them, or so bad 
 but he can refine them. 
 
 Ah, how unwilling is man to give, 
 what he has no right to keep! As God 
 prefers the heart to every thing, such is 
 the wickedness of man that he will give 
 God any thing but the heart. He that 
 regards the heart without any thing, he 
 also will not regard any thing without 
 the heart. 
 
 Ymn thoughts defile the heart as well 
 as vih thoughts. Snails leave their 
 
76 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 slime behind them as well as serpents. 
 If the leprosy take hold of a single 
 thread, it will soon spread over the 
 whole piece. Though sinful thoughts 
 will rise, yet they should not reign. 
 Though these birds may hover over the 
 Christian's heart, yet he cannot wish 
 them to build their nests in it. 
 
 A heart that is sanctified, is better 
 than a tongue that is silvered. He that 
 gives only the skin of worship to God, 
 receives only the shell of comfort from 
 God. If God's mercies do not eat out 
 the heart of our sins, our sins will soon 
 eat out the heart of our duties. A work 
 that is heartless, is a work that is fruit- 
 less. God cares not for the crazy cabinet, 
 but for the precious jewel. 
 
 It is said of Hannibal, the great Car- 
 thaginian commander, that he was the 
 first that went into the field of battle, 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 77 
 
 and the last who came out of it. Thus 
 should it be in all the operations of a 
 Christian ; the heart should be the first 
 that comes into the house of God^ and 
 the last that goes out of it. 
 
 It is observed of the spider, that in 
 the morning before she seeks her prey, 
 she mends her broken web, and in doing 
 this, she always begins in the middle. 
 And shall those who call themselves 
 Christians, rise and pursue the callings 
 and profits of the world, and yet be un- 
 concerned about the broken webs of 
 their lives, and especially of their hearts. 
 
 Those who would have the rocks run 
 with wholesome water, should look well 
 to the springs that supply them. The 
 heart is the presence chamber, where 
 the King of glory takes up his residence. 
 That which is the most worthy in us, 
 
78 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 should be resigned to him who is most 
 worthy of us. 
 
 It is said of the Lacedemonians, who 
 were a poor and homely people, that 
 they offered lean sacrifices to their gods, 
 and that the Athenians, who were a 
 wise and wealthy people, offered fat and 
 costly sacrifices, and yet in their wars, 
 the former had always the mastery of 
 the latter. Whereupon they went to 
 the oracle, to know the reason, why 
 those should speed worst, who gave 
 most. The oracle returned this answer 
 to them ; — " That the Lacedaemonians 
 were a people who gave their hearts to 
 their gods ; but that the Athenians only 
 gave their gifts to their gods. Thus a 
 heart without a gift, is better than a gift 
 without a heart." 
 
FBOM AN OLD CASKET. 79 
 
 THE FKUIT OF SIN. 
 
 Satan's apples may have a fair skin, 
 yet they certainly have a bitter core. 
 
 Sinner, that which is now like a rose 
 flourishing in your bosom, will in ^ very 
 little time be like a poisoned dagger at 
 your breast. Poor soul, beware of those 
 embraces which are but signals of de- 
 struction. While such a Judas kisses, 
 he kills. While the ivy twines round 
 the oak it eats out its sap. 
 
 A saint cannot sin so as to destroy 
 his grace, but he may so sin as to dis- 
 turb his peace. The spider cannot de- 
 stroy the bee-hive, but it may get in and 
 spoil the honey. 
 
 The pleasures of sin are but for a sea- 
 son, but the torments of unpardoned sin, 
 are of an eternal duration. Our first 
 
80 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 parents soon ate of the forbidden fruit, 
 but the world to this day feels that it is 
 not freed from the miserable consequence 
 of that sudden banquet. 
 
 Death will tarn all the waters of 
 pleasure into blood. The serpent of sen- 
 sual delight always carries a deadly 
 stino' in his tail. 
 
 There are many who vainly suppose 
 that the fountain of their sin is quite 
 dried up, when alas, the streams are 
 only turned into another channel. A 
 hand taken off from sinful practices, 
 without a heart taken off from sinful 
 principles, is only like a field, which 
 having, for a time, lain fallow, after- 
 wards springs up with greater increase. 
 Or it is like a stream which having been 
 damned for a while, at last runs with 
 greater violence, when the sluices are 
 opened. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 81 
 
 CREATURE VANITY. 
 
 He that knocks at the creature's door 
 for supplies, will find an empty house 
 kept there. "All the rivers run into 
 the sea, yet the sea is not full." Though 
 all the rising streams of worldly profit 
 may run into the hearts of men, yet 
 they cannot fill up the hearts of men. 
 Were it possible for the eye to see all 
 that is to be seen, yet it would not be 
 satisfied with seeing. If there be not 
 enough in the world to satisfy the senses 
 of men, how should there be enough in 
 it to satisfy the souls of men. " Those 
 who now rejoice in the world will, be- 
 fore it be long have no world wherein 
 to rejoice." Arise ye and depart, for 
 this is not your rest, because it is pol- 
 luted ; it shall destroy you even with a 
 sore destruction. 
 
 Hearts-ease is a flower that grows not 
 in the world's garden. The faster you 
 
82 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 grasp the world in your hands the sooner 
 it slides between your fingers. 
 
 Every thing below is too base for the. 
 soul's nobility, and too brittle for the 
 soul's stability. Who would set that 
 vessel under the droppings of a cistern, 
 which is able to contain all the waters 
 of the ocean ! 
 
 The world is too frequently got with 
 anxious cares, kept with alarming fears, 
 and lost with rending groans. We see 
 the outside of the great estate, but not 
 the inside of it. We behold the field 
 of corn, but not the tares that are mixed 
 with it. We . do not always see the 
 worldling's cloud and dark nights, 
 but his clear day and sunshine. The 
 riches, honours, and pleasures of the 
 world, are like spreading but poisonous 
 trees, and the deviJ shows us the fair 
 leaves, and offers us the pleasant fruits, 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 83 
 
 but conceals from us their deadly na- 
 ture. 
 
 By how much higher the morning 
 larks are in their flight, by so much the 
 sweeter are their notes. The higher a 
 Christian is raised above the things of 
 the earth, the more he is ravished with 
 the joys of heaven. The least portion 
 of grace is preferable to a mountain of 
 gold. One ray of mercy is better than 
 a sun of pleasure. One whisper of love 
 from Christ's voice, is worth more than 
 all the symphony of nature. Give me 
 that friend who lives for ever, and that 
 wealth which lasts for ever. May I 
 make choice of those blessings which 
 come freely, satisfy fully, and continue 
 eternally. 
 
 The world is big in our hopes, but 
 little in our hands. It is like Sodom's 
 apples, beautiful to the eye at a distance, 
 
84 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 but when they are touclied, tliej crum- 
 ble into aslies. Pleasures are but a 
 shield of melting wax against a sword 
 of power ; they can no more keep an 
 evil conscience from tormenting, than a 
 velvet sleeve can keep a broken arm 
 from aching. 
 
 GOOD WORKS. 
 
 Good works may be our Jacob's staff 
 to walk with on earth, yet they cannot 
 be our Jacob's ladder to climb to heaven 
 with. To lay the salve of our services 
 upon the wound of our sins, is as if a 
 man who is stung by a wasp, should 
 wipe his face with a nettle, or as if a 
 person should busy himself in support- 
 ing a tottering fabric with a burning 
 fire band. In proof of sanctification, 
 good works cannot be sufficiently mag- 
 nified ; but in point of justification, good 
 works cannot be sufficiently nullified. 
 
FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 8o 
 
 The lamp of duty can only sliine clearly 
 as it is trimmed with the oil of mercy. 
 
 It was not the tempered clay that 
 cured the blind man, but Christ's anoint- 
 ing his eyes therewith. That was more 
 likely without him to make a seeing 
 man blind, than a blind man see. Thus 
 though we may receive our s^Diritual 
 sight in the ordinances, yet it is not the 
 ordinances which give the sight. '^It 
 was not the troubling of the pool in 
 Bethesda that made it healing, but the 
 coming down of the angel into it. That 
 man must famish at last, who always 
 feeds upon the dish instead of the meat." 
 
 *' Blessed are they who do his com- 
 mandments, that they may have right 
 to the tree of life." To look upon a 
 promise without a precept, is the high 
 road to presumption; to look upon a 
 precept without a promise, is the high 
 
86 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 road to desperation. One is like the 
 cork in the net to preserve it from sink- 
 ing, and the other is like lead in the net 
 to keep it from floating. 
 
 " Israel is an empty vine, he brings 
 forth fruit unto himself" Empty and 
 yet fruitful; fruitful and yet empty. 
 Thus that fertility which springs up, 
 from the bitter roots of self, has nothing 
 but vanity in the sight of God. 
 
 That tradesman is poor and needy, 
 who must have ready money for all he 
 sells. In all the good a carnal man 
 doth for God, he seeks himself more than 
 God. The clock of his heart will stand 
 still, unless its wheels of profit be oiled. 
 
 Worldlings instead of looking upon 
 godliness as their greatest gain, will look 
 upon gain, as their greatest godliness. 
 They love religion, not for the beauty 
 
FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 87 
 
 existing in it, but for the dowry annexed 
 to it. Thej are like tlie fox, who fol- 
 lows the lion, for the prey that is falling 
 from him. If there be no honey in the 
 pot, such wasps will hover no longer 
 about it. 
 
 The less emphasis you lay upon your 
 own works, the more will God lay upon 
 them. Those who are most righteous 
 in themselves, are least righteous to 
 God. God has three sorts of servants 
 in the world ; some are slaves and serve 
 him from a principle of fear ; others are 
 hirelings, and serve him for the sake of 
 wages ; and the last are sons, and serve 
 him under the influence of love. Now 
 a hireling will be a changeling He 
 that will not serve God, except some- 
 thing be given him, would serve the 
 devil, if he would give him more. Any 
 one shall have his works, if he will but 
 augment his wages. 
 
88 A STEING OF PEA ELS, 
 
 "Dotli Job; serve God for nauglit?" 
 Yes, for Job served God wlien he had 
 naught. He was as religious in his 
 poverty, as in his plenty. In this sense, 
 that man, who will not serve God for 
 nothing, he is nothing in his services. 
 
 "Whenever Christ takes the burden 
 of guilt from a sinner's shoulders, he 
 then lays a yoke of obedience upon his 
 neck. That soul was never related to 
 Christ, who was never devoted to Christ. 
 
 God works with, and without means; 
 with, that man should not be indolent, 
 and without, that he should not be self- 
 confident. Jacob makes his prayers to an 
 heavenly Father, and yet presents his 
 gifts to an angry brother. David went 
 out against Goliah in the name of the 
 God of Israel, and yet repaired to the 
 brook for his smooth stones. The 
 sword of Joshua must go with the 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 89 
 
 prayers of Moses, and the prayers of 
 Moses accompany tlie sword of Joshua. 
 Had they fought and not prayed, tbey 
 would have obtained no victory, because 
 God will not be neglected; had they 
 prayed and not fought, they would have 
 obtained no victory, because he will not 
 be tempted. 
 
 Wheresoever the death of Christ clears 
 a soul from guilt, the spirit of Christ 
 cleanses that soul from filth. A man 
 may be justified without immediate 
 glorification, but not without concomi- 
 tant sanctification. The law by which 
 God rules us is as dear to him as the 
 gospel by which he saves us. Many 
 would use faith as an eye to see with, 
 but not as a foot to walk with. They 
 look for a crown of victory, but are un- 
 willing to fight the good fight of faith. 
 That faith which sets men to oppose 
 their internal enemies, sets God also 
 
90 A STKING OF PEARLS, 
 
 to oppose tlieir external adversaries. 
 Prayer is the midwife of the promises. 
 The promises are wells of comfort to the 
 church, and believing prayer is the ves- 
 sel to draw the water out of the wells. 
 
 SllSr WHEN HATEFUL NOT 
 HURTFUL. 
 
 In playing over a tune on an instru- 
 ment, a single string may jar and slip, 
 and yet the main be musical. It would 
 be folly indeed to think our fields had 
 no corn in them, because there is chaff 
 about the wheat, or that the ore had no 
 gold in it, because there is dross among 
 it. In heaven there is service alone, 
 without any sin; in hell there is sin 
 alone without service; but on earth 
 there is sin and service iu the same man 
 as there is light and shade in the same 
 picture. Christian reader to condemn 
 your evil is good, but to condemn your 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 91 
 
 good, is evil. . Here believers are liko 
 the Israelites, who in their darkest night 
 had a pillar of fire, and in their clearest 
 day a pillar of a cloud. Above iis there 
 is light without any darkness ; below 
 us there is darkness without any light, 
 but in this world it is neither day nor 
 night ; but in the evening time it shall 
 be light. '• Though the lowest believer 
 be above the power of sin; yet the 
 highest believer is not above the pres- 
 ence of sin." It is in a living Christian 
 that lust is to be mortified, but it is only 
 in a dying Christian that it is to be de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 Sin never ruins but where it reigns. 
 It is not destroying where it is disturb- 
 ing. The more evil it receives from us, 
 the less evil it does to us. It is only a 
 murderer where it is a governor. The 
 rose is a fragrant flower, though it be 
 surrounded with piercing thorns. The 
 
92 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 passover was a feast, tho.ugli the Israel- 
 ites ate it with bitter herbs. 
 
 There is always too much of the wild 
 olive, in those who are ingrafted into 
 the true olive. Our graces are our best 
 jewels, but they do not yield their 
 brightest lustre in this world. The 
 moon when she shines brightest has her 
 spots ; and the fire when it burns the 
 brightest, hath its smoke. 
 
 Sin is an enemy at the Christian's back, 
 but not a friend in his bosom. Although 
 believers should be mournful because 
 they have infirmities, yet they should 
 be thankful because they are but infirm- 
 ities. It is true they have sin m them, 
 and that should make them sorrowful ; 
 but it is true that they have a Saviour 
 for them, and that should make them 
 joyful. It is not the interposition of a 
 
FKOM AjS" old casket. 93 
 
 cloud, but the departure of a sun wHcli 
 constitutes a night. 
 
 The Saviour looks over that which 
 is his own, and overlooks that, which 
 is his people's. Where there is no 
 sin allowed hy them, there shall be 
 grains of allowance to them. He will 
 not throw away his pearls, for every 
 speck of dirt which may be on them. 
 
 The conduct of a Christian may some- 
 times be spotted with infirmity, when 
 the heart is sound in the love of sanctity. 
 Jacob halted, and yet was blessed. As 
 his blessing did not take away his halt- 
 ing, so his halting did not keep away 
 his blessing^. 
 
 WATCHFULNESS. 
 
 As faith is a grace which feeds all the 
 rest, so fear is a grace which guards all 
 
94 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 the rest. That man who is the most 
 watchful, is the least sinful. He may 
 quickly be cast down by a sinful temp- 
 tation, who is already prepared for it by 
 a sinful occasion. Who will pity that 
 man whose house is blown up Av^ith 
 powder, if he keep the barrels in a 
 chimney corner. 
 
 The fowler spreads his net, but the 
 wings of the bird carry her into it. Do 
 you mu.rmur for want of liberty, yet 
 surrender yourself to slavery ? If you 
 would not gather the forbidden fruit, 
 then beware how you look in the tree, 
 where it grows. 
 
 To pray against temptations, and yet 
 to rush into occasions, is to thrust your 
 lingers into the fire, and then pray that 
 they might not be burnt. The fable 
 saith that the butterfly enquired of the 
 owl how she should do with the candle 
 
FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 95 
 
 wliich had singed lier wings. The owl 
 counselled her not so much as to behold 
 its smoke. If you hold the stirrup, no 
 wonder if Satan get into the saddle. 
 
 A careless eye is an index to a grace- 
 less heart. Eemember the whole world 
 died by a wound in the eye. The eyes 
 of a Christian should be like sunflowers 
 wliich are opened to no blaze but that 
 of the sun. 
 
 To keep the eyes, and not regard the 
 ears, is, as if a man should shut the case- 
 ments of his house, and leave the doors 
 open to the thief. The ear is an instru- 
 ment that the devil loves to play upon. 
 As your ears are joined to your head on 
 earth, so they should be fastened to your 
 head in heaven. 
 
 A soul without its watch, is like a 
 city without its wall, exposed to the in- 
 
96 A STRIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 road of all its enemies. Those wlio 
 would not fall into tlie river, should 
 beware how thej approach too near its 
 banks. He who would not drink of the 
 wine of wrath, let him not touch the 
 cup of pleasure. A person who carries 
 gunpowder about him, can never stand 
 too far from the fire. If we accompany 
 sin one mile, it will compel us to go 
 twain. Yoa will quickly lose your 
 standing, if you are fearless of falling. 
 He that abstains from no lawful thing, 
 may soon be brought to commit some- 
 thing that is sinful. Many a man has 
 been thrown out of the saddle of profes- 
 sion by riding with too slack a rein of 
 circumspection. If Achan handle the 
 golden wedge, his next work will be to 
 steal it. If Ruth lie at the feet of Boaz 
 her next remove may be into his bed. 
 If you take the devil's cap into your 
 hand, it is to be feared that you will 
 quickly lift it to your head. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 97 
 
 The devil may flatter us, but he can- 
 not force us ; he may tempt us to sin, 
 but he cannot compel us to sin. He 
 could never come off a conqueror, were 
 he not joined by our forces. The fire 
 is his but the tinder is ours. He could 
 never enter our houses if we did not set 
 open our doors. 
 
 The body hath two eyes, but the soul 
 must have but one, and that so firmly 
 fixed upon Christ, as never once to 
 glance beside him. A single eye is 
 fittest for a single object. 
 
 THE EIGHT USE OF MERCIES. 
 
 All that a believer receives is from 
 the hand of divine bounty, and employed 
 to the end of the divine glory. Others 
 make an earthly use of heavenly things, 
 but he makes a heavenly use of earthly 
 things. God can put a golden bias, into 
 7 
 
98 
 
 a leaden bowl that it may run true to 
 him who made it. The more he oils 
 our wheels on earth the swifter our 
 chariots move to heaven. 
 
 "Whatever mill a saint has going in 
 the world, he will spread the sails of it 
 for the wind of divine approbation that 
 it may move round for God's glory. 
 When God sets him above the world, 
 then he holds up God to the world. It 
 is unequal to be hot in our prayers and 
 cold in our praises. Many will cry 
 aloud, " Give us this day our daily 
 bread," and whisper out, "Hallowed be 
 thy name." This is like opening our 
 windows to admit the light, and then 
 shutting them closely to keep out the 
 sun. 
 
 Take a wicked man, and you will not 
 find him led to God by that whicli comes 
 from God. The more a dung-hill has the 
 
FBOM AN OLD CASKET. \))) 
 
 sunbeams upon it, tlie more noisome is 
 tlie effluvia arising from it. 
 
 God tries tlie vessel with water, that 
 he may fill it with generous wine. 
 Every stream leads an observant believer 
 to the fountain head. The more God's 
 hand is enlarged in blessing him, the 
 more his heart is enlivened in blessing 
 God. Where the sun of mercy shines 
 hottest, there the fruits of grace grow 
 fastest. In the book of nature we may 
 read the God of nature. The creature 
 is like a tuned instrument, and the 
 Christian's hand can strike it to the 
 Eedeemer\s praise. Man was formed 
 the last of the creation, that he might 
 contemplate upon God through every 
 creature. 
 
100 A STRING OF TEARLS, 
 
 THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION. 
 
 That is a choice artist who can play 
 well upon a broken instrument. To be 
 impatient with our affliction, and patient 
 with our corruption, is to be angry with 
 the medicine which heals us, and in love 
 with the poison that kills us. Too many 
 think that God is cutting down the tree, 
 when he is only lopping off the luxuriant 
 branches. They imagine that he is 
 demolishing -the superstructure, when 
 he is only laying a right foundation. 
 
 It is in mercy to us that God removes 
 outward blessings from us. He is not 
 nipping the flowers, but plucking up the 
 weeds ; he is not laying your land fallow, 
 but ploughing the field ; he is not put- 
 ting out the light, but snufSng the 
 candle. Providence hath a beautiful 
 face under a black mask. God has the 
 fairest ends in the foulest ways. The 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 101 
 
 sheep may be dipped in the water to 
 wash it, when there is no design in the 
 good shepherd to drown it. God doth 
 but take that out of your hands, which 
 woukl thrust him out of your heart. 
 
 He that mingles his passions with his 
 afflictions is like a foolish patient, who 
 chews the pills he should swallow whole. 
 He that carnally disturbs his soul for 
 the loss of his substance, casts away the 
 kernel because God has taken the shell. 
 If the tree yield us good fruit, it will be 
 no very great loss, though the wind 
 blow away the leaves. To bless God 
 for mercies is the way to increase them. 
 To bless God for miseries is the way to 
 remove them. No good lives so long 
 as that which is thankfully improved ; 
 no evil dies so soon as that which is 
 patiently sustained. 
 
102 
 
 When Christians have their candles 
 put out, thej may fetch their light from 
 the sun ; and when they have their 
 streams cut off, they may drink at the 
 spring-head. The birds of paradise 
 make the swiftest flights, when they 
 have the smallest feathers. These 
 nightingales warble the most sweetly 
 when they set their breasts against the 
 thorns. The creature often interrupts 
 the respect whicb we owe to our Creator ; 
 and then no wonder if he break the 
 cistern to bring us unto the foTintain. 
 Those who are found blessing God under 
 all their losses, will find God blessing 
 them after all their losses. 
 
FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 103 
 
 NO ARGUING A MAN'S SPI- 
 RITUAL STATE FROM HIS 
 TEMPORAL EXPERIENCE. 
 
 No man can know love or hatred by 
 any thing that is before him. You can- 
 not read the wrath of God in the black 
 lines of adversity, or the love of God in 
 the white lines of prosperity. 
 
 Riches have made many good men 
 worse, but they never made any bad 
 man better. Thus if we discern but a 
 spark of grace in a nobleman, we cry it 
 up as a blazing comet, and speak of it 
 in the superlative degree. 
 
 Though a Christian be made happy 
 171 the world, he is not made happy by 
 the world. Give me those judgments 
 which give birth to mercy, rather than 
 those outward mercies which give birth 
 to judgments. 
 
104 
 
 God's jewels may liere be trodden 
 under foot, but hereafter tlicy will be 
 be fixed in the royal diadem. Those 
 stones which are designed for the build- 
 ing are frequently wounded by the 
 chisel, while those which are neglected 
 lie in ruinous heaps. A saint is glorious 
 in his misery, but a sinner is miserable 
 amidst all his glory. We must not, 
 therefore, think evil of religion, though 
 we should behold a Joseph in the prison, 
 while a Pharaoh is in a palace ; or a Job 
 on the ground, while a Julian is on a 
 throne. The most curious pearls are 
 often inclosed in the most rugged shells. 
 
 Luther's expression was not the less 
 true, because it was homely. " The 
 whole Turkish empire was but a crust 
 which God threw to the dogs." One 
 said, "" I would rather have Paul's coat, 
 with his heavenly graces, than the purple 
 robe of princes with all their kingdoms. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 105 
 
 Lest riches should be accounted evil in 
 themselves, God sometimes gives them 
 to the righteous, and lest they should 
 be considered as the chief good he fre- 
 queutly bestows them on the wicked. 
 But they are more generally the portion 
 of his enemies than his friends. 
 
 God and all that he has made, is not 
 more than God without any thing that 
 he has made. He can never want trea- 
 sure who has such a golden mine. He 
 is enough without the creature ; but the 
 creature is not any thing without him. 
 It is therefore better to enjoy him with- 
 out any thing else, than to enjoy every 
 thing else without him. It is better to 
 be a wooden vessel filled with wine, 
 than a golden one filled with water. 
 
 The last wine that Christ draws, is the 
 best wine that Christians drink. When 
 the waters cover the earth, whither 
 
106 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 should dove-like spirits fly, but to tLe 
 ark of Christ ? He who left heaven to 
 make them righteous, will come ft'om 
 heaven to make them glorious. 
 
 Christian you must never look for an 
 end to your sorrows till you see an end 
 to your sins. As the former came not 
 a day before the latter, so they stay not 
 a day behind them. ''As many as I 
 love I rebuke and chasten." Well may 
 you bear the rod, when infinite love 
 makes it up and lays it on. When you 
 lie under his afflicting hand, you then 
 lie near his affected heart. Rake a 
 dung-hill, and its effluvia will be offen- 
 sive, but heat perfume, and its scent will 
 be grateful. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 107 
 
 PRAYEE. 
 
 Our daily bread calls for our daily 
 prayers, because one want is created, 
 while another is supplied. Are we 
 called hy the name of Christ, and shall 
 we not call upon the name of Christ ? 
 Take away spiritual breath, and you 
 take away spiritual life. There never 
 was one yieic-hom who was s^^-'Z^-born. 
 
 Who would not stretch out a beggar's 
 hand to receive a jewel of infinite value? 
 With what boldness should those appear 
 at court who are sure of the king's ear. 
 
 Believing prayer is a traffic for those 
 commodities, which are only locked up 
 in heaven's store-house. Why should we 
 be dumb, seeing God is not deaf? By 
 fasting the body learns to obey the soul ; 
 by praying the soul learns to command 
 the body. 
 
108 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 No Cliristian has so little from Christ, 
 but there is ground for praise ; and no 
 Christian has so much, but he has- need 
 of prayer. Every day we find it is a 
 great work to accomplish a little work. 
 Every new act of obedience requires 
 fresh assistance. 
 
 The gift of prayer may have praise 
 from men, but it is the grace of prayer 
 which has power with God. Christians 
 can never want a praying time if they 
 possess a praying frame. In the morn- 
 ing this is a golden key to open the 
 heart for God's service, and in the eve- 
 ning it is an iron lock to guard the 
 heart a^jainst sin. 
 
 The covenant of grace without us, 
 turns precepts into promises, but the 
 spirit of grace within us, turns promises 
 into prayers. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 109 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 There is no sin so sweet, but the love 
 of Christ restrains men from it. There 
 is no service so great, but the love of 
 Christ constrains men to it. If once 
 this affection takes fire, tbe room be- 
 comes too hot for any sin to stay in. 
 The Christian's love advances by equal 
 paces with the Christian's faith, as the 
 heat of the day with the shining of the 
 sun ; faith, like Mary sits at the feet of 
 Christ to hear his sermons ; and love, 
 like Martha, compasses him about with 
 services. Faith is the great receiver, 
 and love is the great disburser. 
 
 It should be among Christians, as 
 among lute strings, when one is touched 
 the others tremble. Believers should 
 neither be proud flesh, nor dead flesh. 
 Fellow members, should ever have fel- 
 low-feelings. Other men's woes are 
 
110 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 our warnings ; tlieir desolation should 
 be our information. 
 
 He makes a good market of bad com- 
 moditiv^s, who, with kindnesses over- 
 comes injuries. For a man to conquer 
 another's person, and be captivated by 
 his own passions is but to lose the palace 
 of a prince, to gain the cottage of a 
 peasant. A spark of fire falling in the 
 ocean, expires immediately, but drop- 
 ping upon combustibles burns furiously. 
 God has bound every believer in gospel 
 cords to his good behaviour. 
 
 Love trades not for home returns ; it 
 amply pays itself in serving its beloved. 
 It is reported of one, who being asked 
 for whom he laboured most, he answered, 
 " For my Friends." And being asked, 
 for whom he laboured least, he answered, 
 " For my Friends." Love doth most, 
 and yet thinks least of what it does. 
 
FROM A^ OLD CASKET. Ill 
 
 "Were it possible to put those things 
 asunder which God himself hath joined 
 together, a Christian AYould rather be 
 holy without any happiness, than happy 
 without any holiness. Luther had this 
 expression; — '^I had rather be in hell 
 with Christ; than in heaven without 
 Christ." Indeed hell itself would be a 
 heaven if God were in it, and heaven 
 would be a hell, if God were from it. 
 These are hard sayings to an uncircum- 
 cised ear, but the real choice of every 
 renewed heart. A gracious man makes 
 this request for his soul. "Lord let me 
 rather have a gracious heart than a great 
 estate, let me rather be pious without 
 prosperity, than prosperous without 
 piety." * Though he may love many 
 things beside religion, yet he would not 
 love any thing above religion. The 
 earth is our v/ork-house, but heaven is 
 our storehouse. This is a place to run 
 in, and that is a place to rest in. 
 
112 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 If we were left to ourselves but for a 
 moment, we should destroy ourselves in 
 that moment. We are like glasses with- 
 out a bottom, which are no sooner loosed 
 than they fall. '' Without me ye can 
 do nothing." The pen may as soon 
 write without the hand which holds it, 
 as our hearts work except the Spirit 
 move them. Not only the enjoyment 
 of our talents is from God, but the im- 
 provement of them is from him. " Lord 
 thy pound hath gained ten pounds." It 
 is not my pains but thy pound, which 
 hath done it. The children of God are 
 like a clock which soon stands still if it 
 be not wound up. 
 
 Waters may rise as high as they fall. 
 Whatsoever action hath God for its 
 aathor, hath God for its centre. A cir- 
 cular line makes its ending where it had 
 
 its beginning. 
 
FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 113 
 
 "Whatsoever ointment is poured out 
 upon Christ's head, will run down to 
 the skirt of his garment. What a saint 
 gives to Christ in copper, shall be re- 
 turned to him in silver. The only way 
 to keep our crowns on our heads is to 
 cast them down at his feet. 
 
 He that freely opens the upper, will 
 never wholly close the nether spririgs. 
 There will be no silver lacking in Ben- 
 jamin's sack, while Joseph has it to 
 throw in. Grace is not such a beggarly 
 visitant as will not pay its own way. 
 When the best of Beings is adored, the 
 best of blessings are enjoyed. ''For 
 the Lord is a sun and shield, and no 
 good thing will he withhold from them 
 that walk uprightly." Why needs a 
 saint fear darkness when he has such a 
 sun to guide him? or dread danger, 
 when he has such a shield to guard him? 
 Though every rich man be not truly 
 
114 A STRIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 godly, yet every godly man is truly 
 ricli. 
 
 The sun can as easily difiuse its beams 
 over tlie whole world, as upon a single 
 field. What God receives from men, 
 makes him no richer, and what man re- 
 ceives from God makes him none the 
 poorer. His goodness may be imparted, 
 but cannot be impaired. 
 
 Godliness is profitable to all things, 
 having the promise of the life that now 
 is, and of that which is to come. Who 
 knows, how many rich productions there 
 are in the pleasure garden of religion. 
 There is mellow fruit in it for every 
 day in the year. 
 
 In earthly services the master enjoys 
 the profit, but in religious services the 
 servant enjoys it. ''And the ark of the 
 Lord continued in the house of Obed 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 115 
 
 Edom the Gittite, tliree nionths, and the 
 Lord blessed Obed Edom, and all his 
 household." The ark was not blessed 
 for the sake of his household, but his 
 household was blessed for the sake of 
 the ark. The ark of God always pays 
 for its entertainment wheresoever it 
 dwells. 
 
 The nearer the relation, the stronger 
 are the ties of obligation. In this view, 
 believers on earth are superior to angels 
 in heaven, God has made you studs for 
 his crown while others are stools for his 
 feet. A drop of praise is an unsuitable 
 acknowledgment for an ocean of mercy. 
 
 There are no still-born children in 
 the family of grace. God is the living 
 Father, and therefore all his children 
 live by him ; he is also the everlasting 
 Father, and therefore he will have due 
 honor paid him. 
 
116 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 Alexander, who is reported to be an 
 exceeding swift runner, was once solicited 
 to run in the Olympic games. He an- 
 swered, " I will, if Kings are mine an- 
 tagonists." Give me such a saint, who 
 will pursue nothing on earth, which may 
 be unsuitable to his birth from heaven. 
 
 There are many who profess to know 
 God, but in works deny him; "being 
 abominable, disobedient, and to every 
 good work reprobate." Man is not 
 what he says, but what he does. For a 
 man to say what he does, and not to do 
 what he says, is to resemble those trees, 
 ■which are full of leaves but void of 
 fruit, or those barns, wherein there is 
 much chaff, but no grain. "What is the 
 chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord." 
 
 "And why call ye me. Lord, Lord, 
 and do not the things that I say?" As 
 if he had said, "Either keep my words 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 117 
 
 more, or else call me Lord no more ; 
 either take me into your lives or cast 
 me out of your lips." As princes dis- 
 dain to have their images on base coun- 
 terfeits, so the Lord Jesus cannot delight 
 to see his name on rotten hypocrites. 
 Therefore he saith, '^Let every one that 
 nameth the name of Christ depart from 
 all iniquity." If godliness be evil, why 
 is it so much i^ofessecU if it be good, 
 why is it so little practised ? 
 
 As the sun is the glory of creation, 
 so is Christ the glory of redemption. 
 The summit of moral religion consists 
 in imitating Grod. ' Without this your re- 
 ligion will be found a " Tekel-J'' when it 
 is weighed in the balance, it will be 
 wanting. It would be well, if there 
 were, as great a similarity between the 
 life of Christ and the lives of Christians, 
 as there is between a just copy and the 
 original. Wliat he was by nature, that 
 
118 A STRIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 we should be by grace. As face an- 
 sweretb to face in water, so sliould life 
 answer to life in Scripture. He that 
 was a way to others, never went out of 
 the way himself. 
 
 Men are merciless in their censure of 
 Christians ; they have no sympathy for 
 their infirmity ; while God weighs them 
 in more equal scales, and says, " The 
 spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 "While the saint is a dove in the eyes of 
 God, he is only a raven in the estima- 
 tion of sinners. 
 
 Consider Christian that an unholy 
 conversation, strips off the rich orna- 
 mental jewels, from the neck of the 
 bride, the Lamb's wife. Sin indulged, 
 in a believer, is like a rent in a rich em- 
 broidered garment, or like a crack in a 
 silver bell. A foul spot is soonest dis- 
 cerned in the fairest cloth. The world 
 
FROM AN- OLD CASKET. 119 
 
 will sooner make an excuse for its own 
 enormities, tlian for your infirmities. 
 The malice of sinners is such, that they 
 will reproach the rectitude of the law, 
 for the obliquity of their lives, who 
 swerve from it. Ah, that your pure 
 life, did but hang a padlock upon their 
 impure lips. 
 
 Eeader, you must not look to toil for 
 the prince of darkness all the long day 
 of your life, and then sup with the 
 prince of light at the evening of death. 
 There is no going from Delilah's ^ap to 
 Abraham's bosom. There is no gaining 
 admittance into the King of heaven's 
 privy chamber of felicity, without pass- 
 ing through the straight gate of purity. 
 " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they 
 shall see God." A dusty glass will not 
 distinctly represent the face. 
 
 Holiness and happiness are so wisely 
 
120 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 joined together, tliat God will never 
 suffer them to be put asunder. " Follow 
 peace with all men, and holiness, with- 
 out which no man shall see the Lord." 
 Though holiness be that which a sinner 
 scorns, yet it is that which a Saviour 
 crowns. 
 
 If you be not fruit-bearing plants, you 
 must be burning brands. There is no 
 making out your salvation, where there 
 is no working out your salvation. Men 
 are condemned not only for their pro- 
 faneness, but also for their slothfulness. 
 Men may perish for being unprofitable 
 servants as well as for being abominable 
 sinners. 
 
 Tlie Lord hangs the bait of duty upon 
 the hook of mercy. He sits the promises 
 of the gospel in the galleries of his or- 
 dinances. The hardy soldier will under- 
 go a bloody seed time, to enjoy a happy 
 
FROM AN- OLD CASKET. 121 
 
 harvest. He lias notliing more than 
 earthly mammon in his pursuit; but 
 the saint has nothing less than heavenly 
 mansions in his pursuit. 
 
 Divine knowledge is not as the light 
 of the moon to sleep by ; bat as the 
 light of the sun to work by. It is not 
 a loiterer in the market-place, but a 
 labourer in the vineyard. 
 
 A man may be a great scholar, and 
 yet a great sinner. Judas the traitor, 
 was Judas the preacher. The toad that 
 has a pearl in its head, has poison in 
 its bowels. The tree of knowledge has 
 often been planted and flourished, where 
 the tree of life never grew. A man may 
 be acquainted with the grace of truth, 
 and yet not know the truth of grace. 
 Parts, and even all gifts, without grace 
 and holiness are but like Uriah's letters. 
 
122 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 whicli were the death-warrants of him, 
 who carried them. 
 
 Naked knowledge will be as unser- 
 viceable to the soTil in a dying day, as 
 a painted fire would be to the frozen 
 body in a cold day. As some articles 
 are tanned by the same sun, in which 
 others are whitened, so are some profes- 
 sors, hardened under the same gospel 
 by which others are softened. 
 
 As it is lost labour to smite the flint 
 if it propagate no sparks, so it is fruit- 
 less toil to furnish our heads with light 
 if it refine not our hearts. The sins of 
 ignorance are most numerous, but the 
 sins of knowledge are most dangerous. 
 
 There are many who set a crown of 
 glory upon the head of Christ, by a good 
 profession, and yet plat a crown of thorns 
 upon his head by an evil conversation. 
 
FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 123 
 
 By tlie words of our mouth, we may 
 affect to adore religion, but it is by the 
 works of our lives that we adorn reli- 
 gion. 
 
 There are some who would sacrifice a 
 stout heart to a stubborn will, and would 
 rather die martyrs for sin than servants 
 to truth. How shall those stand for 
 Christ, who never stood in Christ. True 
 believers are more studious how to adorn 
 the cross, than how to avoid the cross. 
 They deem it better to be saved in 
 troubled water, than to be drowned in a 
 calm ocean. 
 
 God can strike straight strokes with 
 crooked sticks and make Satan's dross, 
 burnish his choice vessels. ''If Dives 
 be tormented because he refuse to im- 
 part his own, what shall their torment 
 be, who avidiously take that which is 
 another. If those fingers be cut off 
 
124 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 wMcli SO closely clasp tlieir own pro- 
 perty, what will become of those haads, 
 which are always open to grasp at other 
 
 Christ is not only the vessel in which 
 the waters of life are contained, but he 
 is also the pipes through which they are 
 conveyed. 
 
 A self seeker, lives nnrespected and 
 dies unlamented. When once a man 
 becomes a god to himself^ he then be- 
 comes a cliv '/ to others. Such an one 
 cares not who sinks, so he does but ar- 
 rive safe at the shore. 
 
 Every Christian is a light in the world, 
 though he be not the light of the world. 
 " Let your light so shine before men, 
 that they seeing your good works, may 
 glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
 Ah, that Christians were more like the 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 125 
 
 liglit, wliicli abides pure, tliougli the air 
 be corrupted, in wliicli it dwells ! Men 
 may defile themselves in the light, but 
 they cannot defile the light itself. The 
 sun shines throughout an impure world 
 yet knows no impurity. Ah ! how 
 many resemble swine in the fairest 
 meadow, which would break every 
 mound to find the mire ! They remind 
 me of impious Judas, who instead of 
 being a disciple among devils, was a 
 devil among disciples. Poor man, he 
 was all precept and no example. He 
 could attempt to reprove one who was 
 innocence itself, and encourage one, who 
 was sin itself. 
 
 Every one loves to be admired, and 
 is too apt to take pleasure in none but 
 those who take pleasure in him. It is 
 no honourable appearance, when we 
 cease to be exemplary Christians that 
 others may think us good companions. 
 
126 A STKING OF PEAELS, 
 
 It is impossible to be conformed to tbe 
 world in our outward man, and trans- 
 formed to God in our inward man. 
 There is no sucb thing as being an out- 
 ward heathen and an inward Christian. 
 
 It is ill breathing an infectious air. 
 Satan's progeny love not to go to hell 
 without society. It is better to be with 
 a Philpot in a coal-house, than with a 
 Bonner in a palace. A man may pass 
 through Ethiopia, and yet be unchanged, 
 but he cannot take up his residence 
 there without being discoloured. 
 
 " The wages of sin is death." As the 
 works of sin are dishonourable, so the 
 wages of sin are mortal. The corrup- 
 tion of nature is the cause of the disso- 
 lution of nature. The candle of our 
 lives, is blown out by the wind of our 
 lusts. Sin is that noxious weed, which 
 overtops the choicest corn^ that offensive 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 127 
 
 smoke whicti depresses tlie rising flame ; 
 and tliat dismal cloud, wliicli over- 
 shadows the beaming sun. Sin Las 
 brought many a believer into suffering, 
 and suffering has instrumentally, kept 
 many a believer out of sin. It is better 
 to be preserved in brine, than to rot in 
 honey. The bitterest medicine is to be 
 preferred, by all men, before the sweetest 
 poison. In the same fire, wherein the dross 
 is consumed, the precious gold is refined. 
 
 Those who launch out into any un- 
 dertaking should, always, previously, 
 look well to their tackling lest a de- 
 structive storm should overtake them 
 in their voyage. A bad conscience im- 
 bitters the sweetest comforts, but a good 
 conscience sweetens the bitterest crosses. 
 How great a wound do vices make in 
 the conscience, yea, even in our infant 
 years. Though the hardened sinner be 
 not afraid to do evil, yet he will be afraid 
 
128 A STEIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 to suffer evil. What need tliose fear a 
 cross on the back, who feel a Christ in 
 their heart ? 
 
 Tliat crop, v/hich is sown in mercy 
 shall be reaped in glory. In heaven 
 there are riches enough, but no poor to 
 receive them. In hell there are poor 
 enough, but no rich to relieve them. 
 How many of the most wealthy are deaf 
 to the most importunate requests for 
 mercy ! They will do no good in the 
 world, with the goods of the world. 
 They, too much, resemble sponges which, 
 greedily, suck up the waters, but will 
 not yield a return of them again, till 
 they are well squeezed. 
 
 Mercy is so good a servant, that it 
 will never suffer its master to die a 
 beggar. Those who have drained their 
 own wells dry, in order to fill a poor 
 man's cistern, shall never perish for want 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 129 
 
 of water to quench tteir thirst. Those 
 who have blessed others shall be blessed 
 themselves. God looks not so much on 
 the merits of the beggar as upon the 
 mercy of the giver. 
 
 In the highest heavens, the beams of 
 majesty are displayed, but to the lowest 
 hearts, the bowels of mercy are dis- 
 covered. '' Be ye clothed with humility." 
 Pride is a sinner's torment, but humility 
 is a saint's ornament. The cloth of hu- 
 mility should always be worn on the 
 back of Christianity. 
 
 Though there may be something left 
 by self-denial, yet there can be nothing 
 lost by self-denial; nay, a man can never 
 enjoy himself till he be brought to deny 
 himself. We live, by dying to our- 
 selves, and die, by living to ourselves. 
 There is no proud man but what is 
 foolish, and scarcely any foolish man 
 
 9 
 
130 A STRIXG OF PEAELS; 
 
 but what is proud. It is the night owl 
 of ignorance which broods and hatches 
 the peacock of pride. 
 
 It is impossible to have true thoughts 
 of ourselves, while we entertain high 
 thoughts of ourselves. "Though all 
 men forsake thee, yet will not I." Poor 
 Peter, he was the most impotent when 
 he was most arrogant. He has no doubt 
 of standing when others were falling ; 
 but it proved, at last, that he fell while 
 others stood. That was an excellent 
 saying of one : — " Where a gracious 
 person would sit below me, I will ac- 
 knowledge his dignity; but where a 
 proud person would move above me, I 
 will abhor his vanity." An humble 
 heart may meet with opposition from 
 man, but it shall meet with approbation 
 from God. As humility is a grace very 
 excellent in itself, so it is very pleasing 
 to God. He who is a subject of the 
 
FROM AN old" casket. 131 
 
 former, shall hereafter be an inheritor 
 with the latter. 
 
 Remember that when Christ draws 
 the likeness of the new creature, his first 
 pencil is clipped in water. '' Except ye 
 repent, ye shall all, likewise perish." 
 Is it not better to repent without perish- 
 ing, than to perish without repenting. 
 Godly sorrow is such a grace, as with- 
 out it, not a soul shall be saved, and 
 with it, not a soul shall be lost. Is it 
 not, therefore, better to swim in the 
 water- works of repentance, than to burn 
 in the fire- works of vengeance. 
 
 A tender heart is like melting wax ; 
 ah, what choice impressions are made 
 upon such dispositions. 
 
 Sin in the soul, is like Jonah in the 
 ship ; it turns the smoothest water into 
 a troubled ocean. 
 
132 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 We must mourn for sin on earth, or 
 burn for sin in liell. It is the coldness 
 of our hearts, which kindles the fire of 
 God's anger. '' Thej shall look upon 
 him whom they have pierced and mourn 
 for him, as one that mourn eth for his 
 only son ; and shall be in bitterness for 
 him, as one that is in bitterness for his 
 first born." Christians, the nails that 
 pierced his hands, should now pierce 
 your heart ; you should now be deeply 
 wounded with godly sorrow, for having 
 so deeply wounded him, with your 
 deadly sins. It should grieve your 
 spirits to remember how much jovl have 
 grieved his spirit. 
 
 Man must be convinced of sin, before 
 he can truly repent of sin ; unbelief in 
 the heart, is like the worm in Jonah's 
 gourd an unseen adversary ; it is least 
 visible but most hurtful. Infidelity is 
 the worst of robbers ; it both plunders 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 133 
 
 and wounds tlie soul. Christ may dwell 
 in the heart where it lurks, but not 
 where it reigns. If Christ destroy its 
 armour, it becomes weak as other men. 
 Its chief strength wherein it trusteth is 
 ignorance. 
 
 Pharaoh more lamented the hard 
 strokes that were upon him, than the 
 hard heart which was within him. 
 Esau mourned, not because he sold the 
 birth-right, which was his sin, but be- 
 cause he lost the blessing which was his 
 punishment. This is like weeping with 
 an onion — the eye sheds tears because 
 it smarts. A mariner casts overboard, 
 that cargo in a tempest, which he courts 
 the return of when the winds are 
 silenced. Many complain more of the 
 sorrows to which they are born, than 
 of the sins with which they are born ; 
 they tremble more at the vengeance of 
 
134 A STRING OF PEAELS, 
 
 sin, than the venom of sin ; one delights 
 them, the other affrights them. 
 
 Where misery passes, undiscerned, 
 there mercy passes, nndesired. Christ 
 may knock long at such doors before he 
 gains admittance. He only enters into 
 those, who enter into themselves. ''Be- 
 hold I stand at the door and knock." 
 Christ oftener comes to the door than 
 he enters the house. As we knock at 
 his door for audience so he does, at ours, 
 for entrance. If his person be shut out, 
 our prayers will be shut out. Why 
 should God show him mercy, who never 
 acknowledged himself guilty ? A saint's 
 tears are better than a sinner's triumphs. 
 Bernard saith, "The tears of penitents 
 are the wine of angels." When a sin- 
 ner repents the angels rejoice; and give 
 me such a mourning on earth, as creates 
 music in heaven. Many are battered 
 as lead by the hammer who are never 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 135 
 
 bettered as gold by tbe fire. Sometimes 
 that repentance which begins in the fears 
 of hell, ends in the flames of hell. 
 
 It has been observed by those who 
 are experienced in the sport of angling, 
 that the smallest fishes bite the fastest. 
 Ah, how few great men, do we find so 
 much as nibbling at the gospel hook. 
 The tree of life is not often planted in a 
 terrestrial paradise. 
 
 The shining diamond of a great estate 
 may frequently be found, upon an un- 
 sound and idolatrous heart. Prosperity 
 is not to be deemed the greatest security. 
 The lofty, unbending cedar is more ex- 
 posed to the injurious blast, than the 
 lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides 
 safely along the shore, while the gallant 
 ship advancing, is wrecked. Those 
 sheep which have the most wool, are, 
 generally, the soonest fleeced. Poverty 
 
136 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 is its own defence against robbery. A 
 fawning world is worse than a frowning 
 world. Wlio would shake those trees, 
 Tipon which there is no fruit ? 
 
 Ah, what vanity it is to lop off the 
 boughs, and leave the roots, which can 
 soon send forth more ; or to empty the 
 cistern, and leave the fountain running, 
 which can soon fill it again! Such may 
 swim in the water of the visible Church, 
 but w^hen the net is drawn to shore 
 they must be thrown away as bad fishes. 
 Though the tares and the wheat may 
 grow in the field logether, yet they will 
 not be housed in the granery together. 
 
 A man's conversation may be civilized, 
 when his heart is not evangelized. There 
 is as much difference between nature 
 restrained, and nature renewed, as be- 
 tween the glimmering of a glow-worm, 
 and the splendour of the noon-day sun. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 137 
 
 A bad man is certainly worst, when he 
 is, seemingly, best. We must not ac- 
 count every one a soldier who swaggers 
 with a sword. A rusty scimitar may 
 frequently be found in a highly trimmed 
 scabbard. What is it to have our hands 
 as white as snow, if our hearts be as 
 black as the bottomless pit? Such 
 professors resemble curious bubbles, 
 smooth and clear without, yet only filled 
 with air. 
 
 It is only such fabrics as are bottomed 
 upon the sand, that are overthrown by 
 the wind. The adversaries of God's 
 people will push at them, as far as their 
 horns will go, but when they have 
 scoured them by persecution, as tar- 
 nished vessels, then God will throw such 
 whisps into the fire. 
 
 He that takes up fire to throw at his 
 adversaries, is in great danger of burn- 
 
138 A STEING OF PEARLS, 
 
 ing his own fingers. A gun ill charged, 
 instead of hitting the mark, does but re- 
 coil on him that discharges it. He who 
 glories in wounding others, will, finally, 
 wound himself. If injuries be oar 
 enemies' weapons, forgiveness should be 
 ours. There is a twofold frenzy ; that 
 of the head, which deprives men of their 
 prudence ; and that of the heart, which 
 deprives them of their patience. To 
 forget an injury is more than nature can 
 promise, but to forgive it, is what grace 
 can perform. Patience affords us a 
 shield to defend ourselves; but inno- 
 cence denies us a sword to offend others. 
 If ever you hope that your charity 
 should live after you then let resentment 
 die before you. 
 
 It was a saying of a heathen, though 
 no heathenish saying, that he who would 
 be good, must either have a faithful 
 friend to instruct him, or a watchful 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 139 
 
 enemy to correct him. Should we 
 murder a physician because he comes to 
 cure us, or like him worse, because he 
 would make us better ? Am I become 
 your enemy because I tell you the truth? 
 Truth is not always relished, where sin 
 is nourished. Light is pleasant, yet it 
 may be offensive to sore eyes. Honey 
 is sweet though it cause the wound to 
 smart ; but we must not neglect the ac- 
 tions of friends for fear of drawing upon 
 ourselves, the suspicion of being enemies. 
 It is better to lose the smiles of men, 
 than the souls of men. "Thou shalt 
 not hate thy brother, in thy heart, nor 
 suffer sin to lie upon him." He who 
 loves a garment, hates the moths which 
 fret it. 
 
 Eeproof slides from a scorner's breast, 
 as water from an oiled post. Instead 
 of loving a man amidst all his injuries, 
 he will hate him for all his civilities. 
 
140 A STRIXG OF PEA ELS, 
 
 Most people are like restive horses, 
 wliich no sooner feel tlie rowel, than 
 they strike with their heels, or like bees 
 which no sooner are angered, than they 
 put out their stings. 
 
 The tender reed is more easily bowed 
 than the sturdy oak. Christ's warfare 
 requires no carnal weapons. Chariots 
 too furiously driven may be overturned 
 by their own violence. How many are 
 there, who check passion with passion, 
 and are very angry in reproving anger. 
 Thus to lay one devil, they raise another, 
 and leave more work to be undone, than 
 they found to be done. Such a reproof 
 of vice, is a vice to be reproved. 
 
 Reprehension should tread upon the 
 heels of transgression. The plaster 
 should be applied as soon as the wound 
 is received. It is easier to extinguish 
 a flaming torch, than a burning house. 
 
FliOM AN OLD CASKET. 141 
 
 Gentle medicine will serve for a recent 
 distemper, but chronical diseases require 
 powerful receipts. 
 
 The name of God with a sling and 
 stone, will do more than Goliath with 
 all his armour. Reader, I would neither 
 have you be idle in the means, nor make 
 an idol of the means. Though it be the 
 mariner's duty to weigh his anchor and 
 spread his sails, yet he cannot make his 
 voyage until the winds blow. The 
 pipes will yield no conveyance, unless 
 the springs yield their concurrence. 
 
 He that has no better righteousness 
 than what is of his own providing shall 
 meet with no higher happiness, than 
 what is of his own deserving. If such 
 people rest not from duty, then they 
 rest in duty. They are determined to 
 sail in their own bottom, though they 
 sink in the ocean. I would that all 
 
142 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 sucli did but know, that tlioiigli good 
 Avorks are not destroyed by Christ, yet 
 they must be denied for Christ. 
 
 Thousands of professors prize the 
 wages of religion above its works, but 
 a Christian will prize its work above 
 its wages. Give me that singular 
 preacher who prefers his labour to his 
 lucre, and the flock he attends, to the 
 fleece he obtains. 
 
 ''Ye seek me, not because ye saw the 
 miracles, but because ye did eat of the 
 loaves and were filled." Christ was the 
 object of their actions, but self was the 
 end of their actions. They came to 
 Christ to serve their own turns, and 
 when their turns were served, then they 
 turned away their service. They were 
 cupboard disciples ; more than men at 
 their meat, — but less than women at 
 
FROM AI^ OLD CASKET. 143 
 
 tlieir work. AYhen the loaves were 
 gone, tlie disciples were gone. 
 
 Could many men find the mercies of 
 God, they would never seek the God of 
 mercies. Could they tell how to be well 
 without him, they would never desire 
 to come to him. God hath but little of 
 their society except when they can find 
 no other company. The want of pardon 
 is the only spring of a servile man's 
 duty ; he plies his prayers, as sailors do 
 their pumps, only in a storm or when 
 fearful of sinking. 
 
 Conversion begins in consideration. 
 The hasty shower falls fastest, but the 
 soft snow sinks the deepest. As that 
 mariner who is inattentive to his helm 
 is in danger of wrecking his vessel, so 
 he who knows not himself, is likely to 
 lose himself. " Examine yourselves 
 whether ye be in the fiiith." If your 
 
144 A STEING OF PEAKLS, 
 
 heart be not the cabinet of such a jewel, 
 your head will never be graced with a 
 diadem in glory. 
 
 Though Christians be not kept al- 
 together from, falling, yet they are kept 
 from falling altogether. They may show 
 an indifference toward Christ for a time, 
 but they shall not depart from Christ 
 forever. The trees of righteousness 
 may have their autumn, but they shall, 
 also, have their spring. There is never 
 so low an ebb, but there is also, as high 
 a tide. Christians are like crocodiles, 
 which grow till they die, or like the 
 moon which increases in her beauty till 
 she is at the full. 
 
 "We can defile ourselves, but we can- 
 not cleanse ourselves. The sheep can 
 go astray alone, but can never return to 
 ,the fold, without' the assistance of the 
 shepherd. Till we taste the bitterness 
 
FKOM AN" OLD CASKET. 145 
 
 of our own misery, we shall never 
 relish tlie sweetness of God's mercy. 
 Till we see how foul our sins have made 
 us, we shall never pay our tribute of 
 praise to Christ for washing us. 
 
 As the worst on this side of eternity 
 compared with hell is misery, so the 
 best on this side of eternity, compared 
 with heaven is misery. There is no 
 more comparison to be made between 
 heaven and earth, than there is between 
 a piece of rusty iron and refined gold. 
 
 Good words without the heart, are 
 but flattery, and good works without the 
 heart, are but hypocrisy. Though God 
 pities stumbling Israelites, yet he pun- 
 ishes halting hypocrites. 
 
 Eeligion is a sacrifice, but the heart 
 is the altar on which it must be offered. 
 As the body is at the command of the 
 
 10 
 
1-16 A STRIXG OF FEARLS, 
 
 head who rules it, so should the soul be 
 at the command of God, who gives it. 
 For a man to take his body to the ser- 
 vice of God and leave his soul behind 
 him, is as if a person should send his 
 garments stuffed with straw instead of 
 making a personal appearance. 
 
 Every being produces its own like- 
 ness. " Do men gather grapes of thorns 
 or figs of thistles?" The grapes of 
 tranquillity cannot grow upon the thorns 
 of impiety. Inward peace can only be 
 espoused to inward purity. A good 
 way to have conscience untormented, is 
 to have it undefiled. He who made 
 you clean within, will keep you calm 
 wdthin. 
 
 In wisdom's right hand are length of 
 days, and in her left hand riches and 
 honour. Look to which hand you will 
 and you will find it full. 
 
FRO:*I AN OLD CASKET. 147 
 
 The wicked make tkeir end their God, 
 but we make God our end. The firma- 
 ment is made more glorious by one sun 
 than by all the stars that stud the hea- 
 vens. Thus Jesus Christ hath more 
 glory given to him from one saint than 
 from all the world beside. He takes 
 more pleasure in their prayers, and 
 is more honoured by their praise. 
 
 '' Whether ye eat or drink, or what- 
 soever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
 From the lowest act of nature to the 
 Irighest act of grace, there is no argu- 
 ment for the pride of man, but every 
 consideration for the praise of God. If 
 he make our nature gracious, we should 
 make his name glorious. He that would 
 be fingering the honor of God is not 
 worthy to receive the honor of man. 
 Cyesar once said to his opponent, " Either 
 I will be Cassar or nobody." So the 
 Lord saith, Either I will be a great God 
 
l-iS A STRING OP PEARLS, 
 
 or no God. That man disparages the 
 beauty of the sun who sets it upon a 
 level with the twinkling stars. 
 
 As there is no time in which God is 
 not blessing his children, there should 
 be no time in which his people are not 
 blessing him. As he designs our hap- 
 piness in all he does, it is but reasonable 
 that we should seek his honor in all we 
 do. We have no way to turn the streams 
 unto God, the ocean of all bounty, but 
 through the pipes of gratitude. 
 
 " Giving thanks unto the Father who 
 hath made us meet to be partakers of the 
 inheritance of the saints in light." It 
 is very meet that he should be magnified 
 by us, when he makes us meet to be 
 glorified with him. The whisperings 
 of the voice are echoed back in an exact 
 concave. 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 14:9 
 
 The body of a man can stoop for a 
 pin as well as for a pound. As the best 
 of means should make us fruitful^ so 
 the least of mercies should make us 
 thankful. 
 
 There is no need of blotting out the 
 characters of our affections, but of writ- 
 ing them on fairer paper. There is no 
 necessity for drying up these running 
 waters, but for diverting them into their 
 proper channels. Why should we wholly 
 destroy these valuable plants, when they 
 might thrive so well in a better soil ? 
 He who looks upon heaven with desire 
 will look upon earth with disdain. Our 
 affections were made for the things 
 which are ahove us, and not for the 
 things which are about us. 
 
 "What is an earthly manor compared 
 to a heavenly mansion? As carnal 
 things seem small to a spiritual man, so 
 
150 A STRIXG OF PEARLS, 
 
 spiritual tbines appear small to a carnal 
 man. There is no moving after things 
 beyond the sphere of our own knowledge. 
 Heaven is to the worldling as a mine of 
 gold covered with earth and rubbish, 
 or as a bed of pearl inclosed in a heap 
 of sand. But if he had the eyes of an 
 eagle to see it, he would wish for the 
 wings of an eagle to soar unto it. 
 
 He that takes possession of us on 
 earth takes possession /o/- us in heaven. 
 As we are not long here without Him, 
 so he will not be lonsf there without us. 
 
 o 
 
 Here all the earth is not enough for one 
 carnal man, but there one heaven shall 
 be enough for all Christian men. In 
 this life there are showers of tears 
 from the saint's eyes, but in that life 
 there shall be a sunshine of glory in the 
 saint's heart. 
 
 Reader, you cannot set down your 
 
FKOM a:n- old casket. 151 
 
 lusts in sucli characters but what the 
 eyes of God can read them. As he can 
 save in the greatest extremity, so he can 
 see in the deepest obscurity. 
 
 Plato saith of the king of Lydia that 
 he had a ring, with which, when he turn- 
 ed the head to the palm of his hand, 
 he could see every person, and yet he 
 himself remain invisible. Though we 
 cannot see God while we live, yet he 
 can see how we live, 
 
 Those who freight their minds with 
 carnal pleasures will one day be con- 
 demned for carrying contraband com- 
 modities. '' Rejoice, young man, in 
 thy youth, and let thine heart cheer thee 
 in the days of thy youth, and walk in 
 the ways of thine own heart and in the 
 sight of thine own eyes." This were 
 brave, indeed, if it could but be secured 
 forever ; but alas, after the flash of 
 
152 A STRING OF TEA ELS, 
 
 liglitmng tlien comes tlie dreadful clap 
 of thunder, "But know thou that for all 
 these things God will bring thee into 
 judgment." This is just as if Grod had 
 said, " Well poor sinner, run down the 
 hill as fast as you please ; but know 
 that you will be sure to break your neck 
 at last." 
 
 Sin is like a serpent in the bosom, 
 which stings you, or like a thief in your 
 closet, who plunders you. It resembles 
 poison in the stomach, or a sword in the 
 bowels, both of which tend to death. 
 Like St. John's book, it may be sweet 
 in your mouth, but it will be bitter in 
 your belly. However fair iniqailj 
 might appear to some, it will only be 
 found like a blear-eyed Leah to God. 
 
 The greatest glory of this world is 
 like a rotten post, which never shows 
 its brightness but in the dark. How 
 
FROM AN OLD CASKET. 153 
 
 few are tliere who Lave resolved to 
 ascend the pinnacle of honor, but what 
 have left a good conscience at the bottom 
 of the ladder! Believers themselves 
 would be surfeited with the world's 
 sweet meat, if a gracious God were not 
 to call them away from the banquet. 
 
 Creature comforts are like the soft 
 morning dews, which while they water 
 the branches of the tree, leave the roots 
 dry. Why should the professors of 
 Christianity be found eagerly pursuing 
 those trifles which even heathens have 
 been found flying from ? The world 
 is rather a sharp brier to wound us than 
 a sweet flower to delight us. 
 
 The earth is big in our hopes, but 
 little in our hands. It is like Sodom's 
 apples, beautiful to the eye at a distance 
 but when they are touched they crumble 
 into ashes. " Eiches avail not in the 
 
154 A STRING OF PEARLS, 
 
 day of wrath." Not in the day of man's 
 wrath to preserve him from plundering, 
 nor in the day of God's Avrath to keep 
 him from punishment. 
 
 Eeader, though good works may be 
 our Jacob's staff to walk with on earth, 
 yet they cannot be our Jacob's ladder 
 to climb to heaven with. To lay the 
 salve of our services upon the wound 
 of our sins, is as if a man who is stung 
 by a wasp should wipe his face with a 
 nettle ; or as if a person should busy 
 himself in supporting a tottering fabric 
 with a burning fire-brand. 
 
 It was not the tempered clay that 
 cured the blind man but Christ's anoin- 
 ting his eyes therewith. That was 
 more likely, without him, to make a 
 seeing man blind than a blind man see. 
 Thus though we may receive our spir- 
 
FROM AX OLD CASKET. 155 
 
 itual sight in the ordinances, yet it is 
 not the ordinances which give us sight. 
 
 It was not the troubling of the pool 
 in Bethesda that made it healing, but 
 the coming down of the angel into it. 
 That man must famish at last who 
 always feeds upon the dish instead of 
 the meat. There is no instruction to be 
 got from the sun-dial of duty, except 
 the Sun of righteousness shine upon it. 
 
 Reader, it is dangerous for you to take 
 shelter in your righteousness ; for the 
 lightning of divine vengeance, which 
 flashes before you, and the curses of the 
 law, which thunder around you, may 
 suddenly shake your house about you. 
 As fast as you lay on your own plasters 
 a convinced and spiritual conscience will 
 rub them off again. Nothing but the 
 grace of the gospel can perfectly heal 
 the wounds which a broken law has 
 
156 A STR^G OF PEAELS, 
 
 made. Thoiigli at the command of 
 Christ you may let down the net, yet it 
 is only by the blessing of Christ that 
 you can enclose a profitable draught. 
 
 He is a rotten professor who says in 
 his heart, '•' Why may not I be drunk 
 as well as Noah, and commit adultery as 
 well as David?" Did you ever hear of 
 any who put out their eyes because 
 others were smitten with blindness ; or 
 of any who cut off their legs because 
 others went on crutches ? 
 
 Jehu, who onl}^ served God in hypoc- 
 risy, had an external kingdom; and 
 shall those who serve him from a prin- 
 ciple of inward purity be put off with- 
 out a heavenly kingdom? If God 
 valued counterfeit coin so much, how 
 highly will he esteem the true gold ! If 
 he drop so much into a vessel of wrath 
 what will he do into a vessel of mercy ! 
 
FROM AN- OLD CASKET. 157 
 
 If lie give so miicli to a bond slave of 
 liell, what will he do for a free-born 
 child of heaven I " Have I been a 
 wildernesss unto Israel, a land of dark- 
 ness?" God was not a wilderness to 
 them when they were in the wilderness. 
 When they wanted bread, he gave them 
 manna ; when they wanted water, he 
 opened a rock ; and though they had 
 no new apparel yet their old garments 
 wore not out, but as their bodies grew, 
 so their souls grew. Thus they were 
 never better off than when they were 
 ready to give up all as lost. 
 
 how good is a believer's God, who 
 not only shortens his pilgrimage for him, 
 but also sweetens it to him I Had 
 Christians too much of temporal things 
 they might care too little for spiritual 
 things. Daniel appeared better with 
 his homely pulse than the Babylonians 
 with all their royal diet. Some have 
 
158 A STRIXG OF PEA ELS, 
 
 rowed safely in a narrow river and been 
 drowned afterward in a large sea. A 
 little is sufficient to liim who witli it 
 enjoys God's all sufficiency. 
 
 Some are afraid of religion, because 
 tbey suppose they shall lose all their 
 earthly mammon while they are seeking 
 heavenly manna. They think that 
 piety is the greatest enemy to prosper- 
 ity. Could they but reap profit by 
 praying, they would be found more at 
 prayer. Ignorant worldlings look upon 
 gain as their greatest godliness, and not 
 on godliness as their greatest gain. But 
 a golden plaster is a poor application 
 for a wounded conscience. When the 
 worm of carnality is gnawing at the 
 root of religious performances, all the 
 formalist's blooming hopes will fade and 
 die away at last. 
 
FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 159 
 
 Many will side Avitli religion while 
 they can live upon it, and desert it when 
 it must live upon them. But that say- 
 ing is yet true : " Godliness with con- 
 tentment is great gain." It is only the 
 Christian man who is the truly contented 
 man; and what are our enjoyments 
 without contentment ? What is a great 
 possession if wedded to great vexation ? 
 "Wicked men make this workl their 
 treasure, and God makes it their torment. 
 When they want estates they are trou- 
 bled for them ; when they have estates 
 they are troubled with them ; and when 
 they would drink of the river God dis- 
 turbs the water. 
 
 When men feel sickness arresting 
 them, then they fear death is approach- 
 ing. But we begin to die as soon as 
 ever we begin to live. Every man's 
 passing-bell hangs in his o^vn steeple. 
 Take him in his four elements, of earth 
 
160 A STRI^^G OF PEARLS, ETC. 
 
 air, lire, and water. In tlie eartli lie is 
 as fleeting dust ; in tlie air he is as a 
 disappearing vapor ; in the water he is 
 a breaking bubble ; and in the fire he 
 is as consuming smoke. Many think 
 not of living any holier till they can 
 live no longer : but one to-day is worth 
 two to-morrow. 
 
 THE END.